The Effects of Violent Crime Media on College Students' Fear of Crime

Previous literature indicated that fear of crime can develop through overconsumption of the media. Fear of crime is the ideology that crime rates are rising in a specific area, while the rates are the same or going down. Specifically, this design focuses on how various media sources may affect different individuals’ fear of crime. Participants completed a voluntary survey with multiple Likert-scale questions to accurately gauge their fear of crime. The hypothesis was that the amount of media pertaining to crime that an individual observed would negatively affect how an individual perceived the rate of crime in their area or increase their fear of crime. In addition, low economic status among college students was expected to increase the chance of developing a fear of crime. The results illustrated a positive correlation between social media exposure to crime, level of crime experienced, and fear of crime. The results did not find a positive correlation between economic status and fear of crime. Implications of this study include questions that were not asked that could influence the participants’ fear of crime. The questionnaire did not ask participants for information regarding their local police chapter. Likewise, the questions did not cover the surrounding environments of participants in great detail.

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Work Title The Effects of Violent Crime Media on College Students' Fear of Crime
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Sierra Wells
License No Copyright - U.S.
Work Type Article
Acknowledgments
  1. Faculty Advisor: Melanie D. Hetzel-Riggin
Publication Date 2022
Deposited May 03, 2022

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    Acknowledgments
    • Faculty Advisor: Melanie D. Hetzel-Riggin
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