Until Death Do Us Part? Husband Perceptions and Responses to Fear of Crime

Abstract

This article examines the link between men's personal fear of crime and men's fear of crime for others. Previous work finds men fear crime less than women and that men fear crime for others, especially spouses. Gender role socialization is a key reason men lack personal fear. Few works consider the connection between personal fear and vicarious fear for men. Analyzing in-depth interviews with fourteen married couples, this study relies on marriage as a context to understand the relationship between personal fear and fear for spouses among married men. Narratives with married men demonstrate a heightened sense of personal fear and fear for spouses due to a new sense of “responsibility” for spousal safety and protection.

Acknowledgments

I thank John Bartkowski, Jeralynn Cossman, Gregory Dunaway, David May, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments on early drafts of this article. Data collection for this project was funded by the Mississippi State University Research Initiation Program.

Notes

¹Recruitment e-mails and flyers noted the purpose of the study was to “understand men and women's experiences and thoughts about crime and victimization.” It also informed the participant that they would receive a minimal gift certificate to Wal-Mart for their participation.

²Type of victimization could include anything from theft of CDs from a vehicle all the way through more serious offenses such as sexual assault. The specific type of victimization was not asked on the survey but often was discussed during the interview process. Based on the interviews, there were more property victims than victims of violent crime.

³All names have been changed to protect the confidentiality of respondents.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicole E. Rader

NICOLE E. RADER is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Mississippi State University. Her primary research areas are gender and crime, victimization, fear of victimization, and the social construction of the media. She has published recent work in Sociological Focus, Women and Criminal Justice, and Sociological Spectrum.