REFLECTIONS ABOUT INTERVENTIONS AND STRATEGIES ON INCREASING FEELINGS OF SAFETY IN LATER LIFE

Year 2010, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 83 - 89, 01.06.2010

Liesbeth De Donder Dominique Verté Nico De Witte Tine Buffel Sarah Dury

https://izlik.org/JA47EL92NC

Abstract

Practices on increasing feelings of safety among older people often occur without the necessary empirical foundation. In response to this lack of evidence-based policy, this article provides a critical overview of several distinct practices and approaches by confronting them with empirical evidence. This contribution criticizes narrow rationalist approaches and summarizes the most important symbolical guidelines to heighten feelings of safety. Attention is given to the discussion between the increasing importance placed on so-called responsibilisation on the one hand and feelings of unsafety as a police’s task or as a broader societal concern and responsibility for local authorities on the other. Several methods are discussed in order to formulate key components of successful strategies

Keywords

Ageing , Feelings of safety , Fear of crime , Policy Recommendations

References

• Bauman, Zygmunt (2001), Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World, Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Bennett, Trevor (1990), Evaluating Neighbourhood Watch, Aldershot: Gower.
• Blokland, Talja (2009), Eyes for Each Other: Feelings of Safety and Social Control in the Big
• City, Amsterdam: University Press. Boers, Josca (2008), Fear and Trust: the Effect of positive and negative factors on feelings of safety, Amsterdam: Dynamics of Governance, Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, Vrije
• Universiteit Amsterdam. [In Dutch] Buffel, Tine et al. (2010), “Theorizing the Relationship between Older People and their Immediate
• Social Living Environment”. Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Lifelong Education. Christmann, Kris, Michelle Rogerson and Derek Walters (2003), “Fear of crime and insecurity in new deal for communities partnerships”, Research Report 14. Sheffield: Northern Crime
• Consortium, Sheffield Hallam University, july 2003.
• Crawford, Adam (1999), “Questioning Appeals to Community within Crime Prevention and Control”, European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, Vol. 7, pp.509-530.
• De Donder, Liesbeth et al. (2009), Feelings of Insecurity in Context: Theoretical Perspectives for
• Studying Fear of Crime in Late Life”, (in: Balci, Savasan and Ozkivrak-Eds., Public Economics, Public Management & Public Policy,), Izmir: SoBiAD. De Donder, Liesbeth et al. (2010a), “Feelings of Unsafety and Vulnerability: Is the Association
• Different Between Older Age Groups?” Submitted. De Donder, Liesbeth et al. (2010b), “Perceptual Quality of the Design of the Neighbourhood: The Relation with Feelings of Unsafety in Later Life”, Working Paper.
• De Donder, Liesbeth et al. (2010c), “Social Capital and Feelings of Unsafety in Later Life”, Working Paper.
• Feeley , Malcolm and Jonathan Simon (1992), “The New Penology: Notes on the Emerging
• Strategy of Corrections and its Implications”, Criminology , Vol. 30, pp.449-474 . Forrest, Ray and Ade Kearns (2001), “Social Cohesion, Social Capital and the Neighborhood”,
• Urban studies, Vol. 38, pp.2125–2143.
• Geldof, Dirk (2006), “Welfare for the Benefit of Safety?”. In: Alert, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp.12-24. [In Dutch]
• Hale, Chris (1996), “Fear of Crime: A Review of the Literature”, International Review of Victimology, Vol. 4, pp.79-150.
• Hinkle, Joshua and David Weisburd (2008), “The Irony of Broken Windows Policing: A Micro- place Study of the Relationship Between Disorder, Focused Police Crackdowns, and Fear of
• Crime.” Journal of Criminal Justice, Vol. 36, pp.503-512. Hunter, Albert and Terry Baumer (1982), "Street Traffic, Social Integration and Fear of Crime",
• Sociological Inquiry, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp.122-131. Jackson, Jonathan and Jason Sunshine (2007), “Public Confidence in Policing. A Neo
• Durkheimian Perspective”, British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 47,pp. 214-233. Jackson, Jonathan and Emily Gray (2010), “Functional Fear and Public Insecurities About Crime”,
• British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 50, pp.1-22. Jacobs, Jane (1961/1972), The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Random House.
• Norris, Fran H. and Kaniasty Krzysztof (1992), “A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Various
• Crime Prevention Strategies on Criminal Victimization, Fear of Crime, and Psychological Distress”, American Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp.625 – 648. Pain, Rachel (2000), “Place, Social Relations and the Fear of Crime: Review”, Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp.365-387.
• Silverman, Eli B. and Della-Giustina Jo-Ann (2001), “Urban Policing and the Fear of Crime”,
• Urban Studies, Vol. 38, pp.941 – 957. Van den Herrewegen, Evelien (2010), “Safety: Everybody’s Concern, Everybody’s Duty?
• Questioning the Significance of ‘Active Citizenship’ and ‘Social Cohesion’ for People’s Perception of Safety”, (in: Mark Cools et al.-Eds., Governance of Security Research Papers (Vol ). Safety, Societal Problems and Citizens’ Perceptions. New Empirical Data, Theories and Analyses,), Antwerpen: Maklu. pp. 85-108. Woolcock, Michael (2001), “The place of social capital in understanding social and economic outcomes”, Isuma: Canadian Journal of Policy Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.1-17.
• World Health Organization. (2002), Active Aging: A Policy Framework, Geneva: WHO.
• World Health Organization. (2007), Global Age-Friendly Cities: A Guide, Geneva: WHO.
• Young, Jock (1998), “From Inclusive to Exclusive Society: Nightmares in the European dream”,
• (in: Ruggiero, Vincenzo, Nigel South and Ian Taylor-Eds., The New European Criminology: Crime and Social Order in Europe,), London: Routledge, pp.64–91.