Fear of Crime and Collective Action: An Analysis of Coping Strategies |
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| Authors: | Lesley Williams Reid J. Timmons Roberts Heather Monro Hilliard |
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| Affiliation: | Is a doctoral student in sociology at Tulane University. She received a master's degree from Tulane University and a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University. Her research interests include political economy, stratification, and criminology. Her current research focuses on the impact of recent economic restructuring on national and global crime trends.;Is associate professor of sociology and Latin American studies at Tulane University. He teaches methods of research, environmental sociology, and the sociology of development. He has three main lines of research, each attempting to tie global economic restructuring with individual and community change. One examines coping and stress of workers who fear exposure to toxic chemicals. A second examines environmental movements and corporate responses in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil. A third utilizes world-system theory to explain national pollution performance and participation in environmental treaties.;Is currently a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, studying for dual master's degrees in health administration and business administration, with concentrations in strategy and marketing. Ms. Hilliard graduated from Tulane University with a bachelor's degree in sociology, with special interest in criminal justice. She is involved in several research projects dealing with urban public health, and she would like to work in government and public affairs upon graduation. |
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| Abstract: | Recent research addressing fear of crime largely concerns the causes of that fear; this article expands our understanding of fear of crime by examining whether people cope with their fear individually or collectively. Our guiding questions were two: Do coping strategies differ by those individual-level characteristics established in the fear-of-crime literature? And do strategies differ based upon conceptually distinct types of fear? This research, based on a 1995 telephone survey of a random sample of New Orleans residents, suggests that the answer to both questions is yes. Commodified, individual-level precautionary techniques are explained primarily by characteristics that reflect differential abilities to pay for such precautions. Conversely, collective-level coping strategies are predicted primarily by degree of affective fear based on emotional reactions, regardless of actual levels of victimization. |
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