Minority Report: Prevalence of Fear of Violent and Property Crimes Among a Diverse College Sample

Erin Grinshteyn (), Reid Whaley and Marie-Claude Couture
Additional contact information
Erin Grinshteyn: University of San Francisco
Reid Whaley: University of San Francisco
Marie-Claude Couture: University of San Francisco

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2020, vol. 150, issue 2, No 14, 695-710

Abstract: Abstract Fear is associated with several adverse health behaviors and outcomes. Fear of crime is associated with less exercise and outdoor activity, worse self-rated health status, and increased BMI. Fear of crime is also associated with more anxiety, depression, and psychological distress. Yet little is known about the predictors of fear of specific types of crime. The objectives of this study are to (1) determine the prevalence of fear of violent victimization and fear of property crime among university students, (2) assess the association between sociodemographic predictors and (a) fear of violent victimization and (b) property crimes. A cross-sectional study was conducted among university students (n = 1415). Data on sociodemographics, fear of a variety of types of violent crime (physical assault, sexual assault, robbery/burglary, murder, and verbal threats), and property crime (arson, theft, and vandalism) were collected using online surveys. Summary variables for fear of violent crime and fear of property crime were created. Wilcoxen rank-sum and Kruskal–Wallis tests, and multivariate negative binomial regression models were used to assess relationships between sociodemographic predictors and fear variables. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students had the highest mean fear scores of physical assault, robbery/burglary, arson, and theft, while fear of verbal threats and vandalism were highest among Middle Eastern students. Muslim students reported the highest fear of verbal threats, arson, and vandalism. In multivariate models, fear of violent crime was significantly higher among Black (ME: 5.59), Hispanic (ME: 5.16), Asian (ME: 3.07), female (ME: 8.19), transgender/gender non-conforming (ME: 9.82), gay (ME: 12.16), and bisexual (ME: 3.74) students while fear of property crime was significantly higher among Black (ME: 2.81), Hispanic (ME: 2.10), Asian (ME: 1.84), female (ME: 2.49), and gay (ME: 3.11) students. Minority students have higher levels of fear than their peers. Universities must consider the issue of fear among minority students in an effort to prevent this public health issue.

Keywords: Fear; Fear of crime; Sexual and gender minorities; Race; Ethnicity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-020-02321-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:soinre:v:150:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02321-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11135

DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02321-y

Access Statistics for this article

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement is currently edited by Filomena Maggino

More articles in Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().