Samenvatting

By partially replicating an instrument developed by Gray, Jackson and Farrall, our current study explores events in which people indicated to have worried about crime victimization. Similar to results reported by Gray, Jackson and Farrall, we find that events in which people worry about the prospect of falling victim to crime are experienced relatively infrequently. This contrasts with more general, broad spread concerns and worries about crime victimization; both in the current study, and in fear of crime research more generally. In the current study, we also supplemented the instrument developed by Gray, Jackson and Farrall by, 1) exploring the characteristics of those situations in which events of worry about crime victimization arose, and by 2) exploring the added value of a local application of the survey instrument. Drawing on survey data from Amsterdam (city level) and Oostgaarde, a neighbourhood in Capelle aan den IJssel (neighbourhood level), a rich and clear picture emerged of situations in which research participants indicated to have worried about crime victimization. On the basis of our results we conclude that it can be useful to implement the instrument on a local level, if the aim is to learn more about the patterning and ecology of events of fear. We also argue that a greater understanding of the (local) patterning and ecology of events of fear may help in designing local policies to mitigate situational fear of crime.