Differential perceptions of fear of crime among college students: The race factor

ABSTRACT

Despite the rising crime rates on U.S. university campuses, few empirical studies—either quantitative or qualitative—have examined the rate of fearfulness among college students. The present analysis supplements previous efforts by exploring racial effects on college students' feelings of fearfulness and determines the influence of individual characteristics on white and nonwhite students' fear of crime. Using cross-sectional data from a large public university in the United States, results show that nonwhite students have greater levels of fear of crime on campus than their white counterparts. Moreover, gender and perceived police effectiveness also influenced students' levels of fear of crime. The effects were true for both white and nonwhite students.

KEYWORDS:

• Fear of crime
• race
• police effectiveness
• campus
• students

Note

Notes

1. Convenient sampling approach was used to select students for participation because of students' busy schedule, which might have undermined random selection.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francis D. Boateng

Notes on contributors

Francis D. Boateng is an assistant professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology in the department of legal studies at the University of Mississippi. He received his PhD in criminal justice and criminology from Washington State University. His main research interests include comparative criminal justice, comparative policing, police legitimacy, international security, sexual assault, quantitative research, crime, law, and justice. His most recent publications have appeared or are forthcoming in International Criminal Justice Review, Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies, Victims & Offenders: An International Journal of Evidence-based Research, Policy, and Practice, International Review of Victimology, Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, and Police Journal: Theory, Practice, and Principles.

Nana S. Adjekum-Boateng

Nana S. Adjekum-Boateng is an industrial psychologist. She obtained an MA in industrial psychology from the University of Charles-de-Gaulle, Lille 3–France and is currently teaching as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota Crookston. Her main research interests include psychological risks at work—stress and burnout—social climate, satisfaction at work, and quantitative research. She is currently developing a manuscript that investigates the predictors of stress and burnout among medical doctors in a nonwestern society.