STUDIES ON FEAR OF CRIME AMONG WOMEN

Strah pred kriminaliteto je normalen odziv na kriminaliteto in številne študije so dokazale, da ima največji vpliv na ranljivo skupino oseb, v katero sodijo tudi ženske. V naši diplomski nalogi smo se osredotočili na dejavnike, ki bi pripomogli k večjemu razumevanju višjega strahu pred kriminaliteto pri ženskah. To bi doprineslo k lažjemu iskanju rešitev za tovrstno problematiko, ki vpliva na splošno počutje in vedenje žensk. Pri tem smo si pomagali s pregledom študij, opravljenih v tujini in Sloveniji. Želeli smo ugotoviti, kako se strah pred osebno viktimizacijo in altruistični strah odražata pri ženskah in pri moških. Zanimalo nas je, kako deluje hipoteza sence spolnega napada in kako vrsta razmerja med partnerjema vpliva na strah pred kriminaliteto pri ženskah. Ugotavljali smo tudi, ali na višji strah žensk pred kriminaliteto vpliva fizična, čustvena ali huda telesna zloraba bivših intimnih partnerjev in kako samoocena zdravja vpliva na strah pred kriminaliteto pri moških in pri ženskah. S pregledom študij smo ugotovili, da so tako moški kot tudi ženske poročali o altruističnem strahu, pri čemer je bil le-ta bolj prisoten pri ženskah. Medtem ko so moški povedali, da jih je strah za svoje partnerke in otroke, so ženske povedale, da se bojijo tudi za sosede in stare starše. Za moške je bil altruistični strah pogosto edini strah, pri ženskah pa je bil dodaten strah. Ugotovili smo, da ženske strah pred vlomom povezujejo s posledico spolnega napada, pri čemer se te nanašajo tako na strah pred spolno zlorabo kot tudi na strah pred telesnimi poškodbami na splošno. Spoznali smo, da je pri ločenih in ovdovelih ženskah občutek ogroženosti le 15 - 18% višji kot pri poročenih ženskah, kljub temu da je pri slednjih manjša možnost viktimizacije kot pri ovdovelih in ločenih. Pri posledicah viktimizacije so izstopale samske, saj jih je kar 66 % poročalo, da so doživljale anksioznost. Spoznali smo tudi, da fizične, čustvene in hude telesne zlorabe bivših intimnih partnerjev povečujejo strah pred kriminaliteto pri ženskah, pri čemer na strah pred kriminaliteto ne vpliva spolna zloraba, ki jo povzročijo intimni partnerji. Ugotovili smo tudi, da samoocena zdravja pripomore k strahu pred kriminaliteto, pri čemer statistično pomembnega učinka samoocenjevanja zdravja na strah pred nočno hojo po soseski pri moških ni bilo.Fear of crime is a normal response to crime and many studies have shown that the effection the vulnerable group of people, including women, is the strongest. In our dissertation we focused on elements that would contribute to a better understanding of higher fear of crime among women and our gathered knowledge would help us finding solutions regarding these issues on general well-being and behavior of women. In doing so, we reviewed studies made in Slovenia and abroad. We wanted to find out how the fear of personal victimization and altruistic fear reflected in women and men. We were interested in how works hypothesis shadow of sexual assault and what type of relationship between the partners influence on fear of crime among women. We also determined whether a higher fear of crime is connected to women\u27s physical, emotional or severe physical abuse former intimate partner and how self-perceived health impacts on fear of crime for men and women. The studies we reviewed have shown, that both, men and women reported altruistic fear, wherein the latter is more frequent at women. While men were reporting that they were afraid for their partners and children, were women also concerned about their neighbors and grandparents. For men was altruistic fear often the only fear whereas women had many others beside altruistic. We have found that women are linking fear assexual assault consequences, which is not only connected to sexual abuse, but also to fear of body injuries in general. We learned that only 15-18% more of widowed and divorced than married women feel unsafe, although the married ones have less chance of victimization as widowed and divorced. The consequences of victimization were more notable at single women, since as many as 66% reported that they had experienced anxiety. We also learned that the physical and mental abuse, caused by former intimate partners increases the fear of crime amongst women, while sexual abuse itself does not differ from other abuses when effecting on the level of fear. We also found out that self-perceived health status contributes to the fear of crime amongst women, while at men statistically significant connection betweenself-percieved health status and fear from walking alone at night was not found