Fear of crime in the capital cities of the former Yugoslav Republics

Abstract

Although the fear of crime has been the subject of intensive study carried out by criminologists and sociologists in other countries for more than four decades, domestic theoretical and empirical examination of this complex phenomenon is almost nonexistent. The main objectives of this study are determining the prevalence and possible differences in the fear of crime among the residents of major cities of the former Yugoslav republics. The analysis uses data collected as part of the regional research project 'The Fear of Crime in Large Cities'. The method of interviewing in households using a specially created questionnaire is applied on a multi-stage random sample of 1977 adult respondents living in urban areas of the cities. By choosing the appropriate questionnaire items, three scales to measure affective, cognitive and behavioral dimensions of the fear of crime and a unified scale of the general construct were made​for the purpose of this study. All scales have high internal consistency reliability. The results show that a significant percentage of people who exhibit a high level of the fear of crime are present in all cities, regardless of the size of the dimension tested. Higher prevalence of the fear of crime is determined by measuring the extent of affective and up to a point behavioral dimension, while the prevalence of fear of crime is slightly lower on the level of the cognitive dimension. Statistically significant differences in the level of fear of crime among residents of cities studied are identified on all scales.

Iako je strah od kriminala već više od četiri decenije predmet intenzivnog proučavanja od strane inostranih kriminologa i sociologa, kod nas gotovo da izostaju teorijska i empirijska razmatranja ovog kompleksnog fenomena. Osnovni ciljevi ovog rada bili su utvrđivanje prevalencije i eventualnih razlika u strahu od kriminala među stanovnicima glavnih gradova bivših jugoslovenskih republika. U analizi su korišćeni podaci prikupljeni u okviru regionalnog istraživačkog projekta 'Strah od kriminala u velikim gradovima'. Na višeetapnom slučajnom uzorku od 1977 punoletnih ispitanika koji žive u urbanim delovima gradova primenjena je metoda intervjuisanja u domaćinstvima, uz korišćenje posebno kreiranog anketnog upitnika. Izborom odgovarajućih stavki upitnika sačinjene su, za potrebe ovoga rada, tri skale za merenje afektivne, kognitivne i bihejvioralne dimenzije straha od kriminala i jedna objedinjena skala opšteg konstrukta. Sve skale su imale visoku pouzdanost interne konzistencije. Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da je u svim gradovima, nezavisno od ispitivane dimenzije, prisutan značajan procenat stanovnika koji ispoljavaju relativno visok nivo straha od kriminala. Viša prevalencija straha od kriminala utvrđena je merenjem afektivne i donekle bihejvioralne dimenzije, dok je na nivou kognitivne dimenzije prevalencija straha od kriminala bila nešto niža. Na svim skalama utvrđene su statistički značajne razlike u nivou straha od kriminala među stanovnicima ispitivanih gradova.