Fear of Criminal Victimization: The Effect of Neighborhood Racial Composition |
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| Authors: | Gertrude L Moeller |
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| Institution: | Gertrude L. Moeller received her M.A. in sociology at the University of Illinois in 1983 and is currently completing a doctoral dissertation at Mississippi State University. Areas of specialization are sociology of the developing world, social problems, and social psychology. Four years of research experience includes participation in state and federally funded research and ranges from survey design and data collection to statistical analysis of survey results. Moeller's research interests are currently focusing on cross-cultural dimensions of the aging process. |
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| Abstract: | This analysis extends previous research on fear of crime by focusing on neighborhood racial composition as a salient predictor of fear of criminal victimization. Although its main effect was not strongly associated with fear, a multiplicative interaction term for neighborhood racial composition by race (WRAC) suggests that whites living in mostly black neighborhoods are the most fearful. Only sex and size of community were stronger predictors of fear. A parsimonious model including the variables sex, age, community size, and the interaction term WRAC is found to explain twenty-six percent of the variance in fear for personal safety on neighborhood streets at night. |
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