Abstract
The study investigated the socio-demographic characteristics, community
characteristics, sources of fear of crime, frequency of news of crime, sources of
information on crime, length of stay in the community and perception of rate of crime
as predictors of fear of crime among residents in selected communities in Lagos,
Nigeria. The study used cross-sectional survey to collect data from 800 respondents,
who were randomly selected from four purposively selected communities based on the
level of perceived level of social disorganisation- Idi-Araba, Idi-Oro, and Mushin and
Surulere. The data were analysed at both descriptive and quantitative analyses. The
result revealed that the public sector employee account for approximately twice as
much as other factors to the prediction of the fear of crime among the participants
under reference. Similarly, ‘not afraid of becoming a victim of crime’ and information
about local crime and crime prevention’ contributed two times more than other factors
to the prediction of observed fear of crime. Frequency of news about crime, are
approximately two times more likely to be predictive of fear of crime. The result
revealed that sources of information on crime (such as direct experience, interpersonal
communication and mass media are approximately three times more likely predictive
of fear of crime when not augmented with other predictors of fear of crime. As for the
socio-demographic factors, education and religion have decreasing impact on fear of
crime whereas marital status hastens fear of crime with housewife being three times
more likely predictive of fear of crime. Intervention should be targeted at the
vulnerable group such as separated and divorced to alleviate their fear of crime. Also,
how information on crime news is disseminated should be reconsidered to reduce fear
of crime among the populace. Lastly, the study suggests a complete overhaul of the general requirements for the standardization and modernization of procedures of policing and involvement of community in crime prevention.
Keywords: Fear of crime, frequency of news, housewife, divorced, separated.
Introduction
A crime is considered as an unlawful act punishable by the state. Crime can
generally be seen as an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is
punishable by law. According to Mannheim, “crime” is, first of all, a legal
conception, human behaviour punishable under the criminal law” (Mannheim
cited in Wolfgang, 1966). A crime is a behaviour that the law makes
punishable as a public offense. The elements of a crime typically come from
statutes, but may also be supplied by the common law in states where the
criminal common law still carries force. Also, a crime is defined as any act that
is contrary to legal code or laws. In other words, crime and legality are social
constructs that are fluid and change over time. There are many different types
of crimes, from crimes against persons to victimless crimes and violent crimes
to white collar crimes.
To some other experts, crime is much more than this; because in the first
place the legal term ‘crime’ is too wide, as it can describe behaviour ranging
from murder at one end of the scale, to mere minor infringements of the road
traffic, and food and drug regulations at the other. In the second place, it is not
always easy to distinguish crime from ‘civil’ wrongs, or ‘torts’, (as they are
called in English culture law). Civil offences or torts are defined as wrongs
against individuals, in contrast to criminal offences, which are offences against
the whole community. Such a distinction has been adjudged unsatisfactory for
two reasons. First, a criminal offence can well be both a crime against an
individual and against the community (e.g. in the case of a bank robbery
involving serious personal injury to bank staff and theft of many customers’
money). Second, there is in general no bar to the initiation of civil proceedings
by the injured party in cases where the accused have been convicted of and
sentenced for the offence under the criminal law. Therefore, it is essentially
important to understand that firstly, the term “crime” should be used in
technical language only with reference to conduct that is legally “crime”.
Secondly, such conduct, if fully proved, is crime, regardless of it actually leads
to a conviction before a criminal court (Mannheim cited in Wolfgang, 1966).
Traditionally, lawyers have divided crimes into three classes: treasons (i.e.
crimes against the sovereign or the state, felonies (i.e. arrest-able crimes,
crimes of a serious dimension in which the convict can forfeit properties, and
misdemeanours (i.e. are lesser crimes or better still non-arrest-able crime, not
involving forfeiture.
It is important to distinguish between crime, delinquency and deviancy for
clarity. Many researchers prefer to use the term ‘crime’ when they are dealing
with adult offenders and offences, and reserve the term ‘delinquency’ to
Predictors of Fear of Crime 21
describe offences committed by young persons (i.e. juveniles), and of less
serious nature. This is simply because delinquency is so broad and involves
practically all manifestations of juvenile dysfunctional behaviour: such as,
disobedience, stubbornness, lack of respect, being incorrigible, smoking
without permission. Deviancy on the other hand is sometimes used as an
umbrella term to include such behaviour as crime and delinquency, going by
the dictionary definition of the word ‘deviation’ (i.e. variation from some line
or standard reference). Then, what constitutes criminal behaviour? According
to Sutherland and Cressey (1966: 12) there are a number of factors that must be
present before a piece of behaviour may be labelled as ‘criminal’. These factors
are best summarized as follows:
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ISSN: 0331-4111
E-ISSN: 2736-075X
Volume 20, No. 2 (November, 2022)
DOI: 10.36108/NJSA/2202.02.0220
Predictors of Fear of Crime among residents in selected communities in
Lagos, Nigeria
1 Samuel Ojima Adejoh, 2 Franca Attoh, 3 Gabriel Aunde Akinbode,
4 Obiageli C. Okoye and 5 Adetayo Olorunlana
1,2,3,4 University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria
1 Research Fellow, University of Free State, South Africa
5 Caleb University Imota, Lagos, Nigeria