feeling of insecurity is actually a relatively independent variable. It can develop differently than victimisation. Several countries have registered in the past few years a trend whereby crime is decreasing while the feeling of insecurity and fear of crime is going up.29 The fact that those who are least victimised (senior citizens and women) are most fearful is known in criminological literature as ‘the fear of crime paradox’.30 It is for that reason that local authorities attach great importance to the feeling of insecurity or, positively phrased, the sense of security of their citizens. Criminologists distinguish three dimensions of fear of crime31:
an affective dimension, the general perceived potential a cognitive dimension, the more specific judgment of the probability of becoming a victim of crime
a conative or behavioural dimension, the impact of the fear of crime on behaviour. This understanding of fear of crime allows to operationalise and measure a concept that is not easily observable. Surveys are key tools to measure the feeling of insecurity. Most of the large victimisation surveys include modules on perceived security. As the issue is of particular political interest, questions on the sense of security have occasionally been added to local, general population surveys, although they often measure only one aspect of the perceived insecurity. Tools such as the DEFUS sense of security monitor (see practice sheets in chapter 4) have designed and tested research questions to measure all three dimensions of the fear of crime. These tools with examples of tested questions are of importance as the accuracy of the measure
29- See for example Laurent Borredon (2012): Le sentiment d'insécurité augmente malgré la baisse du nombre de délits. In: Le Monde, 20.11.2012. 30- See for example Hale, C. (1996). Fear of crime: A review of the literature. International Review of Victimology, 4, 79-150. 31- See for example Skogan 1993.
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