Who do you fear? A Study of Fear of Crime and Risk Perception in Context of the Relationship Between Victim and Perpetrator

Abstract: The current study aims to clarify the relationship between fear of crime and risk perception, age, gender, direct victimization and indirect victimization. The study also aims to explore how the relationship between victim and perpetrator affect the victim’s fear of crime and risk perception. A survey concerning fear of crime, risk perception, known/unknown perpetrator and earlier victimization was answered by 588 respondents, 397 females and 172 males. The survey was created by the authors of the current study. It was written in Swedish, and emailed to psychology students at the local university. Age and risk perception were significant predictors to fear of crime, which is in line with previous research. The relationship between victim and perpetrator was explored in relation to different crime types, age, gender and earlier victimization.