The aim of this study is to examine the spread and determinants of fear of crime in Italy. A secondary analysis was performed on the 1995 Italian National Statistics Institute data (Italian representative sample: 19,785 participants). In addition, data from official judicial statistics were analyzed. Main results are as follows: (a) fear of crime correlates with crime spread; (b) fear of crime is more widespread than crime itself; (c) the best predictors of fear of crime are urbanization, degradation of residential areas, and residence in Northeastern Italy; (d) criminal victimization exerts a minor influence on fear of crime; and (e) sociodemographic variables under investigation exert little influence on fear of crime. These results are discussed in reference to international literature, and possible subsequent lines of research are suggested.
Ackermann, W., Dulong, R., & Jeudy, H.-P. (1983). Imaginaires de l’insécurité [Imaginary unsafety]. Paris: Librairie des Méridiens.
2.
Amerio, P. (Ed.). (1999). Dimensioni della sicurezza [The dimensions of security]. In Il senso della sicurezza (pp. 15-22). Milan: Unicopli.
3.
Amerio, P., & Roccato, M. (in press). Structure multi-facettée du sentiment d’insécurité [Multi-faceted structure of the feeling of unsafety]. Psychologie et société, 7.
4.
Balkin, S. (1979). Victimization rates, safety and fear of crime. Social Problems, 26, 343-358.
5.
Bandura, A. (1995). Self-efficacy in changing societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Barbagli, M. (1999). La sicurezza in Italia: Analisi e dati [Security in Italy: Analysis and data]. In P. Amerio (Ed.), Il senso della sicurezza (pp. 34-43). Milan: Unicopli.
7.
Baumer, T. L. (1978). Research onfearofcrimein theUnitedStates. Victimology, 3, 254-264.
8.
Clemente, F., & Kleiman, M. (1976). Fear of crime among the aged. The Gerontologist, 16, 207-210.
9.
Ferraro, K. F. (1995). Fear of crime. Interpreting victimization risk. New York: State University of New York Press.
10.
Ferraro, K. F., & LaGrange, R. L. (1987). The measurement of fear of crime. Sociological Inquiry, 57, 70-101.
11.
Frankel, M. R., & Frankel, L. R. (1987). Fifty years of survey sampling in the United States. Public Opinion Quarterly, 51, 127-138.
12.
Greco, V., & Roger, D. (2001). Coping with uncertainty: The construction and validation of a new measure. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 519-534.
13.
Groves, R. M. (1987). Research onsurvey dataquality. PublicOpinionQuarterly, 51, 156-172.
14.
Hermand, D., Siméone, A., & Delbarre, C. (1997). Désordre urbain et sécurité résidentielle perçue [Urban disorder and perceived residential security]. Psychologie Française, 42, 113-122.
15.
Hunter, A. (1978). Persistence of local sentiments in mass society. In D. Street (Ed.), Handbook of contemporary urban life (pp. 134-156). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
16.
Italian National Statistics Institute. (1995a). Indagini multiscopo sulle famiglie: Anno 1995 [Multipurpose family survey: 1995]. Rome: Author.
17.
Italian National Statistics Institute. (1995b). Statistiche giudiziarie e penali: Anno 1995 [Judicial and penal statistics: 1995]. Rome: Author.
18.
Jeudy, H.-P. (1986). Les enjeux de l’insécurité [Stakes of unsafety]. Informations sociales, 6, 6-11.
19.
Kennedy, L. W., & Silverman, R. A. (1985). Perception of social diversity and fear of crime. Environment and Behavior, 17, 275-295.
20.
Kiecolt, K. J., & Nathan, L. E. (1985). Secondary analysis of survey data (Sage University Paper Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, No. 07-053). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
21.
Kuo, F. E., Bacaicoa, M., & Sullivan, W. C. (1998). Transforming inner-city landscapes: Trees, sense of safety, and preference. Environment and Behavior, 30, 28-59.
22.
LaGrange, R. L., Ferraro, K. F., & Supancic, M. (1992). Perceived risk and fear of crime: Role of social andphysical incivilities. Journalof Research in Crime andDelinquency, 29, 311-334.
23.
Lavrakas, P. J. (1981, August). Personal crime prevention, behavioral restrictions, and fear of crime. Paper presented at the 89th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.
24.
Lavrakas, P. J. (1982). Fear of crime and behavioral restrictions in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Population and Environment, 5, 242-264.
25.
Lévy-Leboyer, C. (1981). Anxiété et insécurité [Anxiety and unsafety]. Psychologie française, 26, 223-237.
26.
Liska, A. E., Lawrence, J. J., & Sanchirico, A. (1982). Fear of crime as a social fact. Social Forces, 60, 760-769.
27.
Liska, A. E., Sanchirico, A., & Reed, M. D. (1988). Fear ofcrimeandconstrainedbehaviorspecifying and estimating a reciprocal effects model. Social Forces, 66, 827-837.
28.
MacCallum, R. C., Zhang, S., Preacher, K. J., & Rucker, D. D. (2002). On the practice of dichotomization of quantitative variables. Psychological Methods, 7, 19-40.
29.
Mathieu, J.-L. (1995). L’insécurité [Unsafety]. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
30.
Moser, G. (1992). Les stress urbains [Urban stresses]. Paris: Armand Colin.
31.
Moser, G. (1999). Ambienti urbani e sentimento d’insicurezza [Urban environment and sense of unsafety]. In P. Amerio (Ed.), Il senso della sicurezza (pp. 133-141). Milan: Unicopli.
32.
Newman, O., & Franck, K. A. (1982). The effect of building size on personal crime and fear of crime. Population and Environment, 5, 203-220.
33.
Ortega, S. L., & Myles, J. L. (1987). Race and gender effects on fear of crime: An interactive model with age. Criminology, 25, 133-152.
34.
Palmonari, A. (1999). Adolescenti, gruppi, sicurezza [Adolescents, groups, security]. In P. Amerio (Ed.), Il senso della sicurezza (pp. 47-53). Milan: Unicopli.
35.
Perkins, D. D., Wandersman, A. H., Rich, R. C., & Taylor, R. B. (1993). The physical environment of street crime: Defensible space, territoriality and incivilities. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13, 29-49.
36.
Ribero, A. (1999). Dove abita l’insicurezza delle donne [The place where women’s insecurity resides]. In P. Amerio (Ed.), Il senso della sicurezza (pp. 157-164). Milan: Unicopli.
37.
Roché, S. (1993). Le sentiment d’insécurité [The feeling of unsafety]. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
38.
Rountree, P. W. (1998). A re-examination of the crime-fear linkage. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 35, 341-372.
39.
Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147-177.
40.
Skogan, W., & Maxfield, M. (1981). Coping with crime. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
41.
Taylor, R. B. (2001). Breaking away from broken windows. Baltimore neighborhoods and the nationwide fight against crime, grime, fear, and decline. Boulder, CO: Westview.
42.
Venini, L., & Migliorini, L. (2001). Città e legami sociali: Introduzione alla psicologia degli ambienti urbani [Cities and social bonds: Introduction to psychology of urban environments]. Rome: Carocci.
43.
Villano, P., & Mancini, T. (1999). La percezione del rischio in città: Costruzione di una metodologia di intervento [Risk perception in cities: Building a methodology for intervention]. In P. Amerio (Ed.), Il senso della sicurezza (pp. 181-189). Milan: Unicopli.
44.
Yin, P. P. (1980). Fear of crime among the elderly: Some issues and suggestions. Social Problems, 27, 492-504.
