Perception of Safety in Gated and Non-Gated Neighborhoods

AbstractThe perception of safety from criminal threats has become a critical aspect on the quality of human life. One of the indicators in identifying fear of crime is the perception of safety (POS) level. The objective of this study is to compare the POS in individual gated residential (IGR) and individual non-gated residential (INGR) areas. This study found that POS is higher in gated residential areas (M=0.90, SD=0.32) compared to IGR areas (M=0.57, SD=0.23). The results show that the rates of income, victimization, fields of employment and periods of residing in the residential areas were significant to the perception of safety