This review consolidates the research on perceptions of risk and its antecedents to improve our understanding of the factors that influence perceptions of risk. The evidence is evaluated against the available models, theories and explanations. Online databases, relevant journals and books were searched using keywords resulting in a total of 30 papers being included in this review. It was found that the literature provided support for previous victimization, experienced both directly and vicariously, gender, race, income, perceptions of crime rates and incivilities, having a consistent effect on perceptions of risk of criminal victimization. Perceived risk was shown to have a strong influence on fear of crime, and the relationship was also found by one study to be reciprocal (Rader et al., 2007). The risk interpretation model (Ferraro, 1995) was supported by the literature but is still in need of continuing development in light of new research. The findings could be used to help reduce risk perception to a level more in line with actual risk and thus reduce fear of crime and in turn increase quality of life.
*BaronSW (2011) Street youths’ fear of violent crime. Deviant Behavior32: 475–502.
2.
*ChiricosTMcEntireRGertzM (2001) Perceived racial and ethnic composition of neighborhood and perceived risk of crime. Social Problems48(3): 322–340.
3.
*FerraroKF (1995) Fear of Crime. New York: State University of New York Press.
4.
*FerraroKFLaGrangeRL (1987) The measurement of fear of crime. Sociological Inquiry57(1): 70–101.
5.
*FerraroKFLaGrangeRL (1992) Are older people most afraid of crime?Reconsidering age differences in fear of victimization. Journal of Gerontology47(5): 233–244.
6.
*GaineyRAlperMChappellAT (2011) Fear of crime revisited: Examining the direct and indirect effects of disorder, risk perception and social capital. American Journal of Criminal Justice36: 120–137.
7.
GilovichTGriffinDKahnemanD (2002) Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8.
GustafsonPE (1998) Gender differences in risk perception: Theoretical and methodological perspectives. Risk Analysis18: 805–811.
9.
HaleC (1996) Fear of crime: A review of the literature. International Review of Victimology4: 79–150.
10.
*HrabaJBaoW-NLorenzFOPechacovaZ (1998) Perceived risk of crime in the Czech Republic. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency35(2): 225–242.
11.
JacksonJ (2006) Introducing fear of crime to risk research. Risk Analysis26: 253–264.
12.
*JacksonJ (2009) A psychological perspective on vulnerability in the fear of crime. Psychology, Crime and Law15(4): 365–390.
13.
KahnemanDSlovicPTverskyA (1982) Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
14.
*KananJWPruittMV (2002) Modeling fear of crime and perceived victimization risk: The (in)significance of neighborhood integration. Sociological Inquiry72(4): 527–548.
15.
KellingGLWilsonJQ (1982) Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety. Atlantic Magazine, Monthly (March): 29–38.
16.
*Killias M (1990) Vulnerability: Towards a better understanding of a key variable in the genesis of fear of crime. Violence and Victims5(2): 97–108.
17.
*LaGrangeRLFerraroKF (1989) Assessing age and gender differences in perceived risk and fear of crime. Criminology27(4): 697–719.
18.
*LaGrange R, Ferraro K and Supancic M (1992) Perceived risk and fear of crime: Role of social and physical incivilities. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency29(3): 311–334.
19.
*LeeMSUlmerJT (2000) Fear of crime among Korean Americans in Chicago communities. Criminology38(4): 1173–1206.
20.
LernerJSGonzalezRMSmallDAFischhoffB (2003) Effects of fear and anger on perceived risks of terrorism: A national field experiment. Psychological Science14: 144–150.
21.
*LindquistJHDukeJM (1982) The elderly victim at risk. Criminology20(1): 115–126.
22.
*MeschGS (2000) Perceptions of risk, lifestyle activities, and fear of crime. Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal21: 47–62.
23.
MøllerV (2005) Resilient or resigned?Criminal victimisation and quality of life in South Africa. Social Indicators Research72: 263–317.
*OtisMD (2007) Perceptions of victimization risk and fear of crime among lesbians and gay men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence22(2): 198–216.
26.
*RaderNE (2004) The threat of victimization: A theoretical reconceptualization of fear of crime. Sociological Spectrum24: 689–704.
27.
*RaderNEMayDCGoodrumS (2007) An empirical assessment of the “threat of victimization:” considering fear of crime, perceived risk, avoidance, and defensive behaviors. Sociological Spectrum27: 475–505.
28.
RandMR (2009) National crime victimization survey: Criminal victimization, 2008. Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.
29.
*ReidLWKonradM (2004) The gender gap in fear: Assessing the interactive effects of gender and perceived risk on fear of crime. Sociological Spectrum24: 399–425.
30.
SafirMPRosenmannA (2003) Israelis. In: EmberCREmberM (eds) Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures. New York: Springer, 530–539.
31.
ShawCRMcKayHD (1969) In: SteenbeckWHippJR (2011) A longitudinal test of social disorganization theory: Feedback effects among cohesion, social control, and disorder. Criminology49(3): 833–871.
32.
*SkoganWG (1987) The impact of victimization on fear. Crime and Delinquency33(1): 135–154.
33.
*SkoganWGMaxfieldMG (1981) Coping with Crime: Individual and Neighborhood Reactions. Beverly Hills: SAGE.
34.
SlovicP (2000) The Perception of Risk. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
35.
SlovicPPetersE (2006) Risk perception and affect. Current Directions in Psychological Science15: 322–325.
36.
SteenbeckWHippJR (2011) A longitudinal test of social disorganization theory: Feedback effects among cohesion, social control, and disorder. Criminology49(3): 833–871.
37.
Van DijkJManchinRVan KesterenJNevalaSHidegG (2005) The Burden of Crime in the EU Research Report: A Comparative Analysis of the European Crime and Safety Survey (EU ICS 2005). Brussels: Gallup Europe.
38.
*Villarreal A and Silva BFA (2006) Social cohesion, criminal victimization and perceived risk of crime in Brazilian neighborhoods. Social Forces84(3): 1725–1753.
39.
WalkerAFlatleyJKershawCMoonD (2009) Crime in England and Wales 2008/09, Volume 1: Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime. Home Office Statistical Bulletin. London: Home Office.
40.
*Warr M (1984) Fear of victimization: Why are women and the elderly more afraid?Social Science Quarterly65(3): 681–702.
41.
*Warr M (1987) Fear of victimization and sensitivity to risk. Journal of Quantitative Criminology3(1): 29–46.
42.
*Warr M and Stafford M (1983) Fear of victimization: A look at the proximate causes. Social Forces61(4): 1033–1043.
43.
*Wilcox P, Jordan CE and Pritchard AJ (2007) A multidimensional examination of campus safety: Victimization, perceptions of danger, worry about crime, and precautionary behavior among college women in the post-Clery era. Crime and Delinquency53(2): 219–253.
44.
*Wilcox-Rountree P and Land KC (1996a) Perceived risk versus fear of crime: Empirical evidence of conceptually distinct reactions in survey data. Social Forces74(4): 1353–1376.
45.
*Wilcox-Rountree P and Land KC (1996b) Burglary victimization, perceptions of crime risk, and routine activities: A multilevel analysis across Seattle neighborhoods and census tracts. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency33(2): 147–180.
46.
*WyantBR (2008) Multilevel impacts of perceived incivilities and perceptions of crime risk on fear of crime: Isolating endogenous impacts. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency45: 39–64.
