| Popis: |
My overall aim within this thesis is to tackle a neglected area within criminological thought, that of male 'Fear of Crime'. My interest originated from the notion of a disparity between levels of 'fear' reported by men and women. Hough and Mayhew (1983) found that it was young working class men, particularly those that frequented pubs and clubs that were most at risk from personal attack albeit women and the elderly expressed most anxiety. This led to the depiction of those 'fears' that did not correspond to objective levels of risk as being 'irrational'. I suggest that in reality, these so called gender disparities 1 are attributable to the way in which 'fear' has been researched, most commonly by victim surveys, which exclude the particularities of experience and context. The aforementioned assumptions about men's 'fearlessness' of crime can be attributed, in part, to the dearth of information on the subject. There has been a prevalent assumption that men are naturally reticent and reluctant to discuss feelings/experiences (see Stanko and Hobdell 1993: 400). What is missing from the literature is a qualitative study that examines men's concerns around crime. I suggest that 'fear' cannot actually be 'measured', although men can be asked to recall 'fearful' moments. Consequently, this research focuses on the recalling of 'fearful' moments, the constructions of 'risk' grounded in experiences of victimization and those that are purely hypothetical. It is also important to provide men with opportunities to discuss other concerns because it is recognized that the 'Fear of Crime' can serve as an idiom for other insecurities (Merry, 1981). This might be particularly true for men because they may be less likely to be asked or expected to express 'fears' and concerns around crime. This research is aimed at addressing this gap in the literature by taking a qualitative approach that uses depth interviews to enable respondents to discuss concerns more broadly. The research is set within a particular geographical area and includes three age categories to discern whether there are differences in the masculine identities of my respondents at different life stages. If such differences do exist then, the question is, what impact do these have on concerns and 'fears' around crime and 'incivilities'?² In this way my study examines how men achieve masculine identities and concludes that concerns around crime and incivilities are intimately bound up with them as men. |
