The Relation Between Youth Fear and Avoidance of Crime in School and Academic Experiences

Abstract

Despite decades of research analyzing fear of crime among adults, little is known about youth fear of crime in general and youth fear of crime in school, specifically. Moreover, among existing studies most emphasize causes of fear, with little discussion of avoidance or the academic consequences of these feelings and behaviors in school. This study contributed to the literature by exploring the relation between fear of crime and avoidance in school and academic experiences using data from the 2007 National Crime Victimization Survey's School Crime Supplement. Results suggested that fear increases the odds a student will skip class, decreases the odds a student will earn higher grades, and decreases the odds a student will aspire to pursue higher education. However, fear and avoidance of crime in school did not emerge as having a significant relation with participation in extracurricular activities. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• fear of crime
• avoidance
• academic achievement
• schools
• victimization

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Editor and the two anonymous peer reviewers for their detailed comments and criticisms of an earlier version of this article.