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
Yongguang Zou and Rob I. Mawby
The purpose of this paper is to address four questions: Firstly, how do tourists perceive safety from crime, specifically from robbery or violence, alongside other safety…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address four questions: Firstly, how do tourists perceive safety from crime, specifically from robbery or violence, alongside other safety concerns? Secondly, are those who are concerned about crime also concerned about other threats to their well-being? Thirdly, how are their perceptions of safety affected by their perceptions of the local community? Finally, how are their perceptions affected by their personal and touristic characteristics?
Design/methodology/approach
Findings
Firstly, tourists did not generally see crime, specifically robbery or violence, as a problem; secondly, there was only a weak relationship between concern about crime and concern about other threats to their well-being; thirdly, in contrast, their perceptions of safety were strongly affected by their perceptions of the local community; and finally, their perceptions were affected by their personal and touristic characteristics, but not necessarily in the ways suggested by earlier research.
Research limitations/implications
The research sample was small and the questionnaire short. Only English-speaking visitors were included.
Practical implications
The tourism sector needs to appreciate role of local people in engendering feelings of safety.
Social implications
The attitude of the local community and their relationship with tourists is fundamental to helping visitors feel safe.
Originality/value
This is the first criminological paper to compare fear of crime with the other safety issues confronting tourists and to relate these concerns to relationships with host community.
Details
Keywords
In Hong Kong, robberies occurring in the elevators in high-rise buildings were identified as a particular problem and the purpose of this paper is to address a dedicated programme…
Abstract
Purpose
In Hong Kong, robberies occurring in the elevators in high-rise buildings were identified as a particular problem and the purpose of this paper is to address a dedicated programme aimed at reducing such offences.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparison of elevator-based robbery statistics over a ten-year policy-implication period, in two police districts, one with a high rate of public ownership and a traditionally high rate of elevator robberies, the second with a higher rate of private ownership and a traditionally lower rate of such robberies.
Findings
The evidence suggests that the programme was successful, with such robberies declining significantly and with no evidence of displacement.
Research limitations/implications
This research is based on police statistics. There is a need for more research, for example, investigating residents’ involvement with the system and the extent to which it encouraged shared ownership of the initiative.
Practical implications
What is clear is that, where in the West the Newman legacy led to the demonisation of high-rise public sector housing, in Hong Kong, where there is no viable alternative, the use of CCTV helped transform such areas into safer communities.
Social implications
The rate of robbery, most notably elevator-based robbery, fell dramatically, improving community safety.
Originality/value
Though there has been a considerable amount of research on the impact of CCTV on crime, almost all of this has focussed on Western industrial societies and little of it has addressed robbery. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this research is the first in Hong Kong, and the first to evaluate the impact of CCTV on robbery.
Details
Keywords
Tourism and crime are closely related phenomena, and security is one of the basic preconditions for the functioning of tourism since tourists and tourist areas have many…
Abstract
Tourism and crime are closely related phenomena, and security is one of the basic preconditions for the functioning of tourism since tourists and tourist areas have many characteristics that make them vulnerable to crime. In this chapter are presented the actual (objective) risk of crime and tourists victimization, visible in statistics on committed crimes and crime victims surveys, and the perceived (subjective) risk of crime, recorded in surveys conducted with tourists. The characteristics which influence the actual and perceived risk of crime and violence are presented by analysing three key elements in the relationship between tourism and crime: (1) tourist (these characteristics are classified as socio-demographic, socio-cultural and psychological); (2) trip (characteristics are the purpose of the trip, travel party, and stage of the trip); and (3) destination (characteristics are crime rates in destination, the occurrence of crime by place and time, type of accommodation and length of stay).
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to fill a research and literature gap by examining the nature and impact of hate crime victimisation on police officers, and their responses to it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to fill a research and literature gap by examining the nature and impact of hate crime victimisation on police officers, and their responses to it. The research explores victimisation due to the occupational stigma of policing and the personal characteristics and identities of individual officers.
Design/methodology/approach
The research design is qualitative, based on 20 in-depth interviews with police officers in one English police force. Thematic analysis was applied to the data.
Findings
All participants had experienced hate crime arising from their occupational or personal identities. Initially shocked, officers became desensitized and responded in different ways. These include tolerating and accepting hate crime but also challenging it through communication and the force of law.
Research limitations/implications
This research is based on a small sample. It does not claim to be representative but it is exploratory, aiming to stimulate debate and further research on a contemporary policing issue.
Practical implications
If further research works were to confirm these findings, there are implications for police training, officer welfare and support, supervision and leadership.
Originality/value
The police occupy a problematic position within hate crime literature and UK legislation. This paper opens up debate on an under-researched area and presents the first published study of the hate crime experiences of police officers.
Details
Keywords
Manlord Chaturuka, Rodney Graeme Duffett and Norbert Haydam
The main purpose of the study is to determine international leisure tourist perceptions with regard to crime, to assess the influence of demographic factors and to investigate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of the study is to determine international leisure tourist perceptions with regard to crime, to assess the influence of demographic factors and to investigate the influence of prior, during and post-visit measures on international leisure tourists’ crime perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
A personal intercept interview survey was used to collect the data at popular Cape Town (CT) tourist attractions via structured questionnaires. A generalized linear model was used to statistically assess respondents’ crime-related perceptions. Qualitative data was also generated via individual in-depth interviews, which were conducted among nine international leisure tourists.
Findings
The study found that international leisure tourists exhibited favorable sentiments regarding crime preparations; general safety information; post-visit crime related perceptions but were less positive about security safety information during their visit. International leisure tourists maintained that crime did not inhibit their activities and was not worse than anticipated during their visit. A majority of tourists indicated that they were not deterred by crime and would revisit CT.
Research limitations/implications
The research was limited to a single city and to English-speaking international leisure tourists. The study was cross sectional in nature and the number of data collection sites was limited to four of the popular tourist attractions in CT.
Practical implications
The study showed that a relatively high number of international leisure tourists had either witnessed or experienced crime in CT. Hence, a separate South African Police Service tourism protection unit could be established to help circumvent crime in CT.
Originality/value
The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to provide a comprehensive overview of international leisure tourist crime perceptions, which included prior, during and post-visit measures, of one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Additionally, this study is one of the few recent endeavors to assess the influence of a broad range of demographic and crime-related factors on international leisure tourists’ prior, during and post-visit crime perceptions in an African developing country.
Details
Keywords
Reports on a survey of burglary victims in Hungary, focusing on both their experiences of the crime and their perceptions of the way the police handled the incident. Using police…
Abstract
Reports on a survey of burglary victims in Hungary, focusing on both their experiences of the crime and their perceptions of the way the police handled the incident. Using police records as a sampling frame, interviews were conducted with 207 victims in Miskolc, one of the largest cities in the country. The impact of the burglaries on victims was considerable. However help from specialist agencies were negligable among our sample. The extent to which the “new” police provide a service to crime victims is thus doubly important. Analysis suggested that victims were generally positive towards the police, felt police services had improved in recent years, and saw the police as relatively sympathetic towards victims. Victims were considerably more positive in their evaluations than were similar victims in Poland. The reasons for this are unclear but may be related to both police‐related differences and wider differences, such as whether or not victims are insured. What is clear, though, is that marked contrasts are emerging between different countries in transition, and these need to be further assessed in future research.
Details
Keywords
Our perceptions of real crime, law and justice can be manipulated by fiction. This chapter addresses whether The Archers helps us better understand today's offenders, their crimes…
Abstract
Our perceptions of real crime, law and justice can be manipulated by fiction. This chapter addresses whether The Archers helps us better understand today's offenders, their crimes and its policing. Some of Ambridge's known offenders are split into three categories to help explore whether usual criminal story lines and characters, seen and heard elsewhere, are perpetuated or subverted in Borsetshire. If they support usual tropes, this tells us how we view the management of crime in the twenty-first century rural idyll: outsiders are not to be trusted, the misdemeanours of the pastoral poor are tolerated, and the actions of elites brushed aside. In Ambridge, we regularly hear examples of reintegrative shaming supporting desistance from crime. Those propping up the Bull's bar might disapprove of criminal actions, but they recognise people's roles in village cohesion. Sgt. Harrison Burns preserves his identity as a dedicated police officer. Being a rural copper often means having to deal with a wide range of crimes – from attempted murder to anti-social behaviour – but on a less frequent basis than those based in Felpersham. While Harrison might not have great detective skills, he regularly supports colleagues from specialist units, and as the only officer in the village, should use his social networks and tea spots to help maintain Ambridge's mostly orderly conduct. It is questionable to what extent he does this, being at times perceptive about and dismissive of clues to significant criminal activity going on under his nose.
Details
Keywords
These four studies are clear testimony to the ‘rediscovery’ of the victims of crime that has occurred in the last two decades, following a long period of neglect by academics…
Abstract
These four studies are clear testimony to the ‘rediscovery’ of the victims of crime that has occurred in the last two decades, following a long period of neglect by academics, practitioners, penal reformers and governments. Although the nominal origins of this revival of interest may be traced back to the somewhat earlier development of ‘victimology’ among a handful of European and North American criminologists investigating the contribution of victims to ‘their’ crimes, the major impetus came with the rapid growth of crime victimisation surveys in the 1970s. From the outset, these surveys revealed a huge pool of hidden victimisation, and indicated some of the reasons why victims chose not to report the crimes to the police. They subsequently began to focus on other aspects of the impact of crime, such as the extent of the fear of crime amongst members of the public, and the effects of crimes upon those who had been victimised. The first national British Crime Survey (BCS) did not take place until 1982 (with a second survey in 1984 and another planned for 1988), and incorporated comparative questions on these more qualitative aspects of victimisation. Data from the British Crime Surveys have been made available by the Home Office to other researchers and was drawn upon by Maguire and Corbett and by Mawby and Gill in their important reviews of the work of victims support schemes in Britain.
Purpose: This project examines both the media practice of covering perp walks and the discourse of perp walks as performative rituals, with the goal of understanding how grounded…
Abstract
Purpose: This project examines both the media practice of covering perp walks and the discourse of perp walks as performative rituals, with the goal of understanding how grounded practice shapes meaning.
Methodology/approach: This project combines ethnographic observation and interview research to explore the grounded experience of perp walk participants, including journalists, law enforcement, and defendants.
Findings: The analysis suggests that perp walks are constructions that serve the interests of the state and that their resulting images are not neutral documents. Visual journalists are managed by law enforcement through embodied gatekeeping in practice and experience pressure from newsrooms to capture a particular moment. Defendants report feeling violated because they are unable to control the discourse of their recontextualized image.
Research limitations: As a qualitative-research project using a non-representative sample, the study results cannot be generalized, but they instead offer a rich understanding of embodied practice.
Originality/value: Because this study offers the subjective perspectives of three sets of stakeholders, including journalists, law enforcement, and defendants, it offers a unique and in-depth analysis of perp walks as media ritual.