Was there a Better Time to be Mother? Past and Present of the Socio-Cultural Fear of Crime

Abstract

Fear of crime refers to the fear of being a victim of crime, and it is nurtured by folklore and the media. Folklore fosters fear of crime by using oral tradition transferred throughout generations by updating old contexts into modern times. On the other hand, the media visualizes the possibility of being a victim by introducing the real-life experiences of victims. Contrary to folklore, victims presented in the media seem more accessible, and the victimization of individuals can be proven. Folklore and the media have cooperated to keep the fear of crime alive to warn society that individual lives are on the verge of becoming victims of criminals. In this paper, I aim to describe the fear of crime through two particular crimes: Child abductions and organ thefts. Data for this research comes from two sets of materials: Newspaper news stories and semi-structured interviews conducted in face-to-face settings with mothers from two different generations. My research reveals that mothers of the eighties were scared of their children being victims of beggar gangs and organ trade criminals, while generation Y mothers suffer from the possibility of their children being victims of online grooming and sextortion. Keywords: Folklore, media, fear of crime, urban legends, organ theft narratives.