Fear of Crime

Introduction worship of abomination in members of our b each(prenominal) club today has been widely exploreed. For the purpose of this essay, affright of criminal offense is used in the context of an individuals perceived guess of meet a victim of wickedness. In this essay it is argued that the gray and the youngest members of our conjunction ar the around consternationful of crime and that, of these come on groups the elderly perplex the pitifulest endangerment of becoming victims of crime. Firstly, research shows that tutelage of crime is wide spread and that certain age groups argon more upkeepful of becoming victims than others.Secondly, that the Medias portrayal of crimes contributes to golf clubs perceptions of safety and crime itself, increasing reverence of crime in these age groups. Thirdly, that the Elderly fears of crime and perceived guess of using is also contributed to by social and physiological f trifleors, such as vulnerability that leads to altered lifestyle changes. Data confirms that levels of victimisation rates be low for the elderly but luxuriously for the young, which is in contrast to those in the elderly age group having heightened levels of fear.In conclusion, fear of crime is becoming a serious societal issue as our population ages macrocosm that the elderly are becoming the most fearful of crime whilst the youngest age group with the highest fear are most likely to become victims of crime. Discussion Firstly, we see that in modern society today that a maturation fear of crime is widely recognised. It is acknowledged that the elderly fourth-year 65 and oer, and the youngest members rareen 16 24 of our society have the highest fear of crime in comparison to other age groups(Johnson, 2005).Australia has an age population (James, 1992 p. 1), for those 85 and over numbers has doubled and there are change magnituded numbers of those aged 65 and over. The last twenty years spanning from 1990 to 2010 ha s seen the number of elderly people in our society increase by 170% in comparison to around 30% for total population growth for Australia, where those age 15 are seen to be decreasing (Australian dresser of Statistics, 2010).This correlated to the findings from the 2004 International abhorrence Victimisation heap (Johnson, 2005) showing that the age groups 15 24 and 65 and over were the most likely to answer the series of questions asked around cutaneous sensess of safety when walking alone at night, utilising or waiting for public transportation at night and whether they believed they would be victims of burglary in the ext year as unsafe or very unsafe. Secondly, it is argued that the Medias representations of guilty acts and events through sensationalised stories depicting crimes that are violent and those with a sexual nature these have contributed to and influenced levels of fear and perceptions of risk for the age groups 15 24, and 65 years and over.The first edition of Violence Today (Chappell, 1989) links societys perceptions of violent crime to media stories and publicity that is focussed on crimes of a violent nature that attributes to growing fears of crime posturing Australia is succumbing to a torrent of crime beyond the control of tralatitious system of traditional law (Chappell, 1989). The focus on violent and sexually explicit crimes by the media has left our society with the misconception that these sorts of crimes are an everyday occurrence.The Australian Survey of tender Attitudes (Roberts & Indermaur, Australian Institute of Criminology 2007) put down that over half of those aged 65 and over believed that crime had increased over a period of two years sooner the survey was completed, this is attributed to an individuals media consumption whether it be newspapers, internet or television of factual or fictional medians (Kort-Butler & Sittner Hartshorn, 2011).The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes also collected info on the medians that individuals get their crime and criminal evaluator beliefs and views from, and observed that the media remains the most important source in informing Australians views of crime(Roberts & Indermaur, Australian Institute of Criminology 2007 p. 9). The importance given to certain crimes in the daily newspapers and other media sources shows us check to the fact that crime is a topic that has the publics interest and is a focus of their worries (Australian part of Statistics, 2001).It goes on to discuss the fact that crime as reported on by the media increases the publics levels of fears and that there is little or no correlation to actual levels of violent crime in our society today. Thirdly, crime victimisation data collected by the Australian say-so of Statistics (2008-2009, p. 17) reflects that those 65 and above are the least likely to be victims of crime with a victimisation rate much lower than all other age groups in the category of personal assault. This tailno t be said or the younger age groups of 16 -24 whos fear of crime can be linked to high numbers of victimisation in the same category. Carcach, Graycar & Muscat (2001) attribute social and communal activities that elderly people partake in to this anomaly between the elderly fear of crime and victimisation rates. The change in activities of the elderly over time may contribute to the lower victimisation rates reported where on the other drop dead the young tend to have many more communal social activities which serve to increase their chances of victimisation.The data collected from the annoyance Victimisation Survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008-2009) although it showed very little difference between the fear levels for the youngest age group and that of the older age group of 65 and over the differences in social activities and participation relationships and the fact that the elderly are far less likely to be out alone without a companion, or travelling on public trans port or waiting for the same can be accounted for, by personal vulnerability.A key concept used to explain high levels of perceived risk of victimisation is that of vulnerability. Powell & Wahidin (2007, p. 94) assert the fear of crime operates on a myriad of emotional and practical levels from feeling vulnerable and isolated, to affecting personal well being. Vulnerability has been attributed to contributing to fear of crime deep down the elderly age group (Carcach et al, 2001). It has been argued that personal vulnerability (Franklin, Franklin & Fearn, 2008 p. 06), the inability for an individual to protect themselves due to want of physical strength (James, 1992) and the feelings of powerlessness to resist attack (Callanan & Teasdale, 2009 p. 362) and their worry of being able to heal from an act of victimisation (Johnson, 2005 p. 33) explains the disparity between higher levels of fear and that of actual victimisation. Cossman & Rader (2011, p. 143) add further to this that m ost elderly people are now living alone, either having lost a lifetime partner through death, or hospitalisation due to frailty or illness also attributes to higher levels of fear of crime.A workshop held between several services and organisations in South Australia on offence and the Elderly set that elderly people thought themselves to be the most victimised by crime, that during the day break-ins caused them fear, however break-ins with the authority for personal assault caused the most fear after dark, these fears impacted on all aspects of their lives, which in suit has restricted and isolated them from their communities and the lifestyles they have been previously accustomed to living. Doherty, 1991, p. 1)(Johnson, 2005, p. 29) The elderly by far have the highest levels of fear that are based on misconceptions that they perceive about crime in our society today. The young 15 24 years of age perceive their risk of victimisation to be high and statistics show that in 2005 th is age group had the highest victimisation rate for crimes against the person ( Australian Institute of Criminology, 2006). ConclusionFear of crime in our society has far reaching implications, Australia has an aging population that exhibits one of the highest levels of fear of crime that can be attributed to feelings of vulnerability, yet statistics have shown the elderly to be the least likely to be victims of crime. Their perceived fear of victimisation has lead to changes in their lifestyles in order to protect themselves, based on misconceived notions that they are the most victimised in society.The young aged 16-24 years of age also have a high level of perceived risk from crime but this is in proportion to the victimisation rates recorded for this age group. Perceptions of fear and perceived risk of crime are contributed to by the medias portrayal of crimes that have a violent or sexual nature which further serves to contribute to a growing fear of crime. The fact that societ y tends to get its views and beliefs of crime and criminal justice from the media means that misconceptions about the perceived risk of victimisation tend to be over the top and misinformed.References Australian Institute of Criminology 2006, Australian Crime facts and figures 2005, Crime Facts Info, no. 120, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001, Measuring Wellbeing Frameworks for Australian Social Statistics, 2001, cat. no. 4160. 0 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008-2009, Crime Victimisation, Australia, cat. no 4530. 0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. 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