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Social Indicators Research
Published in: Social Indicators Research 3/2021

07-11-2020 | Original Research

Determinants of the Fear of Crime in Argentina and Brazil: A Cross-Country Comparison of Non-Criminal and Environmental Factors Affecting Feelings of Insecurity

Authors: Riccardo Valente, Mattia Vacchiano

Published in: Social Indicators Research | Issue 3/2021

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Abstract

Argentina and Brazil report the highest incidence of the fear of crime across Latin America. Although the spread of crime and victimization may explain these trends initially, the focus in this paper is on the significance of non-criminal factors in explaining the fear of crime, such as socio-economic vulnerability, educational level and trust in people and institutions, as well as exposure to violence at one’s place of residence. Using a subset of data from the 2017 edition of the Latinobarómetro survey (n = 2400), a regression analysis was conducted showing that the fear of crime is radically different between the two countries. In Argentina, as in certain European countries, people’s fears of crime are positively associated with socio-economic vulnerability and in turn negatively associated with state-driven violence. The latter has a protective effect on Argentinians’ feelings of insecurity, while in Brazil the fear of crime is to a greater extent a consequence of previous victimization and a general distrust in other people. Despite this key difference, our results shed light on the problem of social cohesion in both countries, suggesting that the fear of crime is a social rather than criminal issue.
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Footnotes
1
Venezuela is a partial exception to this trend. According to the 2017 Latinobarómetro survey, Venezuela is the country with the second highest percentage of respondents, after Brazil (82.8%), who are “all or almost all the time” concerned with becoming the victim of a violent crime (81.1%). However, Venezuela was deliberately excluded from our analysis due to the possible bias and overestimation of the fear of crime as a result of its current social and institutional crisis.
 
2
Both the Spanish and the Brazilian Portuguese versions of the questionnaire included a literal translation of the same question, respectively: “Cuán frecuentemente se preocupa Ud. de que pueda llegar a ser víctima de un delito con violencia”, and Com que frequência você se preocupa com se tornar vítima de um crime violento?
 
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Metadata
Title
Determinants of the Fear of Crime in Argentina and Brazil: A Cross-Country Comparison of Non-Criminal and Environmental Factors Affecting Feelings of Insecurity
Authors
Riccardo Valente
Mattia Vacchiano
Publication date
07-11-2020
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Social Indicators Research / Issue 3/2021
Print ISSN: 0303-8300
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0921
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02545-y

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