Abstract
This study examines fear of crime among public housing residents, with particular focus on which social factors best predict fear of crime levels, and how fear of crime may predict both mental and physical health. Previous fear of crime research has shown that the four main social factors contributing to fear of crime levels are prior victimization, vulnerability, perception of neighborhood disorder and neighborhood social integration. Linear regression analyses reveal that victimization is a strong predictor of fear of crime when only considering other individual-level factors like physical vulnerability (gender, age, disability status, and whether or not there are kids in the home) and social vulnerability (race, education and income level). However, a second linear regression model shows there is no effect of victimization on fear of crime when neighborhood-level factors, namely perceived disorder and social integration, are introduced. Overall, this analysis shows disorder is the strongest predictor of fear of crime in this public housing community. The study also shows partial support for fear of crime as the main independent variable predicting the likelihood that a resident has a health condition. Results indicated that greater levels of fear of crime significantly increase the likelihood of a resident having a mental health condition, but no significant effect on having a physical health condition. This project contributes to the larger body of research on fear of crime and health as a case study which highlights the importance of investigating the effects within the context of public housing.