The study, led by Dr Stephen Farrall at the Department of Criminology, Keele University, found that such fear has been routinely over-estimated in previous surveys. His report calls into question current official calculations as to the extent of the problem.
Contrary to previous research suggesting that about a third of people in the UK were 'very' or 'fairly' worried about the fear of crime, the new study found that only around 15 per cent had felt 'very' or 'fairly' fearful in the past year. Of these, only eight per cent felt fearful frequently.
The fear of crime is now widely recognised in Europe as one of the most pressing concerns affecting people's quality of life, and studies in the USA and Australia also point to high rates of anxiety.
In the UK, for example, the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions has adopted the fear of crime as a measure of best value performance. As the new Keele study points out, however, there is concern as to the most accurate way of measuring this fear in surveys of the public. And it suggests that being surveyed can, in itself, exaggerate people's feelings about crime.
The report, which is to be published in the British Journal of Criminology, aimed to improve the accuracy of statistics about fear of crime by asking new survey questions to measure both current attitudes and changes over time. Almost 2,000 people were interviewed for the study, which took place in late 2002.
Dr Farrall said: "There has been much criticism of questions used in previous surveys, such as 'How do you feel walking alone in this area after dark?'" He continued: "Instead of a vaguely worded question of this kind, our researchers asked people to think about specific times when they were fearful in the past year. Their answers suggested that far fewer people frequently experienced crime-related anxieties than had been previously thought to be the case."
The findings have been of interest to Government officials working at the Home Office and to those who design crime surveys for use in local communities. The have also attracted attention from as far afield as Australia.
Dr Farrall points out that fewer than half of all crimes noted in the 1992 British Crime Survey were reported to the police, mostly because the event was considered by the victim to be 'too trivial'.
He said: "If crime is a rare and trivial event for many people, quite why they should exaggerate the extent of their fears 'upwards' towards the more fearful rather than 'downwards' is unclear.
"Whatever the explanation, we need to find a way around this if we are to produce an accurate picture of the extent of people's fears. Though more recent surveys have started to improve on the measurement of the fear of crime, the outcomes of many policy initiatives hinge on the use of what is still largely a suspect form of measuring fear of crime."
For further information, contact:
Dr Stephen Farrall on 01782-583749 (work), 01782-799944 (home), 01782-583084 (secretary), e-mail: s.d.farrall@keele.ac.uk
Or Lesley Lilley or Anna Hinds at ESRC, on 01793-413119 /413122
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. The research report 'Measuring the Fear of Crime with Greater Accuracy' was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Dr Farrall is at the Department of Criminology, Keele University, NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME ST5 5BG.
2. The ESRC is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It has a track record of providing high-quality, relevant research to business, the public sector and Government. The ESRC invests more than £53 million every year in social science research. At any time, its range of funding schemes may be supporting 2,000 researchers within academic institutions and research policy institutes. It also funds postgraduate training within the social sciences thereby nurturing the researchers of tomorrow. The ESRC website address is http://www.esrc.ac.uk
3. REGARD is the ESRC's database of research. It provides a key source of information on ESRC social science research awards and all associated publications and products. The website can be found at http://www.regard.ac.uk.