Fear of Crime and the Predictors of Victimization in the Built Environment

Badiora, A.I. & Ntamark, J.J. Introduction Crime, personal safety, and fear of crime are key issues that have continued to attract public concem. Fear of crime has emerged as a social phenomenon which, in extreme cases, impinges on the quality of life of urban residents (Jackson and Gray, 2010), as well as induce paranoia, anxiety, and other psychological issues on a personal level. Increased criminal activities have engendered increased fear of crime in developed and developing countries alike. Findings drawn from the International Crime and Victim Survey (ICVS) of the World Bank (2010) reveal that globally, irrespective of where a person lives, over a five year period, two out of three inhabitants of big towns and cities are victims of crime at least once, while one in every five persons has been a victim of crime at least once. Consequently, crime statistics, the perception of growing danger, and actual crime incidents in Africa have generated a culture of fear and widespread anxiety among the population in both developing and developed countries. In Lagos, Nigeria, Alemika and Chukwuma, (2005) note that 70 per cent of respondents in a city-wide survey were fearful of being victims of crime. In Nairobi, more than half of the citizens worry about crime “all the time” or “very often” (UN-Habitat, 2007), while a World Bank study in Zambia reported that fear of crime among teachers affected their work decisions (Moser & Holland, 1997).