Fear of Crime and Punitiveness

As a subject area of inquiry and research, fear of crime and punitiveness have played an increasingly important role in criminology. Since the early 1990s, and emanating largely from within the United States, there has been a growing body of research as well as increased attention given to the subject by the media and policy-makers. In part, triggered by the fact that the Unites States has the highest imprisonment rate (approx. 780/100,000 in 2012) in the Western world and still has the death penalty in most states, increasing attention has been paid to the impact of peoples' perceptions of crime, their fear of possible victimization, and their sense of punitivity towards offenders. And although the body of literature on fear of crime and puntivity has been growing, there still remain many regions and countries of the world where there is a dearth of such research. This collection includes several of the countries where such research represents the first of its kind. The reader will be provided a broad overview of the subject and presented with varied observations about fear of crime and punitivity from different parts of the world. As the project represents a novel and exploratory venture into the subject area, the collective content provided in this collection will hopefully also serve to advance future research and inform sentencing policy and initiatives to address fear of crime.

As a subject area of inquiry and research, fear of crime and punitiveness have played an increasingly important role in criminology. Since the early 1990s, and emanating largely from within the United States, there has been a growing body of research as well as increased attention given to the subject by the media and policy-makers. In part, triggered by the fact that the Unites States has the highest imprisonment rate (approx. 780/100,000 in 2012) in the Western world and still has the death penalty in most states, increasing attention has been paid to the impact of peoples' perceptions of crime, their fear of possible victimization, and their sense of punitivity towards offenders. And although the body of literature on fear of crime and puntivity has been growing, there still remain many regions and countries of the world where there is a dearth of such research. This collection includes several of the countries where such research represents the first of its kind. The reader will be provided a broad overview of the subject and presented with varied observations about fear of crime and punitivity from different parts of the world. As the project represents a novel and exploratory venture into the subject area, the collective content provided in this collection will hopefully also serve to advance future research and inform sentencing policy and initiatives to address fear of crime.

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