Dangerous places and the unpredictable stranger: Constructions of fear of crime

This article presents findings from a predominantly qualitative study on fe ar of crime among a group of Australians, using individual interviews and f ocus groups. The discussion focuses on the ways in which the participants i dentified particular spatial and temporal dimensions of crime, and identifi es the social groups and individuals upon which people projected their fear . Feelings of fear are dynamic and contextual, constantly subject to reasse ssment and change depending on such factors as the time of day or night, in dividuals' past experiences of crime, their familiarity and experience with an area, the presence or absence of others in a particular location at a p articular time, and circuits of localised knowledges. Feelings of uncertain ty and loss of control were central to the identification of dangerous plac es and dangerous others. The participants' fear tended to be in relation to the figure of the 'unpredictable stranger' - someone who is Other to one's Self, an individual who does not share one's own approach to life, one's p rinciples and sensibilities.