Fear Of Crime Case Study

As a South African citizen the probability of not being directly or indirectly exposed to crime is brutally slim (Harris & Radealli, 2007). In other countries, conversations in and around the households are fairly universal (Von Klemperer, 2009). Sadly the same can’t be said for South Africa. In South African households, conversations relate to crime (Von Klemperer, 2009). Fear of crime can be defined as an inclusion of unclear emotional states, perceptions of risk and viewpoints, which in essence will be different for each and every individual (Wynne, 2008).

In a recent survey done by Statistics South Africa, it was reported that in all carjackings, a gun is used 92.8% of the time, other weapons are used 7.2% of the time and an axe or panga
It was found that fear of crime was related to traumatic stress symptomology, whether there has been direct or indirect exposure to violent crime (Engelbreght,
This was an initiative by the community police forum in an effort to make Centurion safer and simultaneously to assist the SAPS in fighting and preventing crime (CCC, 2014). The members of Centurion Concerned Citizens are all devoting their own time, money and efforts to make Centurion safer (CCC, 2014). Although the researcher believes that communities should stand together to combat crime, the researcher is also of the view that various platforms such as the ones mentioned, contribute to a greater fear of crime. The reason for this belief is mainly due to the observation of hysterical and irrational questions and responses by the researcher whereby individuals of the community ask a question about a loud bang with the immediate assumption that it was a gunshot and upon investigation from the CCC it was determined it was only a motor vehicle “backfiring”.

This research project undertook to gauge the level of fear of crime experienced by individuals within the Centurion community. The researcher endeavoured to establish the extent to which crime in South Africa or more directly in the Centurion community are affecting the quality of life of individuals. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of fear of crime in the community and secondly the researcher looked at how these perceived levels of fear impact on the number of precautionary behaviours that individuals undertake