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British Journal of Criminology Advance Access originally published online on December 24, 2007
British Journal of Criminology 2008 48(2):209-225; doi:10.1093/bjc/azm070
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The British Journal of Criminology 48:209-225 (2008)
© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

How Scared are We?

Sandra Walklate and Gabe Mythen*

* The School of Sociology and Social Policy, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7BZ; S.L.Walklate{at}liverpool.ac.uk.


  Abstract

This paper provides a historical overview of criminological uses of the concept of fear in relation to crime and criminal victimization. In it, we trace the developments of the ‘fear of crime’ debate, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and consider the extent to which historical and current discussions of it are able to adequately reflect the contemporary social condition. We go on to distinguish four different ways of interrogating victimhood—the cultural, political, interactional and the existential—that cast some light on the contemporary inadequacies of the fear-of-crime debate. In the conclusion, we advance a more holistic approach to fear that involves decentring crime and urges further research into interplay between local fears and global vistas of fear.


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