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EN
One of the more important effects of the political transformation in Central and Eastern Europe is the emergence of the problem of criminality in the social awareness of the inhabitants of these countries. After a long period in which information on the risk of crime was controlled (unless it concerned crimes against the Socialist state) the societies of this part of Europe were deluged by information on criminal incidents and by opinions and discussions on the subject of criminality. Crime in itself became an article “sold” in the media and a political football. Fear of crime, which had scarcely existed prior to the transformation, appeared as a phenomenon in the social consciousness. Influencing the heightened fear of crime to a certain extent was a rise in criminality and a change in its nature, but more importantly a general state of uncertainty brought about by the deconstruction of life as it used to be and the established rules on which society functioned. Criminality and the related feeling of danger is already probably a permanent element in the public face of politicians mainly, but not exclusively, from populist parties. In light of the tough attitudes manifest in Polish society, supporting harsh punishment, it is unsurprising that politicians are quick to include punitive slogans in their election programs in hopes of boosting their opinion poll ratings. Their calls for the toughening up of criminal responsibility are founded on related public expectations. It is not a new phenomenon. It was also present in the communist years when the will of society, to which communist politicians referred to when justifying their increasingly absurd ideas about penal policy, was to a significant degree a propaganda creation made by the media they themselves controlled. It is still the same today, the only thing that has changed is how the media is “controlled” or shall we say “influenced” by the politicians. While there are many differences between the countries that in the last twenty years experienced the transformation from communism to democracy, they are starting to be subject to the same rules as “mature” Western European democracies. The same processes can be seen in the behavior of politicians with regard to troubling social phenomena and similar reactions by the media to crime and the reported fall in the fear of crime.
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EN
Fear of crime has been researched since late 1960s and is commonly recognized one of the most frequent issue investigated in contemporary criminology. Definition of the fear of crime, its operability by means of particular investigation methods and techniques, and its macro-, meso-, and micro-social conditioning factors are widely discussed in the scientific literature on the subject. This article describes methodological aspects of research on this issue and particular questionnaire questions formulated in such research. The most frequent method used in research on fear of crime is to use particular questionnaire questions asked to respondents on quantitative surveys. There are attempts to use other research methods and techniques such as in-depth and focus interviews or content analysis. Among qualitative research, there are two predominant methods of fear measurement and, what follows, its definition and analysis. The first assumes a single question (e.g. how safe one feels on a lonely evening walk) with closed categories of responses. Choosing a category by the respondent is deemed to be an indicator of fear. The second method assumes that fear of crime is a continuous quantitative variable created by a scale which sums up responses to a series of questions on particular aspects of fear (e.g. fear of various types of crimes). The results obtained by the first method are presented as a percentage of respondents afraid of becoming a victim of crime which percentage is to reflect fear of crime level in a society. A relationship with other variables within to-dimensional analyses (e.g. using cross-tables) and multidimensional (e.g. with the use of logistic regression) are also investigated. Presenting one-dimensional results from the second method of measurement is much less understandable since it relies on an abstract arithmetic mean which is impossible to interpret. At the same time, however, they enable to define the level of fear (and not only the sole fact of its occurrence or lack of occurrence) and to use more precise techniques of two- and multi-dimensional analysis such as comparison of means and linear regression. It is worth to not that precise determination of the number, form and way of asking such questions is subject to constant debate in the literature which has not been decided so far.
EN
Over the years both scientists and scholars have been interested in fear of crime because it ranks among the most important indicators of the effectiveness of the fight against crime. Although this phenomenon is widely studied abroad, there are only a handful of Czech studies that discuss it in depth. The aim of this article is to broaden the scope of research in this area. The article maps the possible causes and consequences of fear of crime in reference to the literature and the specific milieu of the Czech Republic. The author draws on a representative sample of 2836 respondents from the fifth wave of the European Social Survey. Consistent with findings in international research the data suggest that a perceived risk of victimisation is a significant factor influencing respondents’ fear. Conversely, indicators of vulnerability, such as gender and satisfaction with family income or victimisation, although statistically significant, explain only a small part of the variability of the dependent variable. Rather they act vicariously right through the perceived risk of victimisation. Finally, the data suggest that fear of crime can play an important role in shaping attitudes towards different social institutions, in particular the police. A higher fear of crime correlates with/is associated with a worse assessment of police effectiveness.
EN
The paper examines recent developments in fear of crime in the Czech Republic. The dynamics of fear and concerns are on the rise, although the standard measure of fear has reached an average, stabilized level when compared to the rest of Europe. However, there is another emerging subject of concern, maybe even a new scapegoat for the public’s worries – corruption. This text demonstrates an evident increase in concerns about corruption as well as instances of bribery in everyday practice. Although the transition to democracy in the Czech Republic after 1989 offered a picture of a “tolerant” society, accepting the necessary social costs of change, the conclusion about “risk normalization” is not quite valid when it comes to corruption: the concerns about corruption go beyond the sphere of public opinion (i.e. attitudes) as Czech citizens exhibit high involvement in bribery in everyday life. The increase in concerns about corruption also presents a serious risk with respect to people’s trust in the social system and its key institutions.
EN
Searching factors correlated with the fear of crime is – together with estimating intensity of the fear of crime – one of the fundamental topics of many research projects devoted to this issue. It has been already investigated whether the fear of crime is correlated with such factors as age, sex, place of residence, level of education or previous victimization experiences. The aim of this research is to determine whether fear of crime can be correlated with sexual orientation.Author makes an assumption that non-heterosexuals can experience fear connected with probability of being the victim of a crime more often than others because of their minority status and bias in the society.In order to verify the hypothesis author conducted qualitative research (internet questionnaire)among 285 people. To reach members of such particular group as non-heterosexuals the purposive (judgmental) sampling has been chosen.Admittedly the research has not confirmed correlation between fear of crime and any of pre-sented factors, probably because of the specificity of the structure of the observed group. The author’s recommendation is to conduct either additional quantitative research or research based on the representative group (random selection).
EN
Criminological analyses of fear of crime conducted to date have lead to formulating many various ways of defining this phenomenon and to concepts explaining its intensity and diversity. This article assumes that the most effective definition (by Sandra Walklate) is that fear of crime is partly rational and partly irrational state of anxiety or fear caused by belief that the individual is at risk of becoming a crime victim. Basic hypotheses regarding factors influencing level of fear concern such aspects as: victimization experiences and objective crime risk level; socio-demographic characteristics of individuals and psychological features which define their sensitivity to dangers and risks, features of environment where an individual lives, and in particular manifestations of social disorganization, size of local population, and presence of social ties, mutual trust, common goals and values among local residents; actions of persecution organs and the justice system and their social perception; macro-social factors (such as quality of social security) as well as media reports and politicians’ actions. Multi-dimensional models of fear of crime constructed by researchers integrate these hypotheses into complex system which offer much more explaining power and possibility of presentation of relations between particular variables in question. The conducted research presented in the article aimed to present the level of crime fear perceived in Poland and other European countries as well as to find social, demographic, and macro-social factors conditioning that fear. The research was based on secondary data analysis from several editions of International Victimisation Studies, Polish Crime Study, and last issue of European Social Survey. Analysis of the crime level in Poland revealed there has been a definite, almost twofold, decrease of percentage of persons declaring such fear during the past 20 years. In the beginning of 21st century, Poles perceived above-European average fear of crime. In 2010 it was lower than in most European countries. As a result of conducted two-dimensional analyses, it was established that crucial factors influencing perceived lack of security contributed to the following hypotheses: victimization, sensitivity to risks, disorganization and urbanization and those focusing on the action of prosecution and macro-social characteristics of inhabited locations. Used techniques of classification tree allowed for initial examination of joint influence of particular independent and dependent variables as well as for separation of many interesting groups of respondents regarding frequency of occurrence of fear of crime. Above-average fear of crime was characteristic of women from middle-sized and big cities who had been victims of crime against property and of men who had been victims of crime against property or as-sault and lived in areas where unemployment was below average.
EN
The subject of this article is the impact of closed institutions – the National Center for Prevention ofDissocial Behavior and the Penitentiary – on the functioning of the inhabitants of Gostynin and Sztum in terms of city development, fnances, opinions about the town and sense of security. The article contains a theoretical elaboration of the legal basis for the functioning of KOZZD and the controversies that arise around it, an analysis of media reports about the examined institutions, as well as the methodological basis and results of the research.
PL
Przedmiotem artykułu jest wpływ instytucji zamkniętych – Krajowego Ośrodka Zapobiegania Zachowaniom Dyssocjalnym w Gostyninie i Zakładu Karnego w Sztumie – na rozwój miast, fnansów lokalnych, opinii o miejscowości i poczucia bezpieczeństwa mieszkańców. Artykuł zawiera teoretyczne opracowanie podstaw prawnych funkcjonowania KOZZD oraz pojawiających się wokół niego kontrowersji, analizę doniesień medialnych na temat badanych instytucji, a także metodologiczne podstawy i wyniki przeprowadzonych badań. The subject of this article is the impact of closed institutions – the National Center for Prevention of Dissocial Behavior and the Penitentiary – on the functioning of the inhabitants of Gostynin and Sztum in terms of city development, fnances, opinions about the town and sense of security. The article contains a theoretical elaboration of the legal basis for the functioning of KOZZD and the controversies that arise around it, an analysis of media reports about the examined institutions, as well as the methodological basis and results of the research.
EN
The aim of the study is to present the results of a quantitative research study entitled“Security in Cracow”, which investigated the fear of crime among the city’s citizensin the years 2014–2016. Under the Agreement for Security concluded between the Cityof Cracow and the Jagiellonian University in 2014, the survey is held two times each year.Both the Agreement and the concept of the presented research arose from the moralpanic that was visible in Cracow in the second half of 2013, following several casesof serious offences committed by football hooligans and a widely publicised homicideof a young student in September 2013.Empirical analysis of the fear of crime faces numerous theoretical and methodolo -gical problems. For the purpose of the present research, an operational definition of fearof crime was adopted, according to which fear of crime is similar to the psychologicalconstruct of attitude, comprised of three components: cognitive, affective and be -havioural. The research was additionally intended to verify the selected hypotheseson the causes of fear of crime, that is the victimisation hypothesis, the vulnerabilityhypothesis and the reduction of social control hypothesis.The research was conducted via telephone interviews (CATI, Computer AssistedTelephone Interviews) six times – in March and September 2014 (N = 1815 andN = 1770), June and September 2015 (N = 1808 and N = 1811), April and September2016 (N = 1820 and N = 1803). The sample was representative for the gender, ageand the district of the city’s residents. The questionnaire included 33 items: 13 itemson the demographic and social participants’ characteristics, and 20 concerning:a) prob lems and threats encountered in Cracow, b) the respondents’ sense of safetyin Cracow, their district of residence and the nearest surroundings, c) victimisation,the likelihood of becoming a victim to a crime, the means adopted to prevent crime,and d) the attitudes towards the services responsible for security and public order.To measure the fear of crime, an index was constructed based on the questionnaireitems referring to its three components. In the light of the results of the past six roundsof the study, the level of the citizens’ fear can be estimated as low. However, a moderatelysized group of citizens was identified whose fear of crime was at a considerable leveland who – in future research – ought to be addressed in a more qualitative manner toexplore the underlying causes of their fear.Evidence was found to support the victimisation hypothesis, according to whichfear of crime is correlated with the experience of being an actual victim of a crime.Additionally, the vulnerability hypothesis that claims fear of crime results fromperceiving oneself as a potential target of criminal activity was partially corroboratedin the light of the obtained results. Evidence was found to support the fear of crimeparadox with reference to gender, though not to age differences. Finally, the reductionof the social control hypothesis states that fear of crime is related to the condition andstrength of the local communities. The obtained results suggest that the respondents’fear of crime is correlated with the perceived disorder in the nearest surroundings, butno evidence has been found that it is related to the disintegration of neighbourhoodties.Fear of crime remains an important social issue which influences the quality ofcitizens’ lives on the individual (personal) level, the level of local communities and onthe macrosocial one. To maximise citizens’ security, it is essential to undertake actionsaddressed to the objective (minimisation of threats and/or dangers) and subjective(focus on citizens’ sense of safety) understanding of safety.The research in question is unique on both the national and the internationallevel. Periodical analyses of this sort based on the same research questionnaire providea rare opportunity to investigate temporal and spatial dynamics of the phenomenonin question. The authors believe that the presented research will contribute to scientificdiscussion concerning the methods of measuring fear of crime and will allow the safety stakeholders to recognise the need for research-based community crime prevention programmes.
EN
This methodological essay describes and advocates using certain psychoanalytic techniques for ethnography. It focuses on the self analysis of the ethnographer using evenly hovering attention, dream analysis, and free association. It presents an argument that using those techniques enhances the goal of ethnography as a human science and of social research. Fear of crime serves as a point of departure for the methodological argument. Finally, it links psychoanalytic ethnography to a fractal model of society and the self with reference to C. S. Peirce’s theory of semiotics as a link between the individual and society.
EN
The issue of fear of crime was first addressed in the late 1960s in the United States of America in connection with the emergence of anxiety about crime in the society. Due to the fact that the concept of fear of crime involves a greater range of negative associations, suggesting the fact of experiencing emotions, and not a certain way of perceiving reality, the concept of a sense of security was adopted for the purposes of this research. Hence, the aim of this study is to show the interdependencies between the sense of security and crime based on a review of the available literature and research conducted so far. As shown by theoretical research, the sense of security of an individual depends on many factors, both in terms of its increase and decrease, and not exclusively on the levels of crime. This paper constitutes an extension of the theoretical research contained in the publication entitled “Sense of Security and Crime: The Residents' Perspective”.
PL
Pierwsze użycie i zwrócenie uwagi na pojęcie lęku przed przestępczością (fear of crime) miało miejsce w drugiej połowie lat 60. XX wieku w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki Północnej w związku z pojawieniem się w społeczeństwie niepokoju dotyczącego przestępczości. Z uwagi że pojęcie lęku przed przestępczością niesie za sobą większy zakres negatywnych skojarzeń, sugerując fakt przeżywania emocji, a nie pewien sposób postrzegania rzeczywistości, na potrzeby prowadzonych badań przyjęto pojęcie poczucie bezpieczeństwa. Stąd też celem opracowania jest próba ukazania wzajemnych zależności pomiędzy poczuciem bezpieczeństwa a przestępczością w oparciu o przegląd literatury oraz dotychczas przeprowadzonych badań naukowych. Jak wynika z przeprowadzonych badań teoretycznych, poczucie bezpieczeństwa jednostki zależy od wielu czynników, zarówno w kontekście jego wzrostu, jak i spadku, a nie jedynie od poziomu przestępczości. Niniejszy artykuł naukowy stanowi rozwinięcie teoretycznych badań zawartych w publikacji Sense of Security and Crime: The Residents’ Perspective.
EN
This article aims to introduce the reader of a new magazine to the context of thinking about crime in the Czech Republic, both at the level of theory and research. In this regard, we consider it crucial to outline the development of Czech criminology, its long tradition and promising present, and inform about main directions of current research in the field. The second task appears certainly more difficult since it forces us to make a selection and our criteria of any such selection may become the subject of dispute. It is to present the most important projects, which – paradoxically – cross the horizons of the Czech basin and integrate the Czech Criminology into a wider, international context.
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PL
Poszukiwanie zmiennych związanych z częstym doświadczaniem strachu przed przestępczością jest jednym z podstawowych zadań, jakie podejmuje się, obok określania jego rozmiarów, w różnorakich projektach badawczych poświęconych temu zagadnieniu. Dotychczas badano, czy strach przed przestępczością związany może być z takimi cechami jak wiek, płeć, miejsce zamieszkania, poziom wykształcenia czy doświadczenia wiktymizacyjne. Na potrzeby niniejszego projektu postanowiono zastanowić się, czy (częstsze) doświadczanie strachu przed przestępczością może być związane z orientacją seksualną. Przyjęto założenie, że osoby nieheteroseksualne mogą doświadczać częściej obaw związanych z możliwością stania się ofarą przestępstwa z uwagi na ich mniejszościowy status oraz zakorzenione w społeczeństwie uprzedzenia. W celu weryfkacji zakładanej hipotezy przeprowadzono badania ilościowe (ankietę internetową) na grupie 285 osób. W celu dotarcia do szczególnej grupy, jaką są osoby nieheteroseksualne, przyjęto dobór celowy próby. Badania co prawda nie wykazały istnienia związków z prawie żadnymi zmiennymi, jednakże wypada wskazać na specyfkę związaną ze strukturą grupy. Rekomendowane jest przeprowadzenie ponownych badań opartych o metody jakościowe, bądź też na grupie reprezentatywnej (stosując dobór losowy).   Searching factors correlated with the fear of crime is – together with estimating intensity of the fear of crime – one of the fundamental topics of many research projects devoted to this issue. It has been already investigated whether the fear of crime is correlated with such factors as age, sex, place of residence, level of education or previous victimization experiences. The aim of this research is to determine whether fear of crime can be correlated with sexual orientation. Author makes an assumption that non-heterosexuals can experience fear connected with probability of being the victim of a crime more often than others because of their minority status and bias in the society.In order to verify the hypothesis author conducted qualitative research (internet questionnaire)among 285 people. To reach members of such particular group as non-heterosexuals the purposive (judgmental) sampling has been chosen.Admittedly the research has not confirmed correlation between fear of crime and any of pre sented factors, probably because of the specificity of the structure of the observed group. The author’s  recommendation  is  to  conduct  either  additional  quantitative  research  or  research based on the representative group (random selection).
EN
Searching factors correlated with the fear of crime is – together with estimating intensity of the fear of crime – one of the fundamental topics of many research projects devoted to this issue. It has been already investigated whether the fear of crime is correlated with such factors as age, sex, place of residence, level of education or previous victimization experiences. The aim of this research is to determine whether fear of crime can be correlated with sexual orientation. Author makes an assumption that non-heterosexuals can experience fear connected with probability of being the victim of a crime more often than others because of their minority status and bias in the society.In order to verify the hypothesis author conducted qualitative research (internet questionnaire)among 285 people. To reach members of such particular group as non-heterosexuals the purposive (judgmental) sampling has been chosen.Admittedly the research has not confirmed correlation between fear of crime and any of pre sented factors, probably because of the specificity of the structure of the observed group. The author’s  recommendation  is  to  conduct  either  additional  quantitative  research  or  research based on the representative group (random selection).
EN
The development of urban settings has long been an exclusive domain of urban architects and local decision-makers. Nevertheless, with the highlighting in recent years of endogenous approaches to spatial development, there are increasing efforts to involve local populations in the process of planning. Their involvement and a bottom-up approach are two basic elements of sustainability in spatial development. This article describes this approach in the context of mapping locations with a high fear of crime factor in the town of Přerov. In general terms, mapping of places of negative reputation is important for the local decision-making sphere as it generates spatial information and knowledge for strategic planning of spatial development. In other words, it aims at measures for the reduction or elimination of fear in the population and, as a consequence, improvement in the quality of life in urban settings. Therefore, participative mapping of locations of fear of crime can be considered as the inhabitants’ contribution to the development of their towns/cities. In this respect, though, it is necessary to distinguish consistently between locations with a high fear of crime factor and those with a genuine increase in crime and law infringement. In fact, numerous locations with low evidence of crime or law infringement have retained their fear-inspiring image. Fear of crime is highly subjective and influenced by a variety of factors. In spite of this, because of its powerful impact on the quality of life, it is necessary for these locations to be addressed by professionals in spatial development.
CS
Rozvoj urbánního prostředí byl dlouhou dobu výhradní doménou městských architektů a místní decizní sféry. V posledních letech, kdy je kladen důraz na endogenní přístup k rozvoji území, se však stále častěji objevují snahy vtáhnout do procesu plánování také místní obyvatelstvo. Právě „bottom-up“ přístup a zapojení místních obyvatel do tohoto procesu vytváří jeden ze základních stavebních kamenů udržitelnosti rozvoje území. Článek představuje výše zmíněný přístup v kontextu mapování míst strachu z kriminality na příkladu města Přerov. Mapování takto negativně vnímaných míst je v obecné rovině velmi důležité pro místní decizní sféru, neboť díky takto zjištěné prostorové informaci mohou získané poznatky sloužit jako užitečný podklad ke strategickému plánování rozvoje území, respektive pro efektivní zacílení různých opatření, která by měla vést k omezení až eliminaci lidmi pociťovaného strachu, a v konečném důsledku ke zvýšení kvality života ve městě. Participativní mapování míst strachu z kriminality tak může být vnímáno jako příspěvek obyvatel k rozvoji svého města. V tomto ohledu je však potřeba důsledně odlišovat místa strachu z kriminality a místa s reálným výskytem většího počtu trestných činů či přestupků. Nezřídka se totiž stává, že místa s nízkou evidencí trestných činů (či přestupků) mají i tak image místa, které vyvolává v lidech strach. Vnímání strachu z kriminality je značně subjektivní záležitost, na kterou má vliv mnoho faktorů. Přesto je zapotřebí, aby se problematikou míst strachu zabývali kompetentní lidé mající v gesci územní rozvoj, neboť toto téma má velký vliv na kvalitu života obyvatel.
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