Broad Insecurity and Perceived Victimization Risk

Abstract

Appealing to fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization is a known political strategy for gaining popular support. While fear of crime and perceived risk may stem from vulnerability and past experiences of victimization, high levels of fear and perceived risk, despite declining crime rates, had prompted researchers to investigate other sources of fear of crime and perceived victimization risk. We used survey data from 1,200 households in Metro Manila to test the hypothesis that perceived risk of victimization may be predicted by broad insecurity, which encompasses insecurities in finances, employment, education, health, disaster preparedness and rights protection. Multivariate regression is used to measure variable effects. Our results showed that broad insecurity significantly influences perceived risk of victimization. Other reliable predictors included past victimization, local government spending and social identifiers such as age and gender, but none was as strong as broad insecurity. These findings suggest that perceptions of public safety depend not only on tough policing, but also economic opportunities, human capital development and overall wellbeing. This article corroborates budding research on the diffuse sources of fear of crime and victimization. It informs political and economic prioritization in pursuit of social harmony and development amidst a rapidly changing socioeconomic and political landscape. JEL: Z13, Z18