Fear of Crime and Victimization: An Explorative Study

Abstract

The fear of crime is a new dimension of crime. It is not only a burning issue in Bangladesh but also all over the world. Fear of crime was theorized to be related to experiences of victimization, but this assumption was soon to be disputed. This study is based on empirical data which are from quantitative and qualitative research methods and the research is exploratory in nature. This study finds that 38-47 years of age group 36% of them are highest victimized by fear of crime. And 71% of males and 29% of females are victimized by fear of crime. Fear of crime affects far more people in Bangladesh than the crime itself, and there are sound reasons for treating crime and fear of crime as distinct social problems. Every year a huge number of people are suffered from fear of crime. Fear of crime has a great impact on our education, economy, and infrastructure. Important links exist between fear of crime and causation of victimization, location of occurrences, time of victimization, presence of law enforcement agencies, and levels of knowledge of the victims about the victim support services. The study findings play an important role in policy making and also for the upcoming researcher in the criminological arena.