Fear of crime in France: a partial test of Ferraro’s risk interpretation model

Abstract

Conflicting with its Republican idealism, France’s colonial legacy and history of xenophobia has led to riots by the first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants who experienced unemployment and social marginalization. Motivated by politicians advocating for expanded police powers to search and arrest citizens, the French media reported these unemployment issues causing an increase in crime and police brutality in immigrant-dominated neighborhoods, only to increase feelings of insecurity and fear of crime among the French population. Thus, theoretically informed by Ferraro’s (Fear of crime: interpreting victimization risk, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1995) risk interpretation model, the present study plans to identify the factors that predict variations in fear of crime among a representative sample of persons age 15 and older living in France. While individual-level factors such as gender, economic marginalization, health problems, perceived discrimination, prior experience with victimization, and living in a large city are more likely to predict a higher level of fear of crime, in the overall sample, one’s immigrant status does not affect one’s level of perceived safety. Inter-group comparisons indicate that among natives, gender and perceived discrimination have a stronger effect on fear of crime, while residency in large urban areas and victimization have a stronger influence on immigrants’ feelings of unsafety.