NCJ Number
227888
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 25 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 322-340
Date Published
August 2009
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the fear of terrorism and explored gender differences in reactions to a specific type of violent victimization, terrorism.
Abstract
The results were consistent with findings uncovering gender-specific differences in terrorism fear. Women reported greater amounts of fear of terrorism than men. Women also reported a statistically greater likelihood to seek information than men and also engaged in many more avoidance behaviors. Supporting evidence of the vulnerability perspective, women perceived a much greater risk of terrorism than men did. Fear is a powerful motivator for individuals' behaviors and attitudes, with decades of research focused on the various factors facilitating fear of crime. Researchers have consistently shown that gender is among the strongest predictors of fear of crime. This study, which used terrorism as the measure of violent victimization, allowed for testing of the relationship between gender and the most recent type of victimization fear, terrorism. The study analyzed data collected from a telephone survey of 532 inhabitants from New York City and Washington, D.C. on the topic of reactions to terrorism-related information. Tables, appendix, and references