Mine Ozascilar, Rob I. Mawby and N. Ziyalar
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the perceptions of risk from specific crimes held by tourists at the start of their vacation in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the perceptions of risk from specific crimes held by tourists at the start of their vacation in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes findings from Phase 1 of a two-phase research programme, during which 210 arrivals at the Ataturk airport were asked about their perceptions of their safety from crime while in the city and their intentions vis-à-vis the adoption (or otherwise) of basic safety precautions, using a 32-question self-completion questionnaire.
Findings
The findings confirm those of earlier studies that tourists, unlike citizens in general, tend to have low expectations of their vulnerability to crime. However, variables associated with fear in conventional surveys were not generally related to the perceptions of risk. The clearest association was between prior knowledge of crime in Istanbul and perceptions of risk. The lack of any strong relationship between perceptions of risk and intent to adopt safety precautions is then discussed.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to visitors to one city and to English-speaking tourists.
Practical implications
The implication here is that if tourist centres wish to reduce crime it is not sufficient to focus on “educating” tourists on the dangers, but that more emphasis should be placed on crime prevention methods that put the onus on the host environment.
Social implications
From a criminological perspective, two points appear particularly important. First, the relationship between fear (in all its manifestations) and risk is not constant. It may differ in different physical and social contexts. Second, if, following routine activity theory, policy makers wish to focus on changing people’s behaviour in order to maximise their safety, in different contexts different publics may vary in their willingness or resistance to change.
Originality/value
This study is original as it focusses on tourists to a specific destination at the beginning of their holiday.
Details
Keywords
Shoplifting has become a widespread crime problem worldwide. The study aims to investigate retailers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of crime prevention through environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
Shoplifting has become a widespread crime problem worldwide. The study aims to investigate retailers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)-based techniques to prevent shoplifting in Istanbul.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection involved 370 face-to-face interviews with store managers at shopping malls in Istanbul by using a structured, self-explanatory questionnaire. The current study applies CPTED approach to measure the effectiveness of informal and formal surveillance techniques.
Findings
The results revealed that store managers perceived awareness of sales staff as the most effective CPTED-based approach to prevent shoplifting. The study identified six factors underlying perceived effectiveness of CPTED-based techniques: surveillance (informal surveillance), image/maintenance and surveillance (formal surveillance), territoriality, surveillance (formal surveillance), surveillance (mechanical surveillance) and target hardening.
Originality/value
No research to date has addressed the effectiveness of CPTED-based techniques in Turkey at shopping malls. Given the limited number of prior research, the results provide important insights regarding the perceived effectiveness of CPTED-based techniques.