How Does Crime-Specific Victimization Impact Fear of Crime in Urban China? The Role of Neighborhood Characteristics

Past research has failed to find consistent relationships between criminal victimization and fear of crime. Except for neighborhood disorder and crime rate, few studies have examined whether other neighborhood conditions matter the victimization—fear relationship. Using survey data in Guangzhou neighborhoods, the present analysis employs multinomial logistic regression models to examine whether neighborhood characteristics moderate the relationship between violent victimization and fear of violence, and between burglary victimization and fear of burglary, separately. Some aspects of the neighborhood environment do differentially influence victims’ and non-victims’ fear levels. Besides verifying the interaction effect of neighborhood disorder and victimization, the present study finds that neighborhood policing alleviates the harmful effect of violent victimization on fear, while collective efficacy fosters the harmful effect of burglary victimization on fear. This paper underscores the significance of the social context of urban China in explaining the interplay of neighborhood characteristics and victimization on fear of crime.

以往的研究未能发现犯罪受害情况与犯罪恐惧之间存在一致的关系。除了社区混乱程度和犯罪率之外，很少有研究探讨其他社区条件是否对受害情况与恐惧之间的关系产生影响。本研究利用广州社区的调查数据，采用多项逻辑回归模型，分别检验社区特征是否调节暴力受害与暴力恐惧之间以及入室盗窃受害与入室盗窃恐惧之间的关系。社区环境的某些方面确实对受害者和非受害者的恐惧程度产生不同的影响。除了验证社区混乱程度与受害情况的交互作用外，本研究还发现，社区治安缓解了暴力受害对恐惧的有害影响，而集体效能则加剧了入室盗窃受害对恐惧的有害影响。本文强调了中国城市的社会背景在解释社区特征和受害情况对犯罪恐惧的相互作用方面的重要性。