‘그들’이 사는 안전 : 고소득 청년 여성 1인가구의 범죄두려움에 관한 근거이론 연구

Abstract

Previous studies on the fear of crime and criminal victimization among female
 single-person households have assumed that these households experience higher
 levels of fear of crime and criminal victimization. The literature has focused on
 analyzing significant influencing factors based on quantitative data but have not
 considered economic factors such as income in comparison to gender, age, and
 environmental circumstances. By differentiating the focus, data, and analysis
 methods from prior research, this study attempts to analyze the fear of crime
 among high-income young female single-person households, with a specific focus
 on income as a determinant of lifestyle.
 According to the grounded theory framework proposed by Strauss and Corbin
 (1987), 14 high-income young female single-person households living in Seoul
 were interviewed and analyzed in this study. Low levels of fear of crime and
 conditioned fear were identified as central phenomena. Although the research
 participants were aware of their vulnerability as biological women and singleperson
 households, they felt secure in their refined surroundings on a daily basis
 and did not feel anxious about becoming victims of crime. The high-income young
 female single-person households felt temporarily fearful only in conditioned cases,
 such as sexual crimes and/or random violence. However, they primarily considered
 the crimes they encountered in the media as incidents happening to others and not
 related to them. This is because research participants have been able to maintain
 a certain distance from crime by choosing high-cost, safe housing and environments
 and enhancing housing safety based on their financial abilities. Based on the analysis results, this study recommends that future policies related
 to the fear of crime and crime victimization among female single-person households
 be explored in detail, taking into account differences in lifestyle based on income.