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Part 2: Women's Fear of Crime

Women's Fear of Crime. Once you complete the lessons on this page, you will read the first three chapters of Esther Madriz's path breaking book, Nothing Bad Happens to Good Girls. An awful lot has been written recently about the fear of crime. As Madriz points out in her book, the fear of crime has replaced crime itself as one of the more pressing social problems of our day. More importantly, her conversations with women about their fears breathes life into government data that document the fact that significantly more women than men are fearful of crime. Thus, the fear of crime has become a woman's issue.

The Consequences of Crime Fear. Madriz claims that fear of crime is one of the few experiences that all women share. What makes her book so provocative is that her analysis conceptualizes women's fear of crime as a cause as much as a consequence. What I mean by that is that conventional studies of women's fears have sought to look at what causes such fear. Madriz takes the next step and asks what are the social and economic consequences of crime fear. If you take a moment to think about it, such a shift in emphasis is no small thing. Madriz is arguing that the fear of crime (whether it is founded or unfounded) has profound implications, not just for our sense of safety, but for our economic security as well.

The Fear of Crime Paradox. A major contribution of Madriz's work lies in it's identification of an interesting paradox. Few of us have ever questioned why more women than men fear crime. After all, the answer seems to be a matter of common sense: women are more fearful simply because we are more vulnerable than our mail counterparts. But Madriz and other researchers have lifted the veil of this common sense notion to reveal a remarkable paradox. Uniform crime report data consistently show that it is men, not women, who are at greatest risk of crime victimization. So, while women's fear of crime is higher than that of men's, their rates of victimization are much lower than their male counterparts. As you read this book, see if you can discover how Madriz explains the existence of this paradox.

Diversity of Experience. A near universal experience among women who are fearful of crime is fear of male violence. Madriz's analysis reveals, however, that not all women's fears are the same. Race, class, ethnicity and age construct differences that have important implications for crime control policy. As you progress through these three chapters, see if you can identify those fears that are different from your own and ask yourself what accounts for the difference--is it race? ethnicity? nationality? region? or age?

The Social Function of Crime Fear. One of the most provocative assertions in this book is the notion that crime serves an important social function--it keeps women "in line." Fear of crime acts as an internalized prison that motivates women to be monogamous, remain chaste, be obedient daughters and caring mothers. In short, the "boogey man" is a straw man that maintains family structures and social harmony. As you read, investigate the texture of your own prison walls. How has your fear of crime kept you walking along the "straight and narrow."

Once you have finished this online lesson,  you are ready to read Chapters 1-3 of Madriz's book.