Who Fears What? Prevalence and Sociodemographic Patterns of Crime Fear in Gondar City, Ethiopia

Abstract

Research on fear of crime in sub-Saharan African countries, particularly in Ethiopia remained limited. This study, employing a cross-sectional survey design aims to (1) determine the prevalence of overall fear of crime, fear of violent and property crime among the residents of Gondar city; and (2) assess the pattern and variance of fear of crime across different sociodemographic groups. Data were collected from adult(N=472) residents and analyzed through descriptive statics, t tests and one-way ANOVA. The result reveled that overall fear of crime was found to be moderate (M=3.11, SD=0.93), with more than half of the respondents (51.3%) reporting recurrent fear of crime. Fear of property crime as a category and robbery as particular crime exceeded fear of violent crime, while hostage taking was the most feared violent offense. Significant difference also emerged across gender, marital status, religion, income and victimization experience.  Female, separated, Muslims, and those who encounter victimization before exhibited frequent fear. Contrary to previous studies, participants with higher income reported frequent fear of crime, suggesting contextual influence of wealth visibility or other factors. While fear of crime increased with age the relationship couldn’t reach statistical significance(P>.05). Overall, fear of crime in Gondar is pervasive and unevenly distributed across social groups. The findings support the vulnerability hypothesis which underscores the importance of physical and social vulnerabilities in explaining fear of crime. As a first empirical enquiry of its kind in Ethiopia, the study contributes evidence to criminological understanding of fear of crime in sub-Saharan African urban settings.