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Article: Crime fears and phobias.
- Article from:
- Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Australian Academic Press Pty. Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Is fear-of-crime a crime phobia? Based on the results from the Feelings about Crime Study, it was hypothesised that fear-of-crime has a positive relationship with the anxiety disorders of social phobia, blood injury phobia and agoraphobia. This hypothesis was constructed on the basis that both types of phenomena are founded on the same emotional response of fear. No evidence was found to support this hypothesis, Instead, it is argued that the results highlight the inaccuracy of the largely unquestioned tradition in fear-of-crime research that the public is afraid of crime. Without a solid understanding of how the public responds emotionally to crime, it is considered ...