A Structural Equation Model Estimation of the Role of Social Vulnerability as a Predictor of People’s Feelings of Unsafety

Riccardo Valente (), Sergi Valera Pertegas and Joan Guàrdia Olmos
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Riccardo Valente: Open University of Catalona
Sergi Valera Pertegas: University of Barcelona
Joan Guàrdia Olmos: University of Barcelona

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2019, vol. 143, issue 2, No 1, 433-449

Abstract: Abstract People’s perception of insecurity is linked to a wide range of factors and up-to-date sources stress the impact of socially constructed concerns on feelings of unsafety. Building further on recent developments, the present research proposes a measure of social vulnerability focusing on future-oriented anxieties and self-perceived social exclusion as predictors of subjective perceptions of insecurity. Data gathered in a large-scale survey in Italy (N = 15,428) were analysed by implementing structural equation modeling in an attempt to address people’s vulnerability beyond the mere consideration of the likelihood of individuals’ involvement as the victims of a crime. The results provide evidence for the predictive role of social vulnerability on neighbourhood-based worries, victimization patterns and community cohesion. Moreover, the analysis show that health and financial precariousness, together with the perception of being marginalized or in some way excluded from society, may result in higher levels of subjective insecurity.

Keywords: Vulnerability; Social insecurity; Feelings of unsafety; Structural equation modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-2004-2

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