Feelings of Safety in a Middle-Sized Town in Sweden

Abstract: Introduction: Fear of crime is widely studied in the criminological field and refers to the individual's perception and evaluation of a potential danger. Fear of crime holds both direct and indirect causes where direct causes refer to feelings of fear after previous victimization. Indirect causes refer to those who are frightened by the possibility to be victimized. Aim: This study aimed to explore the feelings of safety among the population in a middle-sized town in Sweden. Method: Data was collected using a replica of the National Safety Survey. This study used a simple randomized sample and the questionnaire was sent to 1010 participants, 298 responded to the survey, which meant a response rate of 29.5%. Results: Most of the participants in the studied city (87%) reported concern about the criminality. The female gender and earlier victimization were associated with higher levels of concern. The majority of the respondents reported feeling safe in their own neighborhood, but almost half of them felt unsafe in another area; where the residential area Nacksta, bus station and train station were distinctive. The respondents felt quite big trust for the police and the authorities, but earlier victimization and higher levels of concern for criminality were associated with lower levels of trust. Discussion: A discussion of the results regarding the concern for criminality, unsafe feelings and trust in the police is provided. The differences and similarities were discussed from a theoretical perspective and a comparison with the National Safety Survey has been made.