News Releases

Fear of Crime: To be or not to be afraid

For Release Upon Receipt - March 20, 2015

St. Augustine


UWI hosts Derek Chadee’s inaugural lecture as Professor

ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – Crime and security is one of the major priority areas of concern in the country and Caribbean as a whole. Professor Derek Chadee, Head of the Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine will focus on the social and psychological outcomes of the fear of crime in the national community in his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on March 26.

Professor Chadee, who is also Director of the ANSA McAL Psychological Research Centre, notes that research undertaken over the last decade in Trinidad and Tobago shows 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 crime. This lecture will draw 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.

He has a number of international research collaborations in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe. Apart from his substantive research agenda, Professor Chadee is currently undertaking research on social norms, assessing the extent to which youth behaviours are governed by misperceived norms and is about to embark on a study to evaluate the effects of gambling in Trinidad and Tobago. Professor Chadee has completed a study on HIV/AIDS Stigmatization for the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC). The data from this study will inform the policies proposed by the NACC.In 2013, his project Crime Victimization and Fear of Crime Survey in Trinidad and Tobago was awarded funding of $549,600 by The UWI-Trinidad and Tobago Research and Development Impact Fund. In addition, Prof Chadee supervises a number of graduate students undertaking research on HIV/AIDS Stigmatization, Decision Making, Social Psychology of Fear of Crime.

These Professorial Inaugural lectures aim to showcase the research of The UWI’s recently appointed or promoted Professors for members of the wider community. The event, which takes place at the Learning Resource Centre at 5.30 pm, is free and open to the public. For further info on the lecture email Marketing.Communications@sta.uwi.edu or call 622 2002 ext. 83726.

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About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. Website: www.uwi.edu

 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

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