Environmental representations of safety from crime versus insecurity: A study in Lisbon

Abstract

This study examines environmental representations of insecurity and safety from crime in Lisbon. Based on the idea that security is not an absolute antipode of insecurity (Guimelli & Rouquette, 2004), the author hypothesises that if an environmental characteristic contributes to representation of safety, its opposite will not necessarily be related to representation of insecurity, and vice versa. 121 subjects well-familiar with the city were asked to name 3 places in Lisbon where they feel insecure, and 3 of those where they feel safe from crime. Then, participants evaluated the importance of several environmental physical and social characteristics for their own representations of each place. The main hypothesis of our study has been confirmed. Results also show that social characteristics are judged more important for representation of insecure places than of safe ones, while physical characteristics do not account as much for representation of insecure places and are more essential for representation of safe ones.