Social integration and fear of crime among older persons

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that fear of crime is inversely proportional to social integration among elderly adults. Data were obtained by mailed questionnaire from a large sample (N = 2,832) of residents of Washington State aged 55 and over. The results indicate that the most important antecedents of fear of crime, among the variables included here, were indicators of previous direct or indirect victimization experience. Neighborhood integration for men, and voluntary association participation for women, were related negatively to fear of crime as expected. Other dimensions of social involvement, however, evinced little or no relationship to fear. The implications of these findings for the further development of explanatory theory are discussed.