Age and Gender Differences on Fear of Crime

Age and Gender Differences on Fear of Crime The current study aimed to investigate age and gender effects on fear of crime and their relationships with attitude towards prisoner and crime, life satisfaction, living arrangement and religion in a Chinese sample. 170 undergraduate and postgraduate students, with a mean age of 21.9 years, participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire on fear of crime. In general, women reported significantly greater fear of crime than men. A factor analysis was performed and two factors were extracted: â€Å"fear of being cheated† and â€Å"fear of physical harm†. An age-gender interaction effect was found after controlling the variable of â€Å"attitude towards prisoner†. Results indicated that older females had higher levels of fear of being cheated than males. Yet, gender and age differences in fear of fraud victimizations are a largely unexplored area. Additional research is needed to examine how women’s fear of being cheated varie s with age. Introduction Fear of crime has received considerable attention in the criminological studies. Over the last few decades, research has been carried out to explore how fear of crime is explained and handled by society. Information about fear of crime not only help us to understand and interpret what fear of crime meant for individuals and societies, but also facilitate government to develop active plans to tackle public’s fear. Anxieties about crime may lead to behavioral adaptation, e.g. taking precautions against crime and avoiding certain places. Nonetheless, public anxieties about crime may also have negative consequences for the individual and for society. For example, they may exacerbate the impact of crime by damaging an individual’s quality of life or may affect the community by deteriorating a shared sense of trust, cohesion, and social control (Jackson, 2006). The concept of fear of crime and its causation is widely examined in the criminological fi eld, but there is a lack of agreement on the definition of ‘fear of crime’. Fear of crime may involve two different concepts: an ‘evaluative’ component and an ’emotional’ component (Skogen, 1984). For instance, Hollway and Jefferson (1997) referred crime fear as ‘irrational’ response in which the ‘rational, calculating individuals who routinely miscalculate their â€Å"true† risk of crime’; whereas Ferraro (1995) suggested that fear of crime is ‘an emotional reaction of dread or anxiety to crime or symbols that a person associates with crime’. Past research has identified a number of factors which appear to make a contribution to fear, such as age, gender, race, vulnerability, neighbourhood cohesion, personal knowledge of crime and victimization, confidence in police and criminal justice systems, perception of risk, and assessment of offence seriousness (Box, Hale and Andrews, 1988). However, the c urrent study will focus mainly on age and gender effects on fear of crime. Gender and Age Effects It is well-documented that women are more fearful of becoming a victim of crime than men despite the fact that they are less often victimized by serious violent crime (Pain, 2001; Fetchenhauer and Buunk, 2005). Over the past decades, researchers have proposed different approaches to resolve the â€Å"fear victimization paradox†: (1) hidden victimization of women; (2) gender tendencies of women to recall victimization experience, and to generalize fear from one context to another; (3) vulnerability of women; and (4) male discount of fear. Most crime surveys have shown that the levels of violence against women (e.g. domestic violence) are far higher than men; therefore it has been argued that women are not ‘irrationally’ fearful of crime. It is because women and elderly under-report their actual victimization, and thus they appear to be less victimized (Pain, 2001). Ho wever, some have suggested that women tend to ‘generalize’ the actual experience of victimization across spatial contexts than men (Pain, 1995; Farraro, 1995). Warr (1984) found that fear of sexual assault operated as a â€Å"master offense† among women and their fear of sexual assault influenced fear of nonpersonal crimes, such as burglary. Yet, still others reported that males often discount their fear of crime (Smith and Torstensson, 1997). Previous literature has demonstrated that males are suppressed by the perception that it is not socially acceptable to express one’s fear; and when men are being perfectly honest, they may actually be more afraid of crime than women (Sutton and Farrall, 2005). On the other hand, the vulnerability hypothesis suggested that women are physically weaker than men and therefore they are less able to defend themselves against (typically male) perpetrators. A considerable amount of studies have also shown that that gender di fference in fear of crime often reflects gender difference in physical vulnerability (e.g. Smith and Torstensson, 1997).

ArticleAbstract Assignments 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ArticleAbstract Assignments 11 - Essay Example This paper has highlighted the major huddles that come with the hosting of the event like the infrastructure development which require substantial investment especially on cities that are not already developed. They have also handled housing, the need for soft-infrastructure . The authors have used theoretical method showing the number of ways that the event can happen and have not relied on the success of previous events like they have stated that there is no guarantee that events that have been successfully hosted in one city will have the same positive economic impact if hosted in another city(Solberg & Preuss, 216). The article has highlighted the great benefits of major sports event but has underrated the value of tourism in impacting the economy. They have watered down each benefit of the sporting event in the economy with negativity and downfalls. In as much as the article has dealt with the longterm impacts statements like an incentive for locals to exaggerate the benefits, with the result that too many resources might be invested in too many events (Solberg & Preuss, 216), have changed the perspective of the event. It was important for the authors to use an empirical method so as to address the impacts with the view point of events that have successfully

Effects the Media has on Child development Research Paper

Effects the Media has on Child development - Research Paper Example From the first appearance of television sets in living rooms in the 20th Century, there has been a concern on their impact on the viewers, particularly the children. Recent years has seen this concern extended to electronic media including computers. The fact that children spend seven hours per day on average in media such as televisions, computers and other electronic devices, as noted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP indicates the important role that the media plays in shaping development in children. Kirkorian et al. (39) observe content as the most crucial determining factor in evaluating how media affects development in children. Therefore, depending on the content in the media under focus, the effect on child development could either be positive or negative. Media play an important role in language acquisition. As observed by Kirkorian (40), children who watched Sesame Street, a preschooler educational program, learnt vocabulary, identification of numbers and letters and concepts including shapes and colors. Television viewing has in particular been noted to impart language learning especially if the programs include on-screen characters talking to children. Children to whom English is not their first language could take advantage of this opportunity to learn the language as they watch English programs. Media has been credited with designing programs that aim at communicating social or academic skills which help children in learning the intended lessons. Programs dealing with diverse literacy in children including science, mathematics and social skills promote learning in children. Kirkorian et al. (46) observe that Blue Clues, a television program focused on cognitive and social problem-solving skills among preschoolers, caused children to be more systematic and successful in problem solutions. The Canadian Pediatric Society (303) also sites Sesame Street as an example of a television program that teaches children important social aspects such as cooperation, kindness, racial harmony and the alphabet. Such programs stimulate children to visit libraries, museums and bookstores among other active recreational places that impart positive learning. This could also be said of Internet websites that have curricula to prepare preschoolers for schooling. In fact, various software programs have been produced to this effect and the impact has been positive. Therefore, educational media improve on educational achievement of children. Critics argue against media as negatively impacting on the development of cognitive skills in children. This argument mainly revolves around attention development. According to Sigman (102), the frequent switch in content and scenes disrupt the ability of children to sustain attention. Additionally, early exposure to non-educational entertainment and violent media programs has been positively associated with attention problems. Kirkorian et al. (45) give an example of a study that compared the effect of a pro-social program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and violent cartoon, Batman. The findings support the correlation between the content of media programs and attention skills in the children being studied. The children exposed to violent cartoons showed decreased self-regulation whereas those exposed to the pro-social program exhibited tolerance of delay, rule obedience and task persistence. It would be important to appreciate that the two programs not only