Tag: University of Sheffield

A new study in the British Journal of Criminology indicates that the different political periods in which people 'came of age' has an important influence on their perception of crime, even decades later. For over forty years, researchers have sought to understand the causes and implications of people's fear of crime. But to date, no studies have been able to take into account whether the political period in which a cohort grew up had a meaningful effect on their emotional responses to crime. Researchers from the University of Sheffield, University of Southampton and Sciences Po, Paris, analyzed data on fear of crime and antisocial behavior from the British Crime Survey in England and Wales spanning 30 years. The researchers found a strong relationship between a respondent's current crime fears and their political generation. Meanwhile, the Wilson/ Callaghan generation expressed the highest levels of worry about robbery and mugging, which was a key concern for politicians, policy makers and journalists at the time. Responses to antisocial behaviours tell a similar story. Political and popular debates about crime that are prevalent in one's youth appear to impact the fears those individuals report through adulthood and into middle age," said one of the paper's authors, Stephen Farrall. s.farrall@sheffield.ac.uk 07906 716 590 To request a copy of the study, please contact: Daniel Luzer daniel.luzer@oup.com Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert!