Crime Fears and Phobias

Abstract

Is fear-of-crime a crime phobia? Based on the results from the Feelings about Crime Study, it was hypothesised that fear-of-crime has a positive relationship with the anxiety disorders of social phobia, blood-injury phobia and agoraphobia. This hypothesis was constructed on the basis that both types of phenomena are founded on the same emotional response of fear. No evidence was found to support this hypothesis. Instead, it is argued that the results highlight the inaccuracy of the largely unquestioned tradition in fear-of-crime research that the public is afraid of crime. Without a solid understanding of how the public responds emotionally to crime, it is considered inappropriate for fear-of-crime to be treated as a crime phobia. Show more