Samenvatting

People vary in their perceptions and opinions, and that seems to be the case for the way they perceive anti-social behavior too. Scientific literature concerning the fear of crime hypothesizes diversity in the public’s perception of anti-social behavior and crime. But this fear of crime research tradition has been criticized repeatedly for its conceptual and methodological arrears. The focus has particularly been narrowed to ‘fear’ of ‘crime’, being measured by surveys. So, it is not very surprising that there has not been a thorough empirical focus on the assumed diversity in the perception of crime and anti-social behavior. To fill in this gap, the main research question in this article is: which differences in the perception of anti-social behavior exist within contemporary Dutch society? Using Q-methodology, five different factors were found in the perception of anti-social behavior. These factors have been labeled respectively: ‘disaffected residents’, ‘untroubled liberals’, ‘anxious communitarians’, ‘concerned spectators’ and ‘non-averse professionals’. These factors showed the empirical reality of the assumed diversity in the public perception of anti-social behavior. In all of these factors, people seem to address crime and anti-social behavior to a decrease of social standards and values in Dutch society, instead of worrying about chances and consequences of personal victimization. This was even the case for people who signalized crime and anti-social behavior in their own neighborhood. What really stands out is that people strongly agreed about the unacceptability of crime and anti-social behavior. People seem to have an aversion against these rude types of behavior. Altogether this image does not comply to the mainstream image of a ‘crime fearing society’. People do not seem to fear crime, but they seem to be worried and agitated about the moral conditions of the Dutch society in a wider framework. This might be a more reassuring illustration than a ‘crime fearing society’, but this proposition needs further and additional quantitative assessment.