Influence of Individual- and Neighborhood-Level Factors on Fear of Crime among Adolescents

Introduction: Fear of neighborhood crime is rising among adolescents. This research analyzed neighborhood- and individual-level predictors of fear.

Methods: Adolescents (n=2,574) were analyzed using Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) data. Marginal effects were calculated for generalized ordered logit models assessing fear of neighborhood crime as the outcome, which was measured as a three-category variable (i.e., no fear, a little fear, a lot of fear).

Results: Adolescents who saw violence happen to another person saw their chances of experiencing no fear decrease by 10% (p=0.01) and their chances of experiencing a little fear increase by 8% (p=0.05). For those experiencing violence, there was a 9% reduction in their chances of experiencing no fear (p=0.02).

Each one-point increase in physical decay was associated with a 14% increase in the likelihood of feeling a little fear (p=0.01). Each one-point increase in social disorder was associated with a 44% reduction in feeling no fear (p=0.03). Worsening residential housing conditions were associated with being more likely to feel a lot of fear (ME=0.10, p=0.01). Finally, police visibility was strongly and significantly connected to reduced fear (ME=0.88, p<0.0001).

Conclusions: Fear of crime is a social problem. Policy aimed at reducing fear of crime could affect more people than policies aimed at reducing actual crime, as fear is more widespread than actual victimization. Reducing fear would then reduce negative physical, behavioral, and behavioral health outcomes as well as costs associated with fear.