The British Journal of Sociology
Volume 55 No 3 September 2004
pages 335-355
Abstract
In this paper a 'signal crimes' perspective is outlined in an effort to unpack the relationships between experiences of crime and disorder, and perceptions of criminogenic risk. Grounded in symbolic interactionist sociology, and developing a social semiotic understanding of risk perception, it is a perspective that focuses upon processes of social reaction and the ways in which people interpret and define threats to their security. It is proposed that people interpret the occurrence of certain incidents as 'warning signals' about the levels of risk to which they are either actually or potentially exposed. These signals tend to take the form of signal crimes and/or signal disorders and are important in terms of how social space is symbolically constructed.
Keywords: Signal crime, signal disorder, risk perception, social reaction, social semiotics
Martin Innes
Department of Sociology, University of Surrey