THE EFFECTS OF “SELF-HELP” PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES ON CRIMINAL VICTIMIZATION AND FEAR: lmplications for Crime-Prevention Policy

Abstract

“Self-help” precautionary measures taken at the individual or household level are widely used by citizens to confront the problems of crime and fear. In this article, we assess the effectiveness of precautionary behavior as it varies naturally within a general population sample. Using data from a two-wave panel study of victims and nonvictims in Kentucky, and controlling for the effects of nine other “vulnerability factors” in hierarchical regression analyses, the findings were as follows: Precaution in the first year did not prevent victimization in the second year. Compared to nonvictims, victims were More likely to be victimized in the second year and were also more fearful Compared to other victims, victims who practiced high precaution after the first incident were no less likely to be revictimized and were no less fearful. From these findings, the policy of promoting precaution independently of other crime-prevention tactics would appear to be an insufficient strategy for both general and victim populations. Implications of findings for urban policies on crime prevention are discussed Co-production policies through which governments share responsibility for crime prevention with citizens (e.g., block watches) are distinguished from policies that transfer the responsibility to individual citizens (e.g., “target hardening”).