A predictive model for psychological reactions to crime in Italy: an analysis of fear of crime and concern about crime as social problem

We built a model for predicting fear of crime (FC) and concern about crime as a social problem (CC) in Italy, using three sets of independent variables concerning: (a) the sociodemographic and criminal victimization domain; (b) the psychosocial domain; and (c) the mass media. We performed a secondary analysis on data gathered by the Observatory of the North-West (N = 3,262, a mail panel that is representative of the Italian population over 18). Results showed that FC and CC are related yet distinct constructs: FC is less widespread than CC, and has different predictors. FC predictors are sociodemographic, psychosocial and, above all, victimization variables; whereas mass media and psychosocial variables predict CC. Results were compared with the literature on the topic. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.