Talk:Puzzle Project

British social attitudes Survey
British Social Attitudes

Questions related to crime 8th(1991/92), 12th(1994/95), 13th(1996/97)

12th report includes the section ‘Fear of crime’ (Dowds & Ahrendt 1995) pp.19-41 Question regarding fear of crime first introduced in this survey (conducted 1994) and continued in 13th

-1980s‘fear of crime’ by people at low risk regarded ‘irrational’  role of the media so that more balanced media coverage to reduce fear suggested (1995:20) -However, ‘fear of crime is really a reflection of a more general fear or insecurity about the modern world’(1995:20), e.g., perception of disorder, urban unease..

(Jiweon: Thus, I wonder how much the media coverage can explain the increased fear of crime despite the decrease in actual crime rate)

1)	How safe do you feel walking alone in this area after dark….very safe, fairly safe, a bit unsafe, very unsafe 2)	Because of worries about crime some people change their everyday life, for example, where they go or what they do. Other people don’t change their lives at all. Do worries about crime affect your everyday life?
 * Measuring fear of crime

Fear of crime vary greatly by age and sex. The relationship-considered separately (Jiweon: They divided group as young men, young women(18-34), middle aged men, middle aged women (35-59), elderly men, elderly women (60+). It seems to be a good idea.)
 * in relation to social attitudes

Some findings 1)	elderly men (60+) ‘being a worrier(e.g., political terrorism in Britain will be common events in the next 10 years) linked to fear of crime’ (1995:25), all kinds of other worries 2)	Middle aged men (35-59) authoritarianism (e.g.,conformity, punitiveness) are linked to fear of crime, in particular, negative views on immigration 3)	Elderly women (60+) negative attitude towards people on social security benefits high fear of crime. Uneaseness about change in society in general 4)	Fear of change (e.g., greater opportunity to women, black, gays, gypsies)-consistent with an authoritarian view-fear of crime. E.g., elderly womennegative attitudes towards equal opportunities for homosexuals linked to Fear of crime 5)	Middle aged women-“government is fairly powerless to change things”higher fear of crime 6)	Young women  “the availability of sexually explicit pornography” who believes pornography should be bannedhigh fear of crime

-question 1. not linked to the experience of crime (rather social cohesion, risk, neighbourhoods) -question 2. strong link to the personal experience of crime
 * problem of measurement

(Jiweon: fear of crime could be more related to social attitude rather than actual crime rate)