Published : Dec. 17, 2012 - 13:20
This photo is not directly related to the article. (AP)
A recent study showed that young women fear crime the most of any demographic, while the level of fear decreases as people get older.
The research paper by Kim Seong-eon, professor of Police Administration Studies at Kyungnam University, suggested that senior citizens who live alone feel less fear because they become desensitized to their surroundings.
Kim conducted research on aged people’s fear of crimes under a hypothesis that the elderly were likely to have the biggest fear of crime, and converted the level of fear into a numerical value.
The result proved the hypothesis wrong, as women under 34 recorded the highest value (21.28), which was higher than that of their male counterparts (16.64).
Aged men and women both had lower scores, 14.72 and 16.64, respectively, reducing the gap between genders dramatically.
Kim explained that the elderly tend to underestimate the possibility of crimes, think positively about public security and be less exposed to media even when they become subjects of crimes.
“I originally thought elderly people’s fear would be the biggest because of their sense of social isolation. But the result turned out to be the opposite. It’s intriguing,” Kim said. “People’s social desensitization about their surroundings makes their fear of crimes decrease."
The research is to be released at the National Crime Victimization Survey symposium by the Korean Institute of Criminology in the Korea Federation of Teacher’s Associations building in Seoul on Monday.
By Yoon Sung-won and news reports
(swyoon@heraldcorp.com)
젊은女, 범죄 더 무서워하는 이유는?
젊은 여성이 범죄에 대한 두려움을 가장 크게 느끼고, 통념과 달리 나이가 들수록 두려움이 작아진다는 연구 결과가 나왔다.
또 홀로 사는 노인이 두려움을 오히려 적게 느끼며, 이는 주변에 대한 ‘무감각’ 때문이라는 분석이 제기됐다.
한국형사정책연구원이 17일 개최한 제2회 범죄피해조사 학술대회에 발표된 ‘노인의 범죄에 대한 두려움’이란 주제의 논문에 이같은 연구결과가 실렸다.
연구를 진행한 김성언 경남대 경찰행정학과 교수는 신체적으로 가장 취약한 노인 집단에서 두려움 수준이 가장 높을 것이라는 가설을 세우고 연구를 진행했다.
그런데 성별•연령별 범죄피해에 대한 두려움(p