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Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
ABSTRACT AND ARTICLE INFORMATION
Over the last several decades, campus crime, victimization, and incidents of violence have been a focal concern for campus administrators and have generated interest in the research community. Studies have provided insight into the nature of campus crime and victimization, as well as whether these concerns relate with fear of crime and perceptions of risk. Less consideration has been given to the relationship between these variables and the use of protective action among college students, especially those residing in student housing environments. This study uses survey data from students residing in campus housing at a Midwestern university to examine how fear of crime, perceived risk of victimization, and other relevant concepts predict student protective action and, more specifically, the use of avoidance behaviors. The findings suggest that White and female residents, as well as those who were more fearful of crime and had prior victimization experiences, were more likely to engage in avoidance behaviors.
Article History:
Received 27 May 2016
Received in revised form 15 July 2016
Accepted 26 July 2016
Keywords:
fear of crime; victimization; avoidance behaviors; university housing
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Despite the increase in federal mandates governing crime prevention, response, and reporting on college campuses, the nature of students' fear of crime, perceived risk of victimization, and use of protective and avoidance behaviors on campuses remains understudied. Students residing in campus housing environments represent an important sub-set of a university population because, for these students, their campus is not simply a place where they spend a few hours a week attending classes. The campus environment is where they attend classes, study, live, socialize, and sometimes work. The limited studies of college samples tend to consider precautionary behaviors (to include protective and avoidance actions) only among the general student population (see Pritchard, Jordan, & Wilcox, 2015 for one exception). It is unclear what initiates these behaviors among the subset of students who live on campus. These types of research questions have both theoretical and practical value. Not only do they inform the application of criminological theory to important sub-sets of the population, results also offer important insights...