An interesting experiment to determine what contributes to people’s fear of crime in cities will shortly get underway in Sheffield.

How much do litter, graffiti, broken street lighting and dilapidated buildings play a role in fear of cime? Or does people’s social and cultural knowledge play a stronger role in shaping people’s fears? An innovative experiment in Sheffield, which is organised as part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Festival of Social Science (12 -21 March), aims to find out.

Members of the public are invited to participate in the experiment called:‘Fear and loathing in Sheffield: Public fear in an urban landscape.’ The experiment will explore the factors that contribute to people’s fear of crime. In Britain, the fear of crime outweighs the actual risk of crime but because the fear of crime is damaging to people’s wellbeing it is often seen as a social problem in its own right.

Under the guidance of Dr Camilla Priede of Sheffield University participants will be provided with disposable cameras to photograph elements in a local neighbourhood that provoke fear or unease. Following this, participants will be asked to share their attitudes and experiences towards the areas that have been photographed.

“Taking photos of areas that people fear will help identify physical factors that may bring about unease,” says Dr Priede of the Centre for Criminological Research at the University of Sheffield. “And by asking participants to share their perceptions and views towards certain landscape we can explore how much people’s knowledge and familiarity of an area shape their fear.”

The information gathered during the experiments will help inform research into people’s fear of crime and how such fear can be reduced.

Full article and contact details can be found on the ESRC’s website here

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