Liu Jianhong, Messner Steven F, Zhang Lening, Zhuo Yue
Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing, China.
Am J Community Psychol. 2009 Sep;44(1-2):93-108. doi: 10.1007/s10464-009-9255-7.
Previous research in the West has established major socio-demographic correlates of fear of crime. The interpretation of these correlates is typically based on the concept of physical or social vulnerability of individuals. These correlates are implicitly regarded as invariant to social or community contexts, reflecting universal human behavioral patterns. The present study argues that social change may alter patterns of perceptions associated with fear among socio-demographic groups, thus affecting socio-demographic correlates of fear of crime. We explore how social changes in China have created a generational gap that influences the effects of age and education on fear of crime. The study finds that, in contrast with the well-established patterns in Western communities, the young and educated exhibit a higher level of fear of crime in urban China than their counterparts. The study also finds that consistent with Western literature, females are fearful and that personal victimization experience increases the level of fear. We discuss the social and community processes that produce these interesting patterns.
西方此前的研究已确定了与犯罪恐惧相关的主要社会人口统计学因素。对这些因素的解释通常基于个体身体或社会脆弱性的概念。这些因素被隐含地视为不受社会或社区背景影响，反映了普遍的人类行为模式。本研究认为，社会变革可能会改变社会人口群体中与恐惧相关的认知模式，从而影响犯罪恐惧的社会人口统计学因素。我们探讨了中国的社会变革如何造成了代际差距，进而影响年龄和教育程度对犯罪恐惧的影响。研究发现，与西方社区已确立的模式相反，在中国城市中，年轻人和受过教育的人比同龄人表现出更高的犯罪恐惧水平。该研究还发现，与西方文献一致的是，女性更容易恐惧，且个人受害经历会增加恐惧程度。我们讨论了产生这些有趣模式的社会和社区过程。
