Within-individual change in social support, perceived collective efficacy, perceived disorder and fear of crime: Results from a two-wave panel study

Abstract

In this study, we untangle the relationships between fear of crime (perceived risk of victimization) and perceptions of, respectively, social support, collective efficacy and perceived disorder. We use a two-wave panel study with 356 respondents. Results show that prior perceptions of disorder have a positive effect on later levels of perceived risk of victimization, lending support to the hypothesis that fear of crime is, in part, determined by perceived disorder. Levels of social support negatively affected later levels of perceived risk of victimization. Neither perceived informal social control nor perceived social trust had any effect on later levels of perceived risk of victimization. Strengths, weaknesses and suggestions for further research are discussed.