Students\u27 Perceptions of Crime

Imagine you are a student sitting in a classroom. Wouldn’t it be easy to look past the underlying secrets of the students around you; after all, ignorance is bliss? Everyone has secrets and some secrets include criminal activities. Some may possess and use illegal drugs, while others sell drugs, and some may have even committed violent crimes. News media sources indicate that crime is all around us, but it can be clandestine and manifest itself in some of the most heinous manners in our society. While law enforcement may possess a collection of insightful knowledge, experience, and education, a community may provide a broader overview regarding the underlying details that law enforcement may be missing. Utilizing data collected by way of a convenience sample survey conducted with Kent State University students, this project examines students’ opinions of factors that contribute to crime and how they would like to see crime resolved. Given concerns about campus safety, this research seeks to inform the current literature on issues of crime reduction.