“Recognizing my risk” and “Envisioning an intrusion event”: a phenomenological approach to perceived risk of intrusion

Abstract

Relative to older women who live alone, there have been few exploratory descriptive studies of personal experiences that might be associated with fear of crime. Little is known about how such women perceive the risk of being intruded upon at home. The purpose of this study was to describe the personal–social context of experiences associated with perceiving the risk of intrusion. Participants were 14 older women who volunteered information about the risk during a longitudinal phenomenological study of the home-care experience. Data indicated that their experience was structured by recognizing a risk of intrusion. The four women who described intrusion events that they had envisioned were the only women who expressed fear about intrusion at home. From a theoretical perspective “recognizing my risk of intrusion” and “envisioning an intrusion event” are both relevant to perceived risk of victimization, but the latter might be linked more directly to fear of intrusion.