The relation between ethnic diversity and fear of crime: An analysis of police records and survey data in Belgian communities

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. In the framework of intergroup threat theory, it is routinely assumed that the presence of immigrant groups in a local community could contribute to fear of crime among the majority population. This could be explained by a direct relation between ethnic diversity and some forms of crime, but it can also be expected that stereotypes toward specific groups of the population contribute to a perception of group threat. In this article it is assessed how the real and perceived presence of immigrant groups and the occurrence of criminal acts are related to fear of crime. The analysis is based on a combination of newly available official police records and survey data for local municipalities in Belgium. The results show there is no significant relation between reported crime and fear of crime. The community level of ethnic diversity is, however, significantly related to fear of crime. The findings suggest that applications of group threat theory should not only focus on economic and cultural threat, but also on the perceived impact of diversity on crime and safety.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: The relation between ethnic diversity and fear of crime: An analysis of police records and survey data in Belgian communities journaltitle: International Journal of Intercultural Relations articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.11.002 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe