{"id":1342,"date":"2017-03-07T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T17:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2017-03-06T16:35:51","modified_gmt":"2017-03-06T22:35:51","slug":"fear-of-crime-and-punitive-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2017\/03\/07\/fear-of-crime-and-punitive-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear of Crime and Punitive Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Alan Cleaver, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Donald Trump recently falsely stated that the murder rate “<\/span>is the highest it\u2019s been in 47 years<\/a>.”<\/span>\u00a0Scholars of crime have been energetic in countering this claim with evidence\u00a0that the violent crime in the U.S. peaked in the early 1990s and has steadily declined since. Although recent data suggests murder has increased <\/span>in certain cities<\/span><\/a>, Trump\u2019s characterization of the murder rate is way off. But the sentiment behind his statement in some ways reflects a fearful\u00a0popular discourse\u00a0about crime rates and “tough on crime” public policies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even after accounting for other relevant factors, people in neighborhoods with higher crime rates are\u00a0slightly more fearful about crime. While crime fears also <\/span>vary along demographic lines and victimization experiences, scholars have emphasized the robust effects of social environment as drivers of crime fears. Collective efficacy — the perceived social cohesion of a neighborhood and the willingness of neighbors to intervene on others\u2019 behalf — is a strong predictor of lower crime fears, whereas the perceived level of disorder (e.g. vandalism) is associated with greater\u00a0fear.<\/span><\/h5>\n