Subjective and objective insecurity in Spanish cities

Abstract

This article related crime rates to social risk factors and to the feeling of insecurity in Spain. The first finding of this study, financed by National I + D Plan CSO2016-77549-P, AEI-FEDER, was the direct relation between crime rates and some sociodemographic factors such as population, unemployment, urban land area, and hotel occupancy, based on the question of which social risk factors correlate to crime rates. The second finding was that social factors drive citizens’ feelings of insecurity, according to whether feelings of insecurity are linked to crime rates or perceived risk factors. The research was based on a quantitative methodology, using two data sources: reworked official statistics treated by HJ-Biplot analysis; a 2019 CATI survey with N = 3904, sample error between 5.2% and 3.7% according to territory, 95% confidence level. The main conceptual conclusion of the study was the link between well-being and security. The main methodological contribution was the application of HJ-Biplot analysis to the social sciences.