Part of living in the late twentieth century: Notions of risk and fear in relation to crime

This article reports on some of the findings of a study into fear of me amo ng a group of Australians, examining the relationship between assessments o f personal risk of being a victim of six specified crimes and worry about b eing a victim of these crimes. The findings revealed that while the two are related, assessments of risk tended to be higher than assessments of worry in relation to the same crime. Participants drew on their perception of th eir own vulnerability based on such attributes as gender, age and everyday routines, their personal experiences of crime, knowledge of others' experie nces and media accounts to explain their assessments. Also underlying their notions of risk and fear were two paradoxical discourses on victimisation. The first discourse represents individuals as able to control their destin y and responsible for protecting themselves from crime. The second represen ted victimisation as a product of fate, against which it was impossible to fully protect oneself. It is argued that these notions of victimisation are underpinned by wider discourses in western societies that emphasise the vu lnerability of individuals to risk and danger but also the importance of ap proaching the world as an active, entrepreneurial subject who refuses the v ictim status.