The literature on fear of crime has grown rapidly in the last three decades. This paper examines the reasons for this growth and attempts to put some structure on the work to date. The inadequacies of measures of fear of crime are discussed and alternative approaches suggested. Alternative explanatory theories are compared and strategies for reducing fear reviewed.

Fear of crime: A review of the literature.

Purpose



– The purpose of this paper is to critically review the core findings from recently published place‐based crime prevention research. The paper aims to critically evaluate the available evidence on the contribution of crime prevention through environmental design as a crime prevention strategy.




Design/methodology/approach



– Large‐scale evaluations of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) are reviewed with a view to clarifying current knowledge on the evidence of crime prevention through environmental design.




Findings



– The review concludes that there is a growing body of research that supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is effective in reducing both crime and fear of crime in the community.




Research limitations/implications



– Although the paper may not review all the evaluations of CPTED, it nonetheless provides a detailed compilation and overview of the most significant research in the area, including an extensive and modern bibliography on the subject. Research implications will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.




Practical implications



– CPTED is an increasingly fashionable approach and is being implemented on a global scale. Additionally, individual components such as territoriality, surveillance, maintenance, access control, activity support and target‐hardening are being widely deployed. However, the evidence currently available is inconclusive and much criticised, which effectively prevents widespread intervention and investment by central government. The paper details the difficulties associated with demonstrating the effectiveness of CPTED.




Originality/value



– The paper concludes that although empirical proof has not been definitively demonstrated, there is a large and growing body of research, which supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is a pragmatic and effective crime prevention tool. This review provides an extensive bibliography of contemporary crime prevention through environmental design and a follow‐up paper will discuss the future research priorities for it.

/pdf/crime-prevention-through-environmental-design-cpted-a-review-2hjujoj994.pdf

Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): a review and modern bibliography

This article reviews the literature on fear of crime of interest to the geographical and environmental disciplines After discussing definitional and methodological issues, the article focuses on accounts which link fear with the physical environment, and then on fear, social identity and exclusion It considers the significance of one area of recent research that attempts to link place and social relations through developing local ethnographies of fear The review concludes with some suggestions for building upon this work, and highlights the relevance of the geographical themes discussed to current policy debates

http://www1.geo.ntnu.edu.tw/~moise/Data/Books/Social/08%20part%20of%20theory/place,%20social%20relations.pdf

Place, social relations and the fear of crime: a review

Revisiting fear and place: women's fear of attack and the built environment

/pdf/effects-of-improved-street-lighting-on-crime-a-systematic-4x7i8an982.pdf

Effects Of Improved Street Lighting On Crime: A Systematic Review

Studies investigating the positive effect that improved street lighting has on crime and the fear of crime have become remarkably popular. Impressive results have regularly been reported. However, while most use the before-and-after' interview format, many neglect to have a long enough follow-up period or to control for the effect that interviewing at different times of the year may have. The study reported here is based on a twelve-month follow-up period, and controls exactly for time of year at follow-up interview stage. Further, in addition to relighting the area surrounding the homes of respondents, other external environmental improvements were effected, and the security precautions of the homes of respondents were substantially improved. In spite of this, little improvement in victimization or fear of victimization could be documented. Some improvement might have been noticed had respondents been consulted when the nature and type of improvements were being planned. It is more likely that improved street lighting is no panacea for all ills, and may only be effective under certain conditions.

Samuel Phillips

Papers

Environmental Improvements and the Fear of Crime: The Sad Case of the 'pond' Area in Glasgow