Evaluating Fear of Crime in the City from Ecological Perspective : A Study on Female University Students in Turkey

Abstract

Today, fear in urban areas is rapidly expanding its domain. Disadvantaged sections of the city feel the fear of crime more prominently because of their vulnerability. Among these segments, female university students are the subject of this study. The insecure feelings of female students who frequently use urban public spaces, live in less isolated environments than other parts of society and have to ride on public transportation at late hours, reduce their quality of life and add to their existing problems. In particular, it can be expressed that environmental and design related factors affect female students’ fear of crime. The ecological approach based on this subject constitutes the starting point of this study. In this context, the study aims to analyze female university students’ fear of crime from the ecological perspective. Within the scope of the study, a quantitative standardized questionnaire technique was used as a data collection tool for the above-mentioned purposes. According to the findings; female students feel a distinct fear of various crimes in Turkey as they do in every country in the world. In particular, sexual assault is the leading crime. Female students who are continuing their education in Turkish cities are inadequate in the context of integration with the city where they live and establishing neighborly relations. This leads to an increase in their level of unease. However, students feel unsafe in their daily life practices due to urban planning problems, irregularities and physical disorganizations. The value of this research, which is carried out with the idea that there is a significant deficiency in the field especially in terms of urban studies, is to be a leading survey in Turkey. In addition, the study is one of rare studies dealing with female university students’ fear of crime from an ecological perspective.