The impact of crime on the sense of security

Abstract

The issue of fear of crime was first addressed in the late 1960s in the United States of America in connection with the emergence of anxiety about crime in the society. Due to the fact that the concept of fear of crime involves a greater range of negative associations, suggesting the fact of experiencing emotions, and not a certain way of perceiving reality, the concept of a sense of security was adopted for the purposes of this research. Hence, the aim of this study is to show the interdependencies between the sense of security and crime based on a review of the available literature and research conducted so far. As shown by theoretical research, the sense of security of an individual depends on many factors, both in terms of its increase and decrease, and not exclusively on the levels of crime. This paper constitutes an extension of the theoretical research contained in the publication entitled “Sense of Security and Crime: The Residents' Perspective”.