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Abstract
Et al and others
Ibid in the same place
n.s. not specied
OAS Obstalleesiedlung
QM Quartiersmanagement (Neighborhood Management)TBG Trabrenngrnde
USA United States o America
Obstalleesedlung than n Vennas
Trabrenngrnde. However, no
solated explanatory model could be
dscovered. An nterplay o derent
actors are assumed to be responsble
or expressve ear whereas dsorder
varables score sgncantly hgh.
Furthermore, the generalzaton
thess appears to be o relevance as
well n some cases. A comparson o
sgncant actors leadng to ear wth
carred out crme preventon strateges
revealed that these do hardly have any
ear o crme preventve eect.
The thess at hand deals wth an
emprcal study concernng ear o
crme n deprved hghrse housng
estates n Venna and Berln. A survey
among 100 resdents n each case
study neghborhood revealed two types
o ear o crme. The experenced ear
captures the characterstcs o rsk
percepton, emoton and a behavoral
reacton whereas expressve ear only
embraces the latter. Experenced
ear hardly exsts among resdents
whereas expressve ear scores arly
hgh values. In general, the level o
ear o crme s hgher n Berlns
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00Table o content1 Introducton 11.1 Relevance o the topic 31.2 Focus and research question 61.3 Structure 7
2 Theoretcal part 9
2.1 Fear o crime 9
2.1.1 General introduction to ear o crime 102.1.2 Explanatory models 13
2.1.3 Measurement o ear o crime 18
2.2 Crime prevention 19
2.2.1 Overview 19
2.2.2 Crime prevention in Austria/ Vienna 22
2.2.3 Crime prevention in Germany/ Berlin 24
2.3 Fear o crime prevention 27
3 Case studes 29
3.1 Selection o case study neighborhoods 29
3.2 ViennaTrabrenngrnde 32
3.3 BerlinObstalleesiedlung 39
4 Feldwork Survey 49
4.1 Derived hypotheses 49
4.2 Selection o respondents 49
4.3 Realization o the survey 50
5 Survey results 51
5.1 Samples 51
5.2 Awareness o problems 54
5.3 Fear o crime 56
5.4 Expressed ear 60
5.5 Proposed solutions 71
6 Concluson 75
7 Bblography 79
8 Annex 85
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00List o guresFigure 1 Comparison o general data Trabrenngrnde vs. ObstalleesiedlungFigure 2 Fear o crime unnel model & correspondingvalues, Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesiedlung
Figure 3 Measurement o expressed ear & corresponding
values, Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesiedlung
Pcture 1 Berln Obstalleesedlung
Pcture 2 Venna Trabrenngrnde
Pcture 3 Berln Obstalleesedlung
Pcture 4 Venna Trabrenngrnde
Pcture 5 Trabrenngrnde case study area
Pcture 6 Trabrenngrnde nner courtyard
Pcture 7 Obstalleesedlung case study area
Pcture 8 Obstalleesedlung nner courtyards
Pcture 9 Obstalleesedlung Low rental level?
Pcture 10 Obstalleesedlung Elevated ower beds unplanned seatng possbltes
Table 1 Fear o crme authors accordng to country o ocus
Table 2 Selecton o socal & cultural nrastructure n
Trabrenngrnde
Table 3 Selecton o socal & cultural nrastructure n
ObstalleesedlungTable 4 Intervewed people accordng cty, age & gender
Table 5 Household sze & amly status
Table 6 Mean value o satsacton wth neghborhood,
Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesedlung
Table 7 Type o behavor carred out n order to eel saer
n the neghborhood, Trabrenngrnde vs.
Obstalleesedlung
31
57
60
29
30
31
32
33
34
40
41
42
46
9
37
45
51
54
62
63
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00List o guresGraph 1 Fear o crme eedback loopGraph 2 Fear o crme & socoeconomc decay cycleGraph 3 Structure o the thessGraph 4 Age structure Venna vs. Trabrenngrnde, 2001
Graph 5 Foreigners in Trabrenngrnde, 2001
Graph 6 Age structure Berlin vs. Obstalleesiedlung, 2010
Graph 7 Foregners n Obstalleesedlung, 2010
Graph 8 Respondents' country o orgn, TrabrenngrndeGraph 9 Respondents' country o orgn, Obstalleesedlung
Graph 10 Duraton o resdency accordng to ethncty,
Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesedlung
Graph 11 Problematc local aspects, Trabrenngrnde vs.
Obstalleesedlung
Graph 12 Standard ndcator & gender, Trabrenngrnde vs.
Obstalleesedlung
Graph 13 Occupatonal pattern Expressed ear vs. Total
sample sze, Trabrenngrnde vs.Obstalleesedlung
Graph 14 Expressed ear vs. total sample sze Perceved
socal ncvltes, Trabrenngrnde vs.
Obstalleesedlung
Graph 15 Expressed ear vs. total sample sze Perceved
physcal ncvltes, Trabrenngrnde vs.
Obstalleesedlung
Graph 16 Expressed ear vs. total sample sze Socal
coheson, Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesedlung
Graph 17 Person to turn to n case o problems n (sem)
publc space, Expressve ear vs. total sample sze,
Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesedlung
Graph 18 Accepted solutons on behal o resdents to
ncrease eelngs o nsecurty
Graph 19 Own deas to mprove qualty o le
Expressed ear vs. total populaton sze,
Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesedlung
2
5
7
35
36
43
44
5252
53
55
56
61
65
66
67
69
71
72
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Introduction
01Introduction
Crime was simultaneously thought o as both preventable and inevitable
(Lupton 2000: 35)
Luptons notion towards crime lets
one wonder whether the same applies
or ear o crime. Can we prevent ear
o crime as it is regularly attempted
with crime? Or is it something
unavoidable? Does it even exist?
Fear o crime has become a concept o
everyday language (Jackson 2004: 311)
where hardly anyone knows what it
exactly reers to. It is extensively used
by dierent stakeholders o society.
The media business, especially thepress is an extensive circulator o the
crime subject. Headlinecatching
events regularly include crime
incidents in order to draw attention
and sell more copies.
This behavior conveys high crime
rates to the recipient even though
academia has prooed extensivelythat there is a huge discrepancy
between objective crime data and
the subjective perception o crime
the socalled ear o crime paradox
(Schwind 2007: 414). Coming back to
the role o the media, studies could
only veriy weak moderate eects o
media on ear o crime (Hirtenlehner
2009: 14; Gerber et al 2010: 148).
Another circulator o the ear o
crime issue is the political sphere.
The interior security aspect including
crime and ear o crime is oten one o
the central themes in party platorms
as the ollowing quotes rom the
current 2011 Berlin City parliament
election campaign illustrate:
Die Gewaltbereitschat in Berlinnimmt stetig zu. Die Brutalitt
erreicht erschreckende Ausmae.Nahezu keine Woche vergeht, ohneMeldungen ber lebensbedrohlichverletzte Oper. Die Angst der
Bevlkerung wchst.1
(CDU Berlin Wahlprogramm 2011: 44)
Die Angst vor Stratatennehmen wir ernst, auch wenn die
Polizeistatistik keinen Rckgangder Kriminalitt verzeichnet.
Niemand kann absolute Sicherheit
versprechen, aber manches kannbesser gemacht werden.2
(Die Grne Wahlprogramm zur BerlinerAbgeordnetenwahl 2011: 109)
These excerpts show how politics
exploit the ear o crime issue among
residents in order to tighten laws,
shape criminal policies or more
generally speaking to legitimate their
1 The propensity towards violence is steadily rising in Berlin. Brutality is reaching rightening dimensions.There is hardly any week without reports about seriously hurt victims. The level o ear among the populationis rising. (own translation)
2 Fear o crime is a topic that we take serious even though crime statistics register a decrease towards crime.No one can promise absolute security but some things can be improved. (own translation)
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own power (Kury/ ObergellFuchs
2008: 60; Kury 2003: 9; Pantazis
2000: 414). Quite oten one canregister a requent usage o the term
beore new elections as in the Berlin
case. No matter what level o power
we are on, ear o crime is repeatedly
in the center o attention during
election campaigns. Stummvoll
(2003: 12) coined this phenomenon
quite appropriately Politisierung
des Alltags (politicization o theeverydaylie).
Fear and anxieties occupy an
enormous power to shape our
society as they can justiy many
measurements and actions on behal
o dierent actors. From a topdown
perspective, this can or instance
include changes in policies such asinstalling CCTV surveillance in public
spheres. Not only the elected might
use ear o crime as an argument or
actions but also residents get goad on
to act by ear. The average residentmight justiy illegal gun possessions
or neighborhood watch initiatives by
reerring to high level o ear o crime.
Hardly anyone could or even would be
able to give detailed justiying crime
data on the small scale.
The extensive presence o ear o
crime in media and politics reectsthe strong public discourse on the
topic. The combination o this public
discourse on ear o crime and the
phenomenons strong characteristic
in terms o power explains the intense
interest on behal o academia to
research the ear o crime. Murray
Lee already coined this with the term
ear o crime eedback loop (Kury/ObergellFuchs in Kury, 2008, p.55/
Farrall 2006: 27).
Graph 1: Fear o crime eedback loop (own design)
Public
discourse on fear
of crime
+media
+residents
+politics
Academic
research on fear
of crime
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Introduction
It embraces the circular process
where the ear o crime discourse
leads to scientic research whichagain reinorces the public debate.
However, this circuit should be
viewed critically as it harbors a certain
danger. As mentioned beorehand,
objective crime data does not equal
the subjective perception o becoming
a victim o crime. But when academia
is participating in the public discourse
through publishing their ndings itmight again transmit that there exists
a problem related to crime.
What should be the role o academia
then? Ignoring the phenomenon o
ear o crime in order to avoid alse
interpretation by the media who
might spread misleading inormation
by condensing inormation? Or shouldthey try to analyze the real causes and
characteristics o the phenomenon?
The author o this thesis has decided
or the proactive approach and
thereore will try to understand the
nature and mechanisms behind ear
o crime. The main motivation is to
derive preventive or at least counter
steering strategies in order to improve
the quality o lie on the smallest
geographical scale. Dierent crime
prevention strategies are carried out
all around the world with the main
purpose o reducing crime in terms
o delicts. But do they also have an
impact on eelings o insecurity?
The urban context chosen are
highrise housing estates in
outer city location in Vienna and
Berlin. The main ocus lies on the
residents perception o their directenvironment. Case study areas are
deprived neighborhoods which oten
have a negative reputation in the
rest o the city regarding security
and general quality o lie. Do their
inhabitants actually adopt this
attitude and consider their direct
environment as an unsae place? I
so, what are the origins o this? Isthere such a thing as a specic ear o
becoming a victim or does it rather
describe insecurities o modern
times? How could one counteract
ear o crime? Do crime preventive
strategies already tackle the causes
o ear o crime or are we in need o
another approach?
All these questions around ear o
crime in marginalized neighborhoods
o Vienna and Berlin are in the main
ocus o this thesis.
1.1Relevance o thetopc
Beore going into detail concerning
the theoretical basis o ear o crime
and other important concepts related,
the importance o the topic or todays
society will be presented.
From an academic point o view, the
body o research is steadily growing
(Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 527) but it does
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FEAR (less) A case study on high-rise housing estates in Vienna and Berlin 2011
not depict one united picture. It
contains a multitude o denitions,
approaches and models. Fear ocrime cannot be characterized as an
unexplored topic but especially the
impact o certain crime preventive
strategies on ear o crime in
marginalized neighborhoods has not
been treated yet.
Reuband (2009: 233) gives supportive
arguments or a ocus on ear o crimeas he points to its more proound
inuence on peoples wellbeing in
comparison to the relevance o actual
victimization experiences. O course
victimization can have traumatizing
eects and strongly inuence
a persons mental and physical
health but one also has to think o
the strong numeric gap betweenvictimized and eared persons. What
i 5% o the population becomes a
victim o crime but 25% are actually
convinced o being at a serious risk o
victimization?
Ldemanns point o view that ear
o crime is an inuencing variable or
the quality o lie (2006: 285) sounds
convinving. Hence one could wonder
why the main ocus o many crime
preventive strategies exclusively
lies on preventing crime. Why is
ear o crime just given secondary
importance? O course it is obvious
that crime data is objective and
relatively easy to collect due to its
numeric ormat. Still, one should
be aware o the oensereporting
behavior on behal o victims that
strongly inuences the bright
eld data (Schwind 2007: 398) andthereore also does not depict reality
as it might be desired.
To sum it up radically, the
legitimization o power is easier to
execute when ocusing on crime, only.
But what is it that shapes our daily
lie experiences? It is not any precise
and objective gures but rather oursubjective eelings while navigating
through public and private space. The
ear o crime paradox (see chapter 1)
helps to illustrate this line o thought.
Hence, low crime rates alone do
not lead to high eelings o security
automatically but the individual`s
perception is important. Furthermore,
as a consequence o eeling unsaewe might even limit our range o
operation and thereore also impair
our quality o lie. Lupton (2000: 21)
even considers ear o crime to be a
constriction in your everyday lie.
She points out that ear o crime can
but not always has to be a remarkable
social problem. This constriction is
the result o the adjustments people
carry out in order to avoid eelings o
insecurity (Mesko 2008: 174). In line
with Ldemann, Zaraonitou (2008:
166 .) even claims that people with a
low satisaction in their neighborhood
eel twice as unsae as those being
satised.
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Introduction
Ldemann (2006: 286 .) gives
convincing arguments why ghting
ear o crime is an important issueor a neighborhoods quality o lie.
First o all, ear o crime produces
individual costs or the urban dweller.
One has to spend an increased
amount o time or taking detours in
order to avoid dangerous places and
situations. Furthermore the eared
person is limited in its personal
reedom due to reactant behavior. Inaddition opportunity costs, monetary,
coordination and transaction costs
arise or the eared resident when
one or instance has to ask others or
help or takes a taxi in order to avoid
the eared spaces and people. Besides
these individual costs, Ldemann also
points out negative externalities that
transcend the individual perspective(see Graph 2).
Decreases in turnovers, vacancy
o shopping acilities and sinking
real estate prices are just a ewexamples. These can even ampliy
ear o crime as a weakened local
inrastructure rooted in decreasing
demand can reinorce the isolation o
a neighborhood. This can lead to an
increase o its degree o deprivation
but as the strongest consequence
even create nogo areas. People might
avoid these and thus this opens theopportunity or the creation o non
socialized spaces or criminals. As
a result, real places o ear might
emerge i we ollow Wilson and
Kellings broken-windows theory
(see 2.1.2.)
However, other scholars (i.a. Kury/
ObergellFuchs 2008: 63/64)reveal that the level o ear o crime
Graph 2: Fear o crime & socioeconomic decay cycle (data: based on Ldemann 2006: 2 86 .; own layout)
e.g.
+ turnovers
+ shop vacancies
+ sinking real estate
prices
FEAR OF
CRIME
i.a. avoidance
behavior
weakening of local
infrastructure
worst case:
NO GO AREA!
increasing isolation/
social deprivation of
the area
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FEAR (less) A case study on high-rise housing estates in Vienna and Berlin 2011
within the population is hugely
overestimated. Methodological
problems o the surveys conducted aresaid to be the main reasons or that.
In case that this is true, many political
decisions are initiated and realized
without justication.
The ongoing debate about the
degree o importance o ear o
crime and its dimensions convey a
certain demand o research in this
eld. The question whether earo crime actually is a problematic
issue in Viennas Transdanubian
Rennbahnsiedlung and Berlin
Spandaus Obstalleesiedlung will be
approached in this paper.
1.2Focus & researchqueston
This thesis ocuses on researching
the phenomenon o ear o crime in
highrise housing estates in outer city
deprived neighborhoods.
In the context o this thesis, ear o
crime relates to everywhere outsideo the residents very own sphere the
public and semipublic space. This
included or instance stair cases,
garbage rooms, parking spaces and
public spaces outside such as the
MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION
IN HOW FAR IS FEAR OF CRIME
PRESENT AMONG RESIDENTS OF
DEPRIVED NEIGHBORHOODS?
SUBQUESTIONS
1. Does fear of crime exist among residents in deprived neighborhoods?
2. If yes, what is its nature?
3. How to counteract fear of crime? Are crime prevention measurements
appropriate strategies to reduce the level of fear of crime in deprived
neighborhoods?
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Introduction
playgrounds or local shopping centers.
The decision to research peoples
eelings o security in public spaces isdue to the assumption that the home
is oten considered to be a place o
control and security (Lupton 1999:
9). O course one should not ignore
the high share o domestic violence
but in the ramework o this project,
the ocus is laid on ear o crime in
public and semipublic areas due to the
limited availability o sensible datasuch as victimization experience in
the domestic sphere. Furthermore,
a special interest in understanding
urban processes played an important
part.
The main interest is to analyze
whether residents o highrise housing
estates in outer city deprived areasactually have to deal with arising
eelings o insecurity in the semi
public and public spaces o their
neighborhood. The population o
the neighborhoods analyzed are
composed o signicant shares o
oreigners, lowincome residentsand unemployed who in general
have to struggle with their daily lie.
On purpose, neighborhoods with a
certain negative reputation but which
are not known to the main trouble
hotspot o the city have been chosen.
1.3Structure
The content o this thesis can be
divided into three main parts: a
theoretical, practical and an analytical
component. Graph 3 depicts a sketch
o the research design.
The general introduction is ollowed
by chapter 2 which includes the resultso an indepth literature review.
Thereby, theoretical knowledge on
ear o crime and crime prevention
could be collected (see Graph 3, phase
I).
1 THEORY Literature review Concepts o ear o crime characteristics Origin Concepts o crime prevention
2 CASE STUDIES Research/ on-site visits/ interviews Neighborhood prole Physical structure Demographics Specics Crime prevention strategies Survey among residents
3 ANALYSIS Discussion o survey results Matching with crime prevention strategies Comparison o cities
Conclusion
Graph 3: Structure o the thesis (own layout)
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FEAR (less) A case study on high-rise housing estates in Vienna and Berlin 2011
The papers analyzed are mainly taken
rom AngloSaxon and German
speaking scientic journals, booksand other related publications. The
selection represents the broadness
o the body o research that has been
conducted in these countries towards
ear o crime.
The third chapter contains
inormation concerning the case
study areas (see graph Graph 3phase II) that have been compiled
with the help o onsite visits,
inormal interviews with local
experts such as the police or
neighborhood management oces
and an analysis o grey literature (e.g.
reports, inormation yer). These
dierent sources helped to draw a
comprehensive picture o the physicaland social situation in the case study
neighborhoods. In June/July 2011, a
survey among 100 local residents in
each case study neighborhood ahs
been conducted by the author.
Finally, all the inormation gathered
is analyzed and discussed in chapter
4 and 5.
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Theoretical part
02Theoretical partThe theoretical element is divided into three main parts. Fear o crime andcrime prevention are treated individually whereas the last is an innovativecombination o both in terms o content.2.1
Fear o crmeA literature review on ear o crime
reveals an extensive body o research
where a broad variety o perspectives
on the topic can be ound.
The most common act reerred to is
that ear o crime is a matter o public
and academic discussion (Bannister
2001: 807; Boers 1993: 65; Reuband2009: 233; Gabriel et al 2003: 600).
However, there are dierent opinions
about the exact beginning o this
interest. The USA is regarded to be the
starting point o academic discourse
on ear o crime where rst interest
arose around the 1960ies/1970ies
(Walklate 2001: 930; Boers 1993:
66). This interest in the AngloSaxon
academic world still exists as the
recentness o many articles and
quantity o literature available reveals.
Germanspeaking researchers did not
discover the topic until the year 1989.
The enormous social and societal
changes that came along with the all
o the Berlin wall lead to an increased
perception o insecurities. This was
especially true among the East
German population and marked the
beginning o an indepth research onear o crime in Germany (Gerber et al
2010: 142).
The Austrian case is less intense due
to the act that the country did not
ace such intense and rapid social
changes compared to the reunited
Germany. O course, the stream o
immigrants rom countries behind theIron Curtain since the early 1990ies
had a certain impact too but the living
conditions or the initial population
did not change as prooundly.
Thus, no signicant level o ear o
crime was noticed. In combination
with a hardly existing academic
criminological inrastructure this
resulted in a less intense research on
the topic in Austria.
Germany
Boers
Kury
Ldemann
Obergell-Fuchs
Oberwittler
Reuband
Austria
Hirtenlehner et al
Sessar/ Stangl
Table 1: Fear o crme authors accordng tocountry o ocus
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The Austrian academic research pool
mainly oers articles by Hirtenlehner
and Stangl. These two academics areopposed to six authors on the German
part who oten drated more than one
document with a special ocus on ear
o crime (see table 1). The comparison
shall underline a lack o interest and
maybe also need in the Republic o
Austria concerning ear o crime. I
this is due to an absence o the ear
o crime in Austria itsel or just thehardlyexisting interest on behal o
researchers shall be answered through
the empirical part o this thesis.
2.1.1General ntroductonto ear o crme
A denition o the term ear o crime
is a dicult undertaking as there
is strong terminological conusion
(Hirtenlehner in Kury 2008: 108).
However, the majority o researchers
agree upon the complexity o ear
o crime (Vanderveen 2008: 34;
Kury/ObergellFuchs 2008: 54;
Eriksson 2008: 15; Jackson 2004:298). So ar, the level o research
oten concentrated on describing
the phenomenon with the help o
empirical studies but the development
o an all embracing concept has oten
been neglected (Hollway 1997: 256;
Lupton 1991: 1).
Psychologcal emergence
Prior to ocusing on the characteristicso ear o crime, its emergence will
be presented rom a psychological
perspective. To my mind, one has to
comprehend rst how the individual
develops ear o crime beore
analyzing possible catalysts and
reecting about countermeasures.
A threestaged process describes
the psychological genesis o ear ocrime and consists o a cognitive,
aective and conative dimension.
This distinction is applied by most
Germanspeaking researchers (Kury/
ObergellFuchs in Kury, 2008, p.54/
Hirtenlehner in Kury, 2008, p. 109/
Ldemann, 2006, p. 291/ Boers, 1993,
p. 67 ./ Reuband, 2009, p. 234 235/
Gerber et al. 2010: 143).
Cogntve level
On the cognitive level, a person
conducts a primary appraisal in the
sense o Lazarus approach. This
means that the person demonstrates
rst o all a certain degree o risk
sensitiveness. Kilias describes risk
sensitiveness as the awareness o
a person to be exposed to a risk (in
Gerber 2010: 144). The aected
person might pose himsel questions
such as:
Why are these people ollowing me?
Do I carry anything valuable with me?
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Theoretical part
Subsequently, an evaluation o the
individuals coping abilities ollows.
Can I run away?
Do I care i someone is stealing that
backpack?
The subjective victimization risk
is assessed which means that the
individual is estimating his personal
likelihood o becoming a victim
o crime. Important attributes orassessing the risk include gender, age
and contextual actors such as own
behavior, attractiveness o the good
and past experiences. Hirtenlehner
(2003: 162 .) states that this
evaluation is rather a specic result
o the direct environment than o
concrete crime experiences.
However, it should be emphasizedthat a person can only develop ear
when there is a discrepancy between
the perception o personal likelihood
o victimization and coping abilities.
A young male person or instance may
be at a high risk o being attacked as
he shows some provocative behavior
but he maybe does not care that much
and eels condent enough to cope
with consequences o that incident.
Summarizing the cognitive level, ear
o crime does not mean the perception
o risk only (Pantazis 2000: 147;
Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 545; Reuband
2009: 235; Lupton 2000: 23) but also
an anticipation o consequences and a
lack o eective protection. However,
urther requirements have to be
ullled in order to diagnose ear o
crime rom a psychological point o
view.
Afectve level
The second stage o the psychological
genesis o ear o crime is shaped by
an aective dimension. Emotions
arise as a reaction to the danger
assessed and the eeling o inability
to meet this challenge. This crime
related eeling o insecurity dependson the individuals vulnerability.
The concept o vulnerability is a
result o perceived competences
and resources (Reuband 2009: 237
.). It is connected with gender, age,
health, the social, psychological and
nancial position (Pantazis 2000:
416; Reuband 2009: 237). Kanan
and Pruitt (2002: 529) highlightthe distinction between social and
physical vulnerability. Especially
the social vulnerability is o strong
interest or this thesis as it describes
a requent exposure to ear-inspiring
situations which is due to ethnicity
and income. However, they have not
ound any consistent evidence yet
or this specic hypothesis. Further
indicators or social vulnerability
are the perception o disorder and
incivilities (Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 544).
Conatve level
The third stage o the emergence
o ear o crime is known as the
conative dimension. It encompasses
the behavioral reaction to prevent or
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end o crime ater having assessed a
certain risk, rating inadequate coping
abilities and reacting with an emotiono ear. This dimension can include
avoidance o people and places or
taking prevention measures as or
instance changing modes o transport
(Gerber et al 2010: 144).
Tradtonal approach
An example or a traditionaldenition o ear o crime is given by
Hirtenlehner (2003: 120) as he breaks
it down to an emotional reaction
towards delinquent behavior that is
perceived as a personal risk. Hence,
this approach does not take the third
part o the psychological model into
account.
Experenced vs. expressed ear
Some researchers (Kanan/ Pruitt
2002: 528) overcome this tight
denition. Reuband (2009: 237 238)
or instance oers an interesting
division o the ear o crime concept
where he reers to an individual ear
o crime with a personal charactersimilar to the traditional one. This
model has been in the ocus o
many academic studies. In addition,
Reuband is convinced about the
existence o a so called social ear o
crime that rather describes a cross
social phenomenon. Farrall et al
(2006: 1 .) are in line with Reuband
but introduce new termini. The
individual ear is termed experienced
ear as it relates to real crime
thus to specic moments o anxiety.
In contrast to that, the so called
expressive ear reers to concerns
about broader social issues and
expresses concerns about social
cohesion and moral consensus.
Recapitulating the three-staged
psychological model it becomes clear
that fear of crime contains more thanjust being afraid o becoming a victim
o crime. The person has to:
1. Evaluate its subjective
victimization risk
2. Generate feelings of insecurity
(emotion)
3. Show a behavioral reaction
Denton
The knowledge about the
psychological development o ear
represents the necessary basis or
actually describing the character o
the ear o crime phenomenon. It has
to be emphasized again that there
exists no unique approach among
researchers. I ear o crime is still
an appropriate term or this complex
phenomenon can be a matter o
discussion as well. But as Vanderveen
(2008: 41) argued convincingly one
should not abandon the term as
there exists an already vast body o
research. In addition, the wording
ear o crime seems to appeal to
many people and groups.
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Theoretical part
Personal understandng
Within the ramework o thisthesis the aorementioned broader
conception o ear o crime in the
sense o Farrall and Reuband will
be applied. Hence, ear o crime can
have dierent acets an individual
one and one expressing broader
social issues. Jackson et al(2004: 298
.) summarize it most convincingly
as they describe ear o crime as aninterplay o risk perception, emotion,
vulnerability and the interpretation
o ones environment. This also
includes the reading o ones social
environment as well as the physical
surrounding. This approach apppears
most persuasive as it encompasses
actors o the micro and macro level
(Farall et al 2006: 31; Wilcox et al2003: 323) and thereore allows a
plurality o approaches to explain
ear o crime. However, behavioral
reaction will be addded as these
reects the impairment o the quality
o lie a concern o main importance.
2.1.2
Explanatory models
In general, one can register a clear
distinction between AngloSaxon and
Germanspeaking literature when
it comes to actors that are assumed
to lead to the emergence o ear o
crime. Whereas the BritishAmerican
researchers ocus on mesolevel
actors such as the community and
neighborhood, the German speakers
oten emphasize the role o the
macro level with its global risks andgeneral insecurities (Gerber et al: 152).
Nevertheless, some scholars also use
multiactor models that work with the
dierent approaches.
The ollowing paragraphs contain an
overview about the major explanation
models o ear o crime. These
are partly overlapping and none
dominates (Bannister 2001: 808 809;Hirtenlehner 2003: 120; Ldemann
2006: 287 288). For that reason,
they are presented in a random
order which does not reer to any
hierarchical structure.
Vctmzaton model
The victimization approach takes themicrolevel as a point o departure
and explains ear o crime as a product
o victimization. Thus, a person has
already become a victim o crime and
thereore is araid o an iterated crime
experience. Victimization does not
necessarily have to be direct but can
also be an indirect one (Ldemann:
2006: 287). This is the case i a person
or instance witnesses a crime or a
related person becomes a victim.
However, the majority o scholars (i.a.
Zaraonitou 2008: 164; Hirtenlehner
2003: 121; Reuband 2009: 239)
neglect the exclusive power o
explanation o the victimization
model with dierent arguments.
On the one hand, Reuband (2009:
240) states that crime is already
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perceived as a daily risk and people
thereore consider it as part o their
reality which cannot be avoided.On the other hand, victims o crime
show other ways o coping with
their experiences than only ear.
Taking precautions or neutralizing
the incident (cognitive dissonance
reduction) are just two alternatives
that might even prevent a rising
level o ear (Zaraonitou 2008: 161).
Furthermore objective data revealsthat only a small part o society
becomes a victim o crime but the
ear o crime rates are way higher.
Thus, not everyone eared can have
been a victim o crime beorehand
(Hirtenlehner 2003: 121).
In connection with the victimization
model the ear o crime paradox isan interesting concept to look at. It
describes the requently empirically
stated act that cohorts with lowest
victimization risks show the highest
level o ear o crime (Boers 1993: 71;
Wilson 1982: 4; Covington 1991: 231
232). It especially applies or women
and elderly who show high levels o
ear but are statistically less likely to
become a victim o crime than men
or young people. This can most likely
be explained by a higher vulnerability
o these groups as they or instance
sometimes eel inerior in terms o
physical strength.
Dsorder approach
The classical disorder approachocuses on how people experience and
interpret urban space (Hirtenlehner
2008: 130). The perception o certain
physical and social characteristics,
the so called incivilities leads to
an increased level o ear o crime.
Hunter coined incivilities in 1978 as
indicators o urban decay (Eier et al
2009: 416). In connection with earo crime incivilities show a collapse
o community morals, standards
and values. They are perceived as a
sign or an eroding inormal social
control and diminishing interpersonal
trust within the neighborhood. It is
conveyed that no one is taking care o
the environment and thereore leads
to the assumption that nobody mightintervene in case o danger. Incivilities
can either be aesthetical detractions
such as grati or litter, unpleasant
contacts with persons like youth
gangs, beggars, drunken people or
things that pose a risk to ones health
like needles or condoms(Oberwittler
2008: 227). According to Reuband
(2009: 243) physical disorganization
contributes less than social incivilities
to the emergence o ear.
Broken-Wndows-Theory
The disorder approach is based
on Wilson and Kellings Broken
window theory which was published
in 1982. It draws a link between crime
and disorder on the community level.
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Theoretical part
The name derives rom its main line
o thought:
I a window is broken and letunrepaired all o the rest o thewindows will be broken soon
(Wilson/ Kelling 1982: 3).
The perception o a broken
window is interpreted as a sign o
normlessness and a prestage o
crime. As a consequence inhabitantswill withdraw rom public space
and use the streets less intense. The
decrease o social control now really
occurs and thus more windows will
be broken. I worst comes to worst
people even move out and new people
arrive in a community characterized
by anonymity and weakened
inormal social control. The theoryis not limited to broken windows as
incivilities but also includes others
such as littering or public drinking
(Wilson/ Kelling 1982: 5). The process
explained cannot only happen in
dilapidated areas but also in more
auent ones.
Eier et al (2009: 417) remark that
the inuence o incivilities as signs
o disorder on ear o crime is not
undisputed among scholars. Kanan
and Pruitt (2002: 530) or instance
recognize a link between incivilities
and the perception o risk. Boers
however reects on it even urther
and is aware o the act that ear o
crime needs the perception o risk
and an emotional reaction as well
(Nonnenmacher 2007: 497) just in
line with parts o the psychological
emergence model. Thus Boersacknowledges only an indirect
inuence o disorder on ear o crime.
Hirtenlehner (2008: 127) disapproves
the classical disorder theory as an
explanation model or ear o crime.
Despite these disaccords, the disorder
approach seems to nd much more
approval in the scientic community
than the victimization model (i.a.Kury/ ObergellFuchs 2008: 71).
However, critics arise that disorder in
urban space is not enough to explain
ear o crime solely but suggest a ocus
on social actors (Oberwittler 2003:
45).
Socal dsntegraton model
The socal dsntegraton approach
assumes that there exsts a
relatonshp between ear o crme
and local socal captal.
The concept o local socal captal
covers the dmensons o contacts
to neghbors, nterpersonal trust,
socal coheson and collectve
ecacy (Ldemann 2006: 288).
The lastmentoned descrbes the
common normal socal control o a
communty.
Ldemann (2005: 50) dstngushes
between bondng socal captal
that can be ound wthn one
neghborhood and brdgng socal
captal whch can exst between
derent neghborhoods and strata
o socety. Local socal captal s o
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specal mportance the ndvdual
s unable to exercse control alone
and thus belongs to the group ovulnerable. Even the own copng
abltes are weak, a strong local socal
captal s mplyng normal control n
the neghborhood, support structure
or copng wth socal problems, sense
o amlarty (Kanan/ Prutt 2002:
531 .) and hence can decrease the
ndvduals ear o crme (Erksson
2008: 1516 ). Accordng to ths theoryear arses due to mssng (ntegraton
n) local networks, weak communty
organzaton and poor neghborhood
amentes (Kury/ ObergellFuchs
2008: 76 77). It supposes that
low local socal captal leads to a
decreased socal control whch results
n ncvltes and n a nal result n
ear o crme (Eer et al 2009: 416).Jane Jacobs (1961: 36) already called
or eyes on the street as a tool o
social control in order to improve the
perception o security.
In reverse, the level o ear o
crime decreases the more a person
is involved into the community.
Bellair (1991: 680) doubts that a
high requency o social contacts
is necessary and even possible
in nowadays society. He even
avors weak ties as these also can
contribute to the collective ecacy.
As already shown, the social
disintegration model is strongly
connected with the disorder approach
as incivilities are perceived as signs
or a diminished inormal social
control and once again can lead to
ear o crime (Covington 1991: 232;
Boers 1993: 72; Hirtenlehner in Kury2008: 313; Nonnenmacher 2007:
494).
Research could neither proo nor
deny the importance o the model
in unison. Several researchers
approve it (i.a. Nonnenmacher 2007:
497 498), others are denying it
(Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 545) and stillothers only state an indirect eect
o social disintegration on ear
o crime (Eriksson 2008: 15 16).
But the act that or instance the
German government ocuses with
its comprehensive program Socially
Integrative City (Soziale Stadt) on
strengthening the social capital in
deprived neighborhoods, approves acertain acceptance o the concept. In
how ar it contributes to a lower level
o ear o crime, will be discussed
with the help o empirical data in
chapter 5.
Generalzaton thess
The generalization approach
considers ear o crime not as a
rational response to posed risks
but as a sign o deeper insecurity
(Hirtenlehner 2003: 162; Reuband
2009: 242). The phenomenon
thereore is transcending the area o
crime (Sessar 2008: 29). Hence, it is
more a social problem than a personal
condition (Zaraonitou 2008: 159).
The idea proceeds on the assumption
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Theoretical part
o ear o crime being a acet o
general insecurities and as a result o
social transitions (Hirtenlehner 2003:122/ 2009: 16). Other aspects o
nowadays general insecurity include
social ears, personal ears, disorder
and ear o crime (Hirtenlehner
2008: 149). In this model ear o
crime is inseparable o other orms
o insecurity which can be o social,
cultural, economical and political
nature (Kury 2003: 10). But why dopeople actually project their general
ears such as ear o becoming
unemployed or losing the current
social status onto crime? First o all,
intangible ears become nameable
and people have something concrete
to express (Hollway 1997: 265).
Secondly, ear o crime can bea way to express dissatisaction
about living conditions towards
the administrational and political
levels. Deriving rom that the
ordering character o ear o crime
or measurements and policies
becomes clear (Hirtenlehner 2009:
17; Kury/ ObergellFuchs 2008: 75;
Zaraonitou 2008: 159). Interestingly,
the generalization thesis has mainly
been used by the German speaking
part o academia (Gerber et al 2010:
151) which might be explained by the
strong social changes since 1989.
Other models
As already indicate,d ear o crime is
a complex phenomenon and oers
a variety o explanation models.
However, the above mentioned are
the most requent and relevant onesaccording to the basis literature
on ear o crime. Nonetheless, two
urther approaches that can be o
relevance or this thesis will be
mentioned.
On the one hand, the social status
can be o importance. Empirical
research states that inhabitants withsocial problems or less education
show higher level o ear than
bettero (Covington 1991: 238 .;
Pantazis 2000: 420; Oberwittler
2003: 43; Nonnenmacher 2007: 501;
Br 2008: 9/15; Hinterlehner 2009:
19). It is assumed that these people
are more vulnerable and thereore
show diculties to cope with risks.Furthermore low social capital, lack
o social control and the high share o
oreigners are associated with this so
called precariat thesis.
On the other hand, the closely related
presence o the stranger is a point
o departure or understanding the
phenomenon (i.a. Lupton 1991: 13 .;
Ldemann 2006: 298; Kanan/ Pruitt
2002: 530). The conrontation with
dierence or sometimes even clash
o cultures makes people araid o the
unknown and unpredictable. Hence,
this skeptical attitude makes it even
more dicult to agree upon common
norms and values. I these are not
given no strong local social capital
is able to arise and the level o ear
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increases (Covington 1991: 238).
Summarizing the models presented,
one can conclude that there is nosingle explanation or the emergence
o ear o crime.
2.1.3Measurement oear o crme
The measurement o ear o crime
holds an extensive part in the
academic discourse. Discussions
reveal that no method is generally
accepted yet and objections are
raised concerning every approach.
In general, there are two distinctive
ideas towards measuring ear o
crime: the quantitative and the
qualitative one. Most o the timesthe reliability and validity o data
retrieved are in question. Beore
showing their unique advantages
and disadvantages, the origin o
measuring ear o crime will be
presented.
Standard ndcator
In the 1960ies, US-American
researchers developed the so
called standard item or standard
indicator. The name is misleading
as it does not originate rom
characteristics as high quality
and precise measurement but
its extensive use in empirical
research over the past decades
(Kury 2003: 10; Reuband 2009: 238).
The standard item asks whether
there is an area in the respondentsneighborhood where he would not
go to alone at night. A reormulated
version inquires:
How sae do you eel or wouldyou eel being alone in yourneighborhood ater dark?
The question has been criticized
or its general and rather unspecic
character as it does not ask or crime
directly (Reuband 2000: 185; Kury
2003: 10; Kanan/ Pruitt: 528; Jury/
ObergellFuchs 2008: 55). However,
Reuband (2000: 191) admits that
the majority o respondents actually
make the connection towards crime.
Kanan and Pruitt (2002: 528) ault
that the standard item does notcapture dimensions o a broader
dened ear o crime such as social
ears. Further critique includes
the remark whether this kind o
question is asking or an emotional
reaction or just an evaluation o the
perceived risk o crime as not every
risk perception leads to ear o crime
(Pantazis 2000: 418; Kanan/ Pruitt2002: 528).
The validity o the standard item can
also be challenged as crime oten
does not happen during nighttime
exclusively. Thereore a certain risk
should in all objectivity also exist
during daytime. Notwithstanding,
one should be aware o ear o crime
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Theoretical part
being subjective by denition. All
in all, one might doubt that one can
capture the complexity o ear ocrime with one single question.
Quanttatve vs. qualtatve
approach
In general quantitative methods are
known to lead to stronger ears than
qualitative interviews in case one
consults the same person (Sessar2008: 25 .). The problem o many
quantitative measurements is their
standard and closed character (Kury/
ObergellFuchs 2008: 53) which
results in an overrating o ear due to
a given choice o answers. Farrall et al
(2006: 1) name that an invocation o
attitude as the interviewee is sort o
led to express something he hardlyexperiences with any requency.
However, in most cases the ocus lies
on quantitative instead o qualitative
methods (Lupton 1999: 2). The
increased amount o work, limited
time and nancial resources can
explain this model o choice.
Problems o measurement
In addition to having the choice
between either a quantitative
survey or qualitative interviews
other problems occur concerning
the measurement o ear o crime.
In general, methods measuring the
level o ear o crime include an
overestimation o requency o ear
experiences (Jackson 2004: 299).
Another requent distortion is a non
attitude on behal o the respondents
(Kury/ ObergellFuchs 2008: 77).This behavior describes respondents
who only have vague ideas about
crime. In order to give an answer
generally accessible inormation (e.g.
media; riends and acquaintances)
is expressed instead o neglecting
eelings o insecurity.
To sum it up, the measurement o
ear o crime is a challenge withinacademic research.
2.2Crme preventon
2.2.1
OvervewOne main goal o all research on
ear o crime should be to prevent
or at least reduce ear o crime
within society. Until now, there is no
such specic term as ear o crime
prevention but various institutions
and political levels deal with the
concept o crime prevention in
general. Hence, it seems reasonable
to dene this term rst beore
dealing with the specics o counter
measurements against eelings o
insecurity.
Denton o crme preventon
There are many denitions o the
term crime prevention and so ar
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no unied approach, applying orall countries, exists. Thereore, the
lowest common actor shall be mypoint o reerence here - the UnitedNations denition. In 2002 theUnited Nations Economic and SocialCouncil (ESOSOC) declared thatcrime prevention has to be consideredas
[] strategies and measures thatseek to reduce the risk o crimesoccurring and their potentialharmul eects on individuals andsociety, including ear ocrimeby intervening to infuence theirmultiple causes.
(ECOSOC resolution 2002/13)
Crime prevention approaches
Crime prevention measurementsoten have dierent starting pointsdepending on the basic criminologicaltheory applied. The ollowingdierentiation shall illustrate crimeprevention targeting people incontrast to measurements inuencingenvironmental actors. However, thetwo ideal types are oten interwovenand in the eld a clear distinction isoten difcult.
a) Developmental approach
A distinction o crime preventionmeasurements in this category canbe done on three levels whereaseach stage ocuses on a dierentdevelopmental stage o crime (c.Schwind 2007: 17).
1. Primary prevention aims toreduce the deeper causes odelinquent behavior. It includesactions such as improved welare
policies, drug prevention or the
promotion o the sense o right
and wrong. These activities are
geared towards the whole society.2. In contrast to that,secondary
crime prevention aims to
discourage the potential oender
and reduce the opportunities
to commit a crime. CCTV
surveillance in hotspots areas,
taxi services only or women or
specic changes in urban design
are only a ew examples osecondary crime prevention.
Whereas primary and secondary
crime prevention strategies aim to
prevent rsttime delinquencies,
tertiary crime prevention gears
towards keeping the delinquent rom
reoending. This can or instance be
done through probation service or the
execution o a prison sentence.
b) Stuatonal crme preventon
The so called situational crime
prevention can mainly be ound in
the category o secondary crime
prevention. It approaches the
problem o crime by ocusing on
the opportunity to commit a crime.
Certain physical conditions as
well as liestyles might convey that
committing the crime is a good
choice as there is a suitable target as
or instance an old wealthy woman
carrying jewelry without protection
Felsons and Cohens routine activity
theory (1979). Another criminological
basis o situational crime prevention
is Cornishs and Clarkes rational
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Theoretical part
choice approach (1986) who assumed
that the criminal oender is taking
a decision which appears rational tohim to engage in specic criminal
acts ater considering or instance the
risks and rewards.
These theores can be seen as the
theoretcal oundaton o the concept
o stuatonal crme preventon whch
ams to reduce the opportuntes or
specc categores o crme by ncreasngthe assocated rsks and reducng the
rewards (Clarke 1995: 91). Stuatonal
crme preventon has oten been
contested or the conecture that the
strateges actually rather dsplace
crme nstead o preventng t. The
most typcal examples o stuatonal
crme preventon are CCTV
survellance and changes urbandesgn.
One o the rst who drew a
connecton between archtecture
and crme was Oscar Newman wth
the deensble space concept o
1972 that s based on an emprcal
study. A deensble space should
create the physcal mpresson o
a socal abrc that deends tsel
(Newman 1972:3). Hence, the man
dea behnd s to ncrease eelngs
o responsblty wth the help o
desgn eatures. It s assumed that
people who eel responsble take
care o ther neghborhood and
ntervene n case o ncvltes or
the ntruson o strangers. Hence, an
urban decay as Wlson and Kellng
propose can be counteracted
ust by physcal nterventons.
The archtect Newman based hscrmenhbtng concept on the
prncples o natural survellance,
terrtoralty, mage and mleu ().
The model s lmted to physcal
nterventons.
The CPTED (Crme Preventon
through Envronmental Desgn)
approachs nventor Jeeryhas had the smlar basc dea
o desgn crtera by n the
1970es. Hence, the strateges
o natural access control,
natural survellance, terrtoral
renorcement and target
hardenng are part o the concept
as well. Later on, communty
buldng strateges have beenntegrated wth tradtonal
polcng methods (Altes/ Van
Soomeren 1998: 1). These
strateges are beng carred out
by the collaboraton o derent
actors and local resdents. The
measurements encompass steps
to mprove the qualty o le and
creatng actvty space. However,
attenton should be pad to the
acceptance o these spaces on
behal o resdents.
Thereore, the CPTED approach
also calls or a socal program
whch ncludes or nstance
educaton acltes whch
mght be a necessary addton
n deprved neghborhoods. A
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specal pont o nterest n areas
wth a hgh share o adolescents s
the acltaton o lesure actvtestargetng ths group. Altes and Van
Soomeren pont out that they should
have an allocated
[] place to meet that snt organzed.
The only thng that should be organzed
s the choce o the rght locaton and the
desgn o the shelter.
(Altes/ Van Soomeren1998: 3)
A typcal CPTED process shouldalso nclude the plannng o urther
mantenance and more generally
speakng a development process n
collaboraton wth the neghborhood.
The role o the polce wthn CPTED
s to support saety networks, to
nstall communty boards and to
remove eopardzng elements rom
the communty such as drug dealers.
To sum t up, CPTED overcomes the
ntal lmtaton to physcal strateges
and s aware o the act that crme s
not a techncal but a socal problem,
too.
2.2.2
Crme preventon nAustra/ Venna
The ollowng chapter llustrates the
general state o the art concernng
crme preventon n Austra n general
and Venna n specc.
In contrast to crme preventon
poneer countres as Great Brtan or
the Netherlands, crme preventon
s a relatvely neglected topc wthn
Austras poltcal and socetal sphere(Stangl/ Zetnegg n.s.: 3). There
s no legal ramework on nether
poltcal level that deals wth a
broader crme preventon approach
or at least consders t to be a task o
mportance. Stummvoll (2004: 13)
concludes that
Prvention grundstzlichPrivatsache der Brger ist, und diePolizei diese dabei zu untersttzenhat. 3
Polce
Paragraph 25 o the security police
law (25 Sicherheitspolizeigesetz) is
pointing to this crime preventive taskon behal o the police. The Austrian
police express their ocial will
towards collaborative work but hardly
any is carried out in reality. I so, it
only takes place on an inormal basis
(Stummvoll 2004: 14/40). Hence,
the crime preventive work on behal
o the executive power is limited to
two man elds the normatoncenter o the crmnal nvestgaton
department (Krmnalpolzelcher
Beratungsdenstes - KBD) and the
lason ocers (Kontaktbeamte).
The small unt (n terms o number
o sta) o the normaton center
o the crmnal nvestgaton
department started n 1974 and
manly advses a selselectve group
3In prncple, preventon s a prvate matter. However, the polce have to support resdents n ther crmepreventon actvtes. (own translaton)
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Theoretical part
o people seekng help and advce
concernng the preventon o drugs,
sexual crme, volence and propertycrme (Stummvoll 2004: 23). As a
consequence, the maorty o people
are not wthn reach as a proactve
behavor on behal o resdents s
needed n order to pass on the specc
knowledge.
The concept o the lason ocers
has been ntated at around thesame tme but ther scope o duty
ders sgncantly. A common
polce ocer has to ulll the tasks
o represson and preventon at the
same time. Since 1984, there is a
special group o ocers who ocus
on youth (Jugendkontaktbeamte) . The
liaison ocers are oten asked or
help in order to mediate interculturalor neighborly conicts but due to a
lack o training and motivation they
hardly ever contribute to anything
like social cohesion.
Accordng to Stangl (n.s.: 4) the
concept s not well accepted and
respected among members o the
polce whch s reected n ther
motvaton to conduct the ob.
Stummvoll (2004: 41) explans ths
by organzatonaladmnstratve
reasons as well as specc cultural
atttudes.
Austran Center or Crme
Preventon
The national wide acting association
sterreichisches Zentrum fr
Kriminalprvention mainly
aims to ght violence, abuse and
addctons. Derently as ts namendcates, ts actvtes only ocus
on conductng programs at schools
and kndergardens. A scentc or
networkng dmenson s not part o
ther scope.
Other actors
In addton, there exst o courseother actors who are dealng wth
crme preventon n ts broadest
sense.
The Vennese Team Focus s or
nstance a small group o socal
workers who are observng, analyzng
and tryng to nd solutons to
concts and socal problems npublc spaces such as parks or metro
statons.
Other nsttutons and ntatves
oten ocus on the preventon o
drugs and volence whle requently
targetng at oenders at rsk such as
youth or other resdents o deprved
areas. However, there s no such
thng as an ocal crme preventon
network n Austra where best
practce approaches are exchanged,
collaboratons enorced and whch
classes crme preventon as a
matter o mportance wthn Austran
socety.
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Summary
The normaton gathered leadsto the concluson that Austra s
an undeveloped country n terms
o crme preventon. Stummvoll
summarizes it to the point while
saying:
[] die Verantwortung frSicherheitsaugaben wird []an den staatlichen Souvernbertragen, was dazu fhrt,dass Eigenvorsorge und
Eigeninitiative fr kommunalePrventionsmanahmen in dieserGesellschat unterentwickeltbleiben.4
(Stummvoll 2004: 41)
2.2.3Crme preventon n
Germany/ BerlnThe Frst Perodcal Report on
Crme and Crme Control by the
Federal Mnstry o Justce and o the
Federal Mnstry o the Interor (2001)
encapsulates the German approach to
crme preventon as:
Erolgreiche Kriminalprventionist eine gesamtgesellschatlicheAugabe.5
(Federal Ministry o Justice et al. 2001: 457)
Consequently, crme preventon
n Germany s carred out at all
derent levels: the natonal, the
ederal and the local one. In general,
measurements at these levels can
be categorzed accordng to the
developmental crme preventon
model (see chapter 2.2.1) and ncludeor nstance youth polces or crmnal
prosecutons.
The report also draws attenton to
the aspect o ear o crme as t asks
or crme preventon strateges that
am to reduce the obectve rsk o
vctmzaton as well as nuencng
the condtons or the emergenceo ear o crme (2006: 459). The
subsequent report o 2006 s even
callng or evaluatons o the eect o
communty-based crme preventon on
the reducton o eelngs o nsecurty
(2006: 483 484).
Communty-based crme
preventon
Communtybased crme preventon
(Kommunale Krmnalprventon) s
gven specal mportance n Germany
as t s taken or granted that most
crme s rooted and conducted
locally. A strong ocus on the local
level shall respond to speccs o
the communty. The concept can be
categorzed as a stuatonal crme
preventon strategy (Stummvoll 2003:
11).
The dea o communtybased crme
preventon has been nspred by
the communty polcng trend that
started n the 1980es n the USA.
Durng the early 1990es crme
preventon n Germany changed to
be perceved as crosssocetal task
4 The responsblty or securty s transerred to the state. As a consequence, ndvdual arrangementsand proactvty towards communtybased crme preventon reman underdeveloped n ths socety. (owntranslaton)
5 Successul crme preventon s a task or the socety as a whole. (own translaton)
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Theoretical part
where the local level holds man
mportance (Wurzbacher 2008: 152).
In addton, a change o atttudetowards the polce beng the only
nsttuton wth the task o ensurng
a sae envronment and socety took
place. Untl then, local governments
housng, socal and youth polces
already caused crme preventve
eects but these were more or less by
products that have not been planned
drectly (Feltes, 2008: 256).
Communtybased crme preventon
embraces the basc prncple that local
socal powers pck up local problems
o publc securty, develop solutons
collaboratvely and mplement these
n nterdscplnary workng groups.
The maorty o ntatves deal
wth crme related to youth, drugsand publc spaces. An estmated
number o 2000 German ctes
and muncpaltes have nstalled
commttees o communcaton
and cooperaton wth the polce,
local governments, poltcs, ustce,
economy, socal servces and other
actors n order to contrbute to
mprove the local qualty o le.
Most o the successul local crme
preventon bodes pursut a cross
departmental approach where all
knds o local powers are nvolved.
Examples or local crme preventon
bodes n Berln are crme preventon
councls (Prventonsrat) even
though there are only a total o
three n the whole cty. However,
the Neghborhood Councls
(Quartersrte) wthn the program
Socally Integratve Cty (see below)can be assgned as local crme
preventon bodes as well.
Federal Commttee Berln aganst
Volence
The majority o ederal states
(Bundeslnder) in Germany haveinstalled ederal crime prevention
councils (Landesprventionsrte).
The City o Berlin instead has
established the Landeskommission
Berlin gegen Gewalt as the central
crime prevention body which aims
to reduce crime and violence. It links
crime prevention actors, inorms the
public about activities related to theeld and especially ocuses on the
prevention o violence at schools and
juvenile delinquency.
Polce
The Berln polce corps shows a broad
varety o actvtes related to the
preventon o crme. Ths ncludes
specal programs towards property
crme, elderly, domestc volence,
volence n publc space, vctm
protecton (ncludng homosexuals),
youngsters, volence at schools,
stalkng and many more.
However, the polce are lmted
towards nterventons n urban
plannng processes snce 2002 when
the status o a publc agency (Trger
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entlcher Belange) has been lost.
Beore, property developers were
oblged to nclude the polce ntother buldng proects through the
accessblty o plans. Ths opened
the opportunty or remarks towards
aspects that mght pose a problem o
urban securty and can be prevented
durng plannng processes already.
The ramework o the so called
Berln model (Berlner Modell) o1998 descrbes the role o the polce
to be o a ctzenorented character.
Its crme preventve element s
the ncreased requency o polce
presence n the neghborhoods whch
s realzed wth patrols on oot and va
publc transport (Ptter 1999: n.s.).
Socally Integratve Cty
The Socally Integratve Cty (Sozale
Stadt) program has been ntated n
1999 by the natonal government n
collaboraton wth the Federal States
n order to counteract the decay
o socally dsadvantaged areas.
Neghborhoods have been chosen
along socodemographc areas whch
ndcate processes as or nstance
socal segregaton, dscrmnaton
and others pontng towards
deprvaton. Even though crme
preventve eects are not named
as a prmary goal o the program, t
contrbutes to many aspects that are
gven mportance by crmnologcal
theory.
The man tool n order to acheve
goals lke socal cohesveness, the
promoton o ethncal and socalntegraton or the sense o ownershp
s the so called Neghborhood
Management (Quartersmanagement).
Specally allocated neghborhood
management teams are most o the
tme located n the center o the area
and take on a crosslnkng role. The
concept o the Socally Integratve
Cty takes upon the German approacho crme preventon as a ont task and
thereore nsttutons lke housng
socetes, neghborhood centers, local
busnesses and school are ncluded
nto the actvtes conducted.
Another tool wthn the program
are the Neghborhood Councls
(Quartersrte) whch consst onterested local resdents. These
bodes orm part o decsonmakng
processes such as the allocaton o
program unds and thereore add
the partcpatve dmenson to the
Socally Integratve Cty program.
However, Wurzbacher (2008: 210)
notces a lack o a detaled adustment
o the Neghborhood Management
Oces towards the preventon o
(volent) crme. Nonetheless, the
crme preventve eect can not be
neglected. One can even consder
the Socally Integratve cty to be a
communty buldng strategy that ts
nto the CPTED model (see 2.2.1). It
supports the communty as t helps
to organze people, and lterally oers
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Theoretical part
a roo or neghborhood actvtes and
contacts (Altes/ Van Soomeren
1998: 2). Furthermore the tool othe Neghborhood Councl supports
the nvolvement o local people n the
plannng o actvty spaces (bd.). As
a consequence, t s both a condton
o and a contrbuton to the process o
communty buldng (bd.).
Concluson
An analyss o data concernng crme
n preventon n Germany/ Berln
reveals a strong ocus on socal
measurements n order to reduce
(ear o) crme (Schubert 2007:
34). Stuatonal crme preventon
s conducted to a lesser extent.
However, crme preventon s not
perceved as the duty o a snglensttuton n Germany. Stummvoll
gves an nterestng percepton o
what character successul crme
preventon as a task or the socety as
a whole would be:
Wenn City-Managementund Kriminalprvention zuSynonymen werden, und der
Kriminalprventionsbegri
weitgehend im BegriLebensqualitt augeht, dannwird dem Thema Sicherheit eineDimension zuerkannt, sodass manmit Recht von Kriminalprventionals gesamtgesellschatlicher
Augabe sprechen kann. 6
(Stummvoll 2003: 12)
From the plan normaton gven
concernng the approach towards
crme preventon n Germany, wecan assume that the abovementoned
statement s vald or at least the
man lne o thought gears towards
that drecton. I t s also true or the
Obstalleesedlung and whch eects t
has on ear o crme, wll be dscussed
later.
2.3Fear o crmepreventon
Even though ear o crme s
mentoned n the ECOSOC resoluton
2002/13 (see 2.2.1), t s n general
a rather gnored aspect wthn
academc research. In contrast to thatpoltcans oten take t nto ocus or
at least regard t as a sde benet or an
am n addton to declnng numbers
o crme . But how shall polces work
there s no relable basc knowledge
on preventve measures on behal o
the scentc communty?
Besdes the already mentoned
neglect, a ew scholars proposed
some strateges to ght ear o crme
n ther papers.
Hrtenlehner (2003: 162 .), who s an
advocate o the generalzaton thess,
asks or measurements at two levels.
On the one hand, polces should
be taken on the global and natonal
level to ght general nsecurtes.
On the other hand, local polces
6In case that city management and crime prevention become synonymous as well as crime prevention asynonym or quality o lie, then the topic o security has reached a dimension where we can talk o crimeprevention as as a task or the society as a whole. (own translation)
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should ocus on the creaton o
normal socal control and collectve
ecacy. Thus local networksshould be strengthened and socal
dsntegraton prevented.
The Swedsh Crme Preventon
Councl (Erksson 2008: 16) educes
rom a study on segregaton and ear
o crme that the level o partcpaton
should be ncreased n order to
reduce the level o ear o crme.Furthermore, Erksson demands
measurements that deal wth
condtons that aect peoples perceved
and actual vulnerablty (bd.).
Jacksons (2004: 310 311) ocus
les on tacklng antsocal behavor
and other sgnals o llness o the
communty. Hence, he acknowledgesthe dsorder as well as the socal
dsntegraton theory to be o hgh
relevance.
Ths overvew o proposals on behal
o academa concernng preventng
ear o crme shall llustrate that
polces can have a broad character
and shouldnt concentrate on one
aspect only. However, there should
be awareness concernng the act
that there s no perect soluton to the
ear o crme no matter whchever
strateges you mght take (Lupton
2000: 32). Nonetheless, academa
could at least change ts ocus
towards takng the preventon o ear
o crme nto consderaton or ther
research.
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3 Case studies
03Case studiesThe Transdanubian neighborhood Trabrenngrnde in Vienna (Austria) andthe Obstalleesiedlung in BerlinSpandau (Germany) have been chosen as casestudy neighborhoods in order to analyze the phenomenon ear o crime in acomparative manner.3.1
Selecton ocase studyneghborhoods
The two case study areas have been
selected along dierent criteria that
helped to structure the selection
procedure.
Language
One preliminary demarcating element
was the matter o language. Due to
the probability o problems arising
regarding translating a standardized
questionnaire and then comparing
these results, the selection has been
limited to Germanspeaking areas
only.
Physcal structure
In terms o physical structure, high
rise housing estates with varying
numbers o oors have been selected.
Both areas have been built in the
period o modernist planning between
the 1960ies and 1970ies. The seven to
teenstories Trabrenngrnde have
been built between 1973 and 1977
which is similar to the construction
period o the Obstalleesiedlung. The
twooor to seventeenoor housing
estate inhabited since 1975.
The predominant type o building
with its highrise character has oten
been criticized because o a lack o
human dimension. In his book Lie
between buildings o 1987, Jan Gehl
states that arrangement and physical
structure o housing estates o that era
prevent social interaction and stem
Picture 1: Berlin, Obstalleesiedlung(source:www.bing.com)
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approximately 3 km away rom the
provincial border to Lower Austria
(Niedersterreich).The Obstalleesiedlung is located
around 17 km westward rom the
geographical centre o the city and
around 3 km away rom the border to
the ederal state o Brandenburg.
Sze o populaton
The case studies selected where
requested to be o similar size in terms
o population.
The Viennese census track o 2001,
the only statistical data available
on such a small geographical scale,
indicated 9.004 inhabitants or the
Trabrenngrnde.
The Social Urban Development
Monitoring 2010 with the
geographical reerence system
the so called lie between buildings.
In his opinion, multiple levels,
large spaces, wide streets and tallbuildings as they can be ound in both
areas convey a cold and impersonal
surrounding. In addition, the senses
and communication between people
is made dicult as the physical
arrangements prevent visual and
auditory contact(Gehl 1987: 52 .).
However, both neighborhoods still
impress with their relatively high
share o common green space (see
picture 1+2).
Locaton
The two neighborhoods are located
in the periphery o the city. The
Trabrenngrnde can be ound
in the northeast o Viennas city
centre. The neighborhood is located
Picture 2: Vienna, Trabrenngrnde (source:www.bing.com)
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3 Case studies
Picture 3: Berlin, Obstalleesiedlung(source:www.bing.com)
Picture 4: Vienna, Trabrenngrnde(source:www.bing.com)
oLiving Environment Areas
(Lebensweltlich orientierte Rume
LOR) stated that 10.821 inhabitants
live in the statistical sector Berlin
Maulbeerallee (key 05020523) where
the Obstalleesiedlung occupies most
o the area.
Problem areas
The judgment concerning a certain
degree o problematic nature o
the case study areas was a dicult
undertaking. In the case o Vienna,
the author drew upon the ndings o
the international study Insecurities
in European Cities. Crime-related
ears Within the Context o New
Anxieties and Community-based Crime
Prevention which classied the
Transdanubian area to be perceived
as a problematic area concerningyouth and social inrastructure by
media and politics (Sessar et. al 2007:
76).
Figure 1: Comparison o general data Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesiedlung (data: Statistik Autria,Monitoring Soziale Stadtentwicklung 2010; own layout)
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The Obstalleesiedlung has been
integrated into the program Socially
Integrative City (see chapter 2.2.3) in2005 which gives evidence that it is a
socially disadvantaged area. The area
is classied level two (out o three)
which reers to medium intervention.
Other crtera
The citation o urther criterions (see
gure 1) would appear reasonablebut because o availability and
comparability o data they cant be
utilized as the aorementioned.
Noteworthy are the share o
oreigners and people with migration
background in both neighborhoods.
Unortunately, the Viennese data
o 2001 is out o date and does not
depict policy changes in terms oaccessibility to the council housing
estates in Austria. In 2001, the
percentage o oreigners among
residents was only 7,3% but since
2006 the social housing market has
been opened up to oreigners. Hence,
one could assume that the share o
oreigners has been rising enormously
since then. In addition, the quota
o citizenship by naturalization has
been rising between 2001 rom 5,3
naturalizations per 100 inhabitants to
5,8 in 2004. This probably has lead to
rising shares o people with migration
background as well.
3.2 Venna
Trabrenngrnde
Locaton
The Vennese case study
Trabrenngrnde s stuated n the 22nd
dstrct n the northeast o Austras
captal, more precsely n Kagran.
The area analyzed s bordered bythe Leblgasse n the north, the
HugoWenerWeg n the east, by
the eponymous Rennbahnweg n the
south and the Austerltzgasse n the
west (see pcture 5).
Hstory
The name o the neghborhoodTrabrenngrnde derves rom trottng
tracks that were to be ound ntally
on the grounds o the housng estate
beore the 1920es. In the 1970es, the
Cty o Venna constructed the largest
housng development o that tme on
ths greeneld ste. From 1973 to 1977
2.424 new housng unts have been
bult n order to ght the problem o
housng shortage.
Physcal structure
The housing complex is composed
o six spacious courtyards that
are arranged around an elongated
courtyard. Five o these are closed in
but accessible via passages rom all
directions. This type o construction
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3 Case studies
leads to an intensication o noise
related problems such as echo. Thecourtyards eature many green
spaces including lawn, bushes, trees
and many paths. In addition, there
are a ew playgrounds and seating
possibilities.
The buildings complexes o the
Trabrenngrnde lack a common
height but instead the dierent
numbers o oors break up the usual
strictness. In combination with
dierent colored acades a character
rich in variety is achieved even
though the general housing type
might propose a more homogenous
and dull appearance.
In order to ulll the demands o
local amentes, a shoppng center
s stuated between the northern
and southern row o courtyards.
It s desgned as a promenadeand sheltered by a glass and steel
constructon. However, n summer
the constructon aects the qualty o
stay negatvely as t accumulates the
heat.
The courtyards are car ree zones
and parking is possible all around
the area as well as in underground
parking below the shopping center.
Inrastructure
Snce 2006 the neghborhood s well
connected to the metro network
due to the extenson o lne U1. The
staton allows resdents to reach
the hstorcal cty center wthn 15
mnutes and thereore contrbutes
Picture 5: Trabrenngrnde case study area (sources:www.bing.com)
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enormously to an extenson o ther
spatal moblty. Another mode o
transport s the bus lne 27A but man
mportance s gven to the metro.
Housng market
All o the councl housng apartments
(Gemendebau) o the Trabrenngrnde
are owned by the nonprot
muncpal body Stadt Wen -Wener
Wohnen and all under the general
rent law. In 2006 the access to these
housng unts changed as the socal
housng market was opened to non
Austran ctzens due to pressures
rom an EU rulng. Beore 2006,
ocally only Austran ctzens could
apply or socal housng. Snce 2006
however, nonAustran ctzens wth
a longterm resdence permt can
apply or socal housng (Renprecht
2007: 40). Ths had a strong mpact
on the composton o the populaton.
Renprecht reers to the emergence
o ntercultural concts betweenresdents and newcomers. I ths
s also the case n Venna wll be
dscussed n chapter 5.
Populaton structure
The ollowng data s based on
the mcro census o 2001 or the
regstraton dstrct 80 (Zhlsprengel) where the Trabrenngrnde are
part o. It should be clared that
the regstraton dstrct 80 covers
more than the actual sze o the
Trabrenngrnde but t s the smallest
statstcal unt avalable. The area has
been home to 9.004 people n 2001
that lved n 2.424 housng unts.
In terms o age, the Trabrenngrndeare n comparson to the whole cty
o Venna a strkngly young dstrct.
Whereas the pe