Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chadee, D.
Right arrow Articles by Ditton, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

The British Journal of Criminology 43:417-433 (2003)
© 2003 Centre for Crime & Justice Studies (formerly ISTD)

Are Older People Most Afraid of Crime? Revisiting Ferraro and LaGrange in Trinidad

Derek Chadee and Jason Ditton*

*Psychological Research Centre, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad; Department of Law, University of Sheffield, UK, respectively.

This research paper revisits Ferraro and LaGrange's (1992) fear of crime and age study, here using survey data from the Caribbean island of Trinidad but adopting similar methods and statistical analyses. A multi-stage cluster design was used with 728 randomly selected adults. The overall simple correlations for fear of crime and age are low and negative for both males (–.16) and for females (–.04). The same is true for 17 of the 20 separate gender-victimization categories (the other 3 being statistically insignificant low positives). Self-rating of risk follows much the same pattern. The overall simple correlations for risk of victimization and age are low and negative for both males (–.16) and for females (–.03). The same is also true for 15 of the 20 separate gender-victimization categories (the other 5 being statistically insignificant low positives). Contrary to much of the literature, which suggests that the very aged are supposed to feel ‘prisoners’ in their own homes, here they are found to be the least afraid of all. This study offers no evidence for the proposition that the fear of crime increases, in a simple linear way, with age.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br J CriminolHome page
S. Moore and J. Shepherd
The Elements and Prevalence of Fear
Br. J. Criminol., January 1, 2007; 47(1): 154 - 162.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Br J CriminolHome page
D. Chadee, L. Austen, and J. Ditton
The Relationship Between Likelihood and Fear of Criminal Victimization: Evaluating Risk Sensitivity as a Mediating Concept
Br. J. Criminol., January 1, 2007; 47(1): 133 - 153.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.