Event

The Open Lectures Committee presents a Professorial Inaugural Lecture by Derek Chadee on the topic “Fear of Crime: To be or not to be afraid”. 

This event takes place at 5:30pm. 

Abstract

Crime and security is one of the major priority areas of concern in the country and Caribbean as a whole. Research undertaken over the last decade in Trinidad has shown that the proportion of citizens afraid of being victims of crime is substantially higher than the proportion of persons who are actual victims of violent crimes. Though fear of crime is not inherently negative, excessive rumination, discourse, and concern on the possibility of being a victim of crime generate a number of social and psychological  outcomes. Among these outcomes are anxiety, stress, stereotyping, prejudice and social responses including political debates and media hype which create a collective impact that negatively affect individual and community life. However, the disconnect  between the crime reality (objective assessment) and perceptions of likelihood of victimization (subjective assessment) together with  a number of social and psychological factors influence citizens’ fear of crime levels. This lecture draws on recent  empirical data on fear of victimization, police statistics and past crime research findings to provide insights into the dynamics of citizens’ fear of crime.