Unraveling the determinants of fear of crime among men and women in Istanbul: Examining the impact of perceived risk and fear of sexual assault

Mine Özaşçilar, Neylan Ziyalar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Studies have examined university students' fear of crime focusing on the relationship between the fear of sexual assault and fear of other crimes, termed the shadow of sexual assault hypothesis; however, no study to date has examined the shadow thesis in a Turkish context. Drawing on the shadow thesis, using a sample of 723 university students in Istanbul, this study focuses on the effect of fear of sexual assault and perceived risk of crime to general fear of crime among university students in Istanbul. Also, the predictors of fear of crime are explored to examine the relationship between lifestyle characteristics, constrained behaviors, and fear. The findings of the study supported the shadow thesis, indicating that fear of sexual assault shaped the nonsexual crimes, especially crimes involving face-to-face confrontations between the victim and offender. Furthermore, lifestyle characteristics are correlated with the men's fear of nonsexual crimes, particularly fear of robbery, aggravated assault, and burglary home.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)993-1010
Number of pages18
JournalInternational Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology
Volume61
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2017

Keywords

  • Istanbul
  • fear of sexual assault
  • perceived risk of crime
  • university students

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