The Gender Gap in Fear of Crime, 1973-1994: A Methodological Approach

Abstract

The literature on fear of crime consistently finds much higher levels of reported fear among women than among men (Baumer, 1978; Ferraro, 1996; Warr, 1984). Thus we know which segment of the population is most fearful, and we know some of the correlates associated with that fear, but there has been little research that has examined social change in respondents' fear of crime, particularly in regard to the question of whether the gender gap in fear of crime has changed over time. In the present article, using data from the General Social Survey from 1973 to 1994 and data from the Uniform Crime Reports, five methods of studying social change are applied in examining this question: proximate decomposition, trend analysis, pooled time-series analysis, a changing parameter model, and a hierarchical linear regression model. These methods will be used to answer three questions. First, did fear of crime increase from 1973 to 1994, and is that change attributable to individual attitude change or to population turnover? Second, has the gender gap in reported fear of crime narrowed or widened over time? Third, can relevant variables be identified, such as the nation's violent crime rate, to account for changes in the gender gap? Findings from these analyses indicate that, overall, a gradual rise in levels of reported fear of crime has occurred, but this masks considerable variation, including periods of declining fear of crime. Although women are much more likely to fear crime, the gender gap has narrowed as men's reported fear of crime has gradually increased over time while women's has remained stable (albeit at a high level). Although no variables are found to explain the gender gap in fear of crime, hierarchical linear models reveal that the nation's violent crime rate is associated with men's rising fear of crime over time.