Analysis of Fear of Crime in Women's Daily Mobility Patterns (Case Study: Municipality District 6)

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Urban Planning, Architecture Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor of human geography, Earth Science Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

3 PhD Candidate in Geography and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
When a crime is committed, the society’s view to the victim is like an injured who has lost his/her property, health, and other offences. Besides physical and financial harms of these crimes, there is a mental problem that is fear of crime, not actual probability of being a victim of crime. This can affect one’s life style and quality of life. Fear of crime is mental aspect of security that is a complicated phenomenon with various psychological, sociological and economical aspects. But all people don’t feel equally frightened of being a victim of crime. Researchers have found that women in their daily community feel more frightened and this affects their life style. They usually go where they feel more secure and where they know as secure through their experience, the news and so on. Therefore, when feeling insecure, the women avoid going certain times and certain places. Thus, this study examines the effects of individual characteristics and woman’s transportation patterns on fear of crime in Tehran Metropolis (The Case Study of Municipality District 6). 
Methodology
This study has been conducted by descriptive-analytical method. The data of this study have been collected by studying literature and documents and then field study using questionnaires in two levels of experts and inhabitants. The questionnaires  of the study were filled by 20 selected experts. Then, the questionnaires were specially designed for women living there. Random sampling was used to select subjects among the women aged 18 and above at the sixth municipal district (98164). Using Cochran formula, we have selected 321 people as sample.
The Cronbach’s alpha for the questionnaires was 0.896 and this indicated a accepted reliability. Eventually, the extracted data were entered SPSS for inferential statistical tests.     
Results and discussion 
The results of this analysis have indicated that most of the women (80%) answered that they feel insecure when commuting during evening and this number increased to 95% for commuting at night. Results of linear regression showed that level of fear is higher among younger people.  
The results of T-test with two independent sample indicated that single people feel more insecure than married persons. Thus, we can say that the highest level of fear of crime belongs to young single women at night. Also, the level of fear of crime was different in different days of week and it was increased at weekends or holidays. They felt more insecure when they go walking compared with using a vehicle, using public transportation compared with their own car, alone journeys compared with going with someone else, and going to an unfamiliar place compared with familiar areas.   
Conclusion
Since the transportation is decreased in weekends, we can say that feeling of insecurity is resulted from empty streets and an absence of citizens. At the end of the night, presence of citizens at the public places is decreased and causes a sense of fear. This can emphasize on the importance of informal surveillance to secure these places and consequently to increase the sense of security. They stated that they don’t like to use public transportation, when they have to wait at the station or they have to go on foot. At public places, they feel insecure where in enclosed places they feel more secure. They prefer to be accompanied with another person, specially a man, but the interesting point is that, being accompanied by children, they feel more secure than being accompanied by a woman. They might be afraid of sexual violations. Referring to an unfamiliar place, they experience the highest level of fear compared with other situations, and this is because of a lack of knowledge and personal information to distinguish secure and insecure places. This can be generalized to the situation in which the individual does not know where he wants to go and whether it is secure or not.     
It can be suggested that night economic activities and available emergency services can improve security on gender perspective at designing public transportation infrastructure. This can be helpful to solve the problems of feeling insecurity.  

Keywords

References

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Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR)
Volume 7, Issue 1
April 2019
Pages 21-38

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