The perception, impact and handling of feelings of insecurity

Wootton, Andrew B; Davey, Caroline L; Heinrich, Dagmar P; Lasierra, Guillén

Abstract

Outbreaks of feelings of insecurity may result in citizens openly protesting that they feel unsafe — for example, through public demonstrations, public meetings or on social media. Public authorities might assume the problem facing citizens is one of actual crime victimisation. However, factors influencing perceptions of insecurity may have little or nothing to do with the experience of crime victimisation.
Policymakers and practitioners need to better understand and address factors impacting citizens‘ feelings of insecurity. Interventions should be based on a systematic understanding of insecurity causal factors. An ill-considered response that is insensitive to the problem context, has the potential to not only fail to solve the problem, but may even make it worse.
To support practitioners and security policymakers in better understanding and addressing citizens’ feelings of insecurity, the Cutting Crime Impact (CCI) project developed the CCI Feelings of Unsafety Lifecycle model as a conceptual framework. CCI supported six European law enforcement agencies in conducting research to understand the breadth of contextual factors impacting and influencing citizens’ feelings of insecurity. This led to the development of solutions tailored to their specific context to help end-users identify the responses required, and support the process of planning and taking action.
This chapter focuses on work conducted in collaboration with the Department of the Interior in Catalonia (ES) to understand and address citizens’ feelings of insecurity. The Department of Interior developed a guide to analysing and responding to outbreaks of insecurity – “Perception Matters” – available in Catalan, Spanish and English. Section 1 of the guide contains the CCI Feelings of Unsafety Lifecycle Model.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: International Perspectives of Crime Prevention
• Acceptance Date: Nov 22, 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 5, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Pages: 9–19
• Series Title: International Perspectives of Crime Prevention
• Keywords: human-centred design; insecurity; feelings of unsafety