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The Impact of a Crime Wave: Perceptions, Fear, and Confidence in the Police

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Mary Holland Baker ,
Barbara C. Nienstedt ,
Ronald S. Everett  and
Richard McCleary
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Abstract

In 1980, Phoenix, Arizona, experienced a “crime wave.” A structural equation model based on a two-wave survey of the population shows that the crime wave had a powerful impact that was almost a mirror image of what the fear of crime literature would predict. Demographic groups thought to be most fearful (e.g., women and the elderly) were least affected while groups thought to be least fearful (e.g., well-educated whites) were affected most. In addition to demographic factors, our analysis demonstrates that crime rate perceptions and confidence in the police are integral components of fear, especially in the context of a crime wave. These findings have important implications for crime policy specifically and for criminological research generally.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 17 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Psychology and Law , 1983 , pp. 319 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Law and Society Association.

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Footnotes

*

We are indebted to Thomas Epperlein and Hiroshi Nakajima for assistance in data collection and analysis.

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