The Fear of Identity Motivated Crime: An "Identity-In-Community Context" Vulnerability Perspective
Open Access
- Author:
- Gonzales, Carlos
- Graduate Program:
- Criminology (MA)
- Degree:
- Master of Arts
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- June 16, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Pamela K Wilcox, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Jeremy Staff, Committee Member
Michelle Frisco, Program Head/Chair
Corina Antohi Graif, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Fear of Crime
Fear
Hate Crime
Vulnerability
Gender
Race
Political Identity
Identity - Abstract:
- This study uses an “identity-in-community context” vulnerability framework to determine how social and physical markers of vulnerability are associated with general fear of crime and the fear of biased crime based on (1) race, ethnicity, nationality; (2) gender and sexuality; and (3) political identity. Results show that key markers of vulnerability, such as age, race/ethnicity, gender, and education are associated with being fearful both within categories of fear and across categories. Key markers of vulnerability are revealed as significant predictors of fear across categories of bias, supporting an intersectional framework when understanding fear of bias-motivated victimization across categories of bias. This study also considers the role of perceived collective efficacy in the communities in which people are situated, with a particular focus on how perceived collective efficacy might attenuate the effects of indicators of physical and social vulnerability on fear of bias crime. Results provide mixed support for the direct relationship of collective efficacy across categories of fear of crime. Interaction terms are used to better understand the possible moderating relationship between collective efficacy and key markers of vulnerability on fear, with mixed support shown across categories of bias-motivated fear of crime and general fear of crime. Finally, I explore the role of the perceived likelihood of risk of victimization on the relationship between vulnerability, collective efficacy, and fear. Results from the inclusion of perceived risk show that much of the effect of collective efficacy operates through the perceived risk of victimization, considered the most proximal measure of vulnerability in this study. I use data from a sample of 1,500 respondents of a YouGov survey investigating reactions to crime in both online and offline space administered in late 2021. The data is recently gathered and is used to explore fear of crime in a contemporary context. I use a range of descriptive methods and logistic and OLS regressions to determine results of variables on different outcomes. Results are shown in tables and expanded upon using predicted probabilities. A supplemental analysis also considers the difference of effects using a more conservative measure of the outcome variable to engage with theoretical conversations of measurement for a relatively little explored outcome variable—the fear of bias-motivated crime. Findings speak to important theoretical developments for the vulnerability perspective and fear of crime for a highly relevant crime type, bias-motivated crime. Discussed in tandem with limitations and areas for future development, this study serves as an explanatory and exploratory study using novel data and measures to better understand how fear operates with bias and vulnerability from an “identity-in-community context” framework.