The British Journal of Sociology
Volume 50 No. 3 September l999
pages 506-22
Abstract
Much has been written about the 'social problem' of fear of crime in the criminological and sociological literature in recent years. We would argue that thus far in this literature, however, there has been too much emphasis on the question 'How rational is people's fear of crime?', a question that largely reduces the complexity of the phenomenon and positions a 'biased' lay response against an 'expert' objective judgement. In this article, we review different epistemological perspectives that can be offered to understand in greater depth the fear of crime phenomenon. We place particular emphasis on those hermeneutic perspectives that go beyond the models of the rationalist, individualistic subject to exploring issues of symbolic representation, discourse and the micro- and macro-contexts in which fear of crime is experienced and given meaning. We also draw upon two case studies from our own empirical research into fear of crime, conducted with the intention of exploring the situated narratives, cultural representations and different levels of symbolic meaning that contribute to the dynamic constitution of fear.
Keywords: crime, fear, rationality, criminology, qualitative research, risk
Deborah Lupton
School of Social Science and Liberal Studies
Charles Sturt University
and
John Tulloch
School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
Cardiff University