Fear of crime in contemporary Greece: Research evidence

Christina M. Zarafonitou. Criminology (special issue), October 2011, p 50-63.

Fear of crime is considered as a complex social phenomenon with important consequences at both personal and societal level. Its semantic boundaries remain unclear and the pursuit of its definition results in a skepticism concerning its conceptualisation. 

The research evidence in Greece reflects the association of citizens’ insecurity with the perception of the quality of their everyday life as degraded as well as their dissatisfaction with the state services, and in particular with the police effectiveness, in this field. In this context, the interpretation of the examined phenomenon will be based on the fundamental assumption that a feeling of general social insecurity is expressed through fear of crime.