MAthesis 4Cities Kramer Jessica Cohort2

8/22/2019 MAthesis 4Cities Kramer Jessica Cohort2

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FEAR(less)


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Abstract

Et al and others

Ibid in the same place

n.s. not specied

OAS Obstalleesiedlung

QM Quartiersmanagement (Neighborhood Management)TBG Trabrenngrnde

USA United States o America

Obstalleesedlung than n Vennas

Trabrenngrnde. However, no

solated explanatory model could be

dscovered. An nterplay o derent

actors are assumed to be responsble

or expressve ear whereas dsorder

varables score sgncantly hgh.

Furthermore, the generalzaton

thess appears to be o relevance as

well n some cases. A comparson o

sgncant actors leadng to ear wth

carred out crme preventon strateges

revealed that these do hardly have any

ear o crme preventve eect.

The thess at hand deals wth an

emprcal study concernng ear o

crme n deprved hghrse housng

estates n Venna and Berln. A survey

among 100 resdents n each case

study neghborhood revealed two types

o ear o crme. The experenced ear

captures the characterstcs o rsk

percepton, emoton and a behavoral

reacton whereas expressve ear only

embraces the latter. Experenced

ear hardly exsts among resdents

whereas expressve ear scores arly

hgh values. In general, the level o

ear o crme s hgher n Berlns


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00Table o content1 Introducton 11.1 Relevance o the topic 31.2 Focus and research question 61.3 Structure 7

2 Theoretcal part 9

2.1 Fear o crime 9

2.1.1 General introduction to ear o crime 102.1.2 Explanatory models 13

2.1.3 Measurement o ear o crime 18

2.2 Crime prevention 19

2.2.1 Overview 19

2.2.2 Crime prevention in Austria/ Vienna 22

2.2.3 Crime prevention in Germany/ Berlin 24

2.3 Fear o crime prevention 27

3 Case studes 29

3.1 Selection o case study neighborhoods 29

3.2 ViennaTrabrenngrnde 32

3.3 BerlinObstalleesiedlung 39

4 Feldwork Survey 49

4.1 Derived hypotheses 49

4.2 Selection o respondents 49

4.3 Realization o the survey 50

5 Survey results 51

5.1 Samples 51

5.2 Awareness o problems 54

5.3 Fear o crime 56

5.4 Expressed ear 60

5.5 Proposed solutions 71

6 Concluson 75

7 Bblography 79

8 Annex 85


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00List o guresFigure 1 Comparison o general data Trabrenngrnde vs. ObstalleesiedlungFigure 2 Fear o crime unnel model & correspondingvalues, Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesiedlung

Figure 3 Measurement o expressed ear & corresponding

values, Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesiedlung

Pcture 1 Berln Obstalleesedlung

Pcture 2 Venna Trabrenngrnde

Pcture 3 Berln Obstalleesedlung

Pcture 4 Venna Trabrenngrnde

Pcture 5 Trabrenngrnde case study area

Pcture 6 Trabrenngrnde nner courtyard

Pcture 7 Obstalleesedlung case study area

Pcture 8 Obstalleesedlung nner courtyards

Pcture 9 Obstalleesedlung Low rental level?

Pcture 10 Obstalleesedlung Elevated ower beds unplanned seatng possbltes

Table 1 Fear o crme authors accordng to country o ocus

Table 2 Selecton o socal & cultural nrastructure n

Trabrenngrnde

Table 3 Selecton o socal & cultural nrastructure n

ObstalleesedlungTable 4 Intervewed people accordng cty, age & gender

Table 5 Household sze & amly status

Table 6 Mean value o satsacton wth neghborhood,

Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesedlung

Table 7 Type o behavor carred out n order to eel saer

n the neghborhood, Trabrenngrnde vs.

Obstalleesedlung

31

57

60

29

30

31

32

33

34

40

41

42

46

9

37

45

51

54

62

63


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00List o guresGraph 1 Fear o crme eedback loopGraph 2 Fear o crme & socoeconomc decay cycleGraph 3 Structure o the thessGraph 4 Age structure Venna vs. Trabrenngrnde, 2001

Graph 5 Foreigners in Trabrenngrnde, 2001

Graph 6 Age structure Berlin vs. Obstalleesiedlung, 2010

Graph 7 Foregners n Obstalleesedlung, 2010

Graph 8 Respondents' country o orgn, TrabrenngrndeGraph 9 Respondents' country o orgn, Obstalleesedlung

Graph 10 Duraton o resdency accordng to ethncty,


Graph 11 Problematc local aspects, Trabrenngrnde vs.

Obstalleesedlung

Graph 12 Standard ndcator & gender, Trabrenngrnde vs.

Obstalleesedlung

Graph 13 Occupatonal pattern Expressed ear vs. Total

sample sze, Trabrenngrnde vs.Obstalleesedlung

Graph 14 Expressed ear vs. total sample sze Perceved

socal ncvltes, Trabrenngrnde vs.

Obstalleesedlung

Graph 15 Expressed ear vs. total sample sze Perceved

physcal ncvltes, Trabrenngrnde vs.

Obstalleesedlung

Graph 16 Expressed ear vs. total sample sze Socal

coheson, Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesedlung

Graph 17 Person to turn to n case o problems n (sem)

publc space, Expressve ear vs. total sample sze,


Graph 18 Accepted solutons on behal o resdents to

ncrease eelngs o nsecurty

Graph 19 Own deas to mprove qualty o le

Expressed ear vs. total populaton sze,


2

5

7

35

36

43

44

5252

53

55

56

61

65

66

67

69

71

72


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Introduction

01Introduction

Crime was simultaneously thought o as both preventable and inevitable

(Lupton 2000: 35)

Luptons notion towards crime lets

one wonder whether the same applies

or ear o crime. Can we prevent ear

o crime as it is regularly attempted

with crime? Or is it something

unavoidable? Does it even exist?

Fear o crime has become a concept o

everyday language (Jackson 2004: 311)

where hardly anyone knows what it

exactly reers to. It is extensively used

by dierent stakeholders o society.

The media business, especially thepress is an extensive circulator o the

crime subject. Headlinecatching

events regularly include crime

incidents in order to draw attention

and sell more copies.

This behavior conveys high crime

rates to the recipient even though

academia has prooed extensivelythat there is a huge discrepancy

between objective crime data and

the subjective perception o crime

the socalled ear o crime paradox

(Schwind 2007: 414). Coming back to

the role o the media, studies could

only veriy weak moderate eects o

media on ear o crime (Hirtenlehner

2009: 14; Gerber et al 2010: 148).

Another circulator o the ear o

crime issue is the political sphere.

The interior security aspect including

crime and ear o crime is oten one o

the central themes in party platorms

as the ollowing quotes rom the

current 2011 Berlin City parliament

election campaign illustrate:

Die Gewaltbereitschat in Berlinnimmt stetig zu. Die Brutalitt

erreicht erschreckende Ausmae.Nahezu keine Woche vergeht, ohneMeldungen ber lebensbedrohlichverletzte Oper. Die Angst der

Bevlkerung wchst.1

(CDU Berlin Wahlprogramm 2011: 44)

Die Angst vor Stratatennehmen wir ernst, auch wenn die

Polizeistatistik keinen Rckgangder Kriminalitt verzeichnet.

Niemand kann absolute Sicherheit

versprechen, aber manches kannbesser gemacht werden.2

(Die Grne Wahlprogramm zur BerlinerAbgeordnetenwahl 2011: 109)

These excerpts show how politics

exploit the ear o crime issue among

residents in order to tighten laws,

shape criminal policies or more

generally speaking to legitimate their

1 The propensity towards violence is steadily rising in Berlin. Brutality is reaching rightening dimensions.There is hardly any week without reports about seriously hurt victims. The level o ear among the populationis rising. (own translation)

2 Fear o crime is a topic that we take serious even though crime statistics register a decrease towards crime.No one can promise absolute security but some things can be improved. (own translation)


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FEAR (less) A case study on high-rise housing estates in Vienna and Berlin 2011

own power (Kury/ ObergellFuchs

2008: 60; Kury 2003: 9; Pantazis

2000: 414). Quite oten one canregister a requent usage o the term

beore new elections as in the Berlin

case. No matter what level o power

we are on, ear o crime is repeatedly

in the center o attention during

election campaigns. Stummvoll

(2003: 12) coined this phenomenon

quite appropriately Politisierung

des Alltags (politicization o theeverydaylie).

Fear and anxieties occupy an

enormous power to shape our

society as they can justiy many

measurements and actions on behal

o dierent actors. From a topdown

perspective, this can or instance

include changes in policies such asinstalling CCTV surveillance in public

spheres. Not only the elected might

use ear o crime as an argument or

actions but also residents get goad on

to act by ear. The average residentmight justiy illegal gun possessions

or neighborhood watch initiatives by

reerring to high level o ear o crime.

Hardly anyone could or even would be

able to give detailed justiying crime

data on the small scale.

The extensive presence o ear o

crime in media and politics reectsthe strong public discourse on the

topic. The combination o this public

discourse on ear o crime and the

phenomenons strong characteristic

in terms o power explains the intense

interest on behal o academia to

research the ear o crime. Murray

Lee already coined this with the term

ear o crime eedback loop (Kury/ObergellFuchs in Kury, 2008, p.55/

Farrall 2006: 27).

Graph 1: Fear o crime eedback loop (own design)

Public

discourse on fear

of crime

+media

+residents

+politics

Academic

research on fear

of crime


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Introduction

It embraces the circular process

where the ear o crime discourse

leads to scientic research whichagain reinorces the public debate.

However, this circuit should be

viewed critically as it harbors a certain

danger. As mentioned beorehand,

objective crime data does not equal

the subjective perception o becoming

a victim o crime. But when academia

is participating in the public discourse

through publishing their ndings itmight again transmit that there exists

a problem related to crime.

What should be the role o academia

then? Ignoring the phenomenon o

ear o crime in order to avoid alse

interpretation by the media who

might spread misleading inormation

by condensing inormation? Or shouldthey try to analyze the real causes and

characteristics o the phenomenon?

The author o this thesis has decided

or the proactive approach and

thereore will try to understand the

nature and mechanisms behind ear

o crime. The main motivation is to

derive preventive or at least counter

steering strategies in order to improve

the quality o lie on the smallest

geographical scale. Dierent crime

prevention strategies are carried out

all around the world with the main

purpose o reducing crime in terms

o delicts. But do they also have an

impact on eelings o insecurity?

The urban context chosen are

highrise housing estates in

outer city location in Vienna and

Berlin. The main ocus lies on the

residents perception o their directenvironment. Case study areas are

deprived neighborhoods which oten

have a negative reputation in the

rest o the city regarding security

and general quality o lie. Do their

inhabitants actually adopt this

attitude and consider their direct

environment as an unsae place? I

so, what are the origins o this? Isthere such a thing as a specic ear o

becoming a victim or does it rather

describe insecurities o modern

times? How could one counteract

ear o crime? Do crime preventive

strategies already tackle the causes

o ear o crime or are we in need o

another approach?

All these questions around ear o

crime in marginalized neighborhoods

o Vienna and Berlin are in the main

ocus o this thesis.

1.1Relevance o thetopc

Beore going into detail concerning

the theoretical basis o ear o crime

and other important concepts related,

the importance o the topic or todays

society will be presented.

From an academic point o view, the

body o research is steadily growing

(Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 527) but it does


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not depict one united picture. It

contains a multitude o denitions,

approaches and models. Fear ocrime cannot be characterized as an

unexplored topic but especially the

impact o certain crime preventive

strategies on ear o crime in

marginalized neighborhoods has not

been treated yet.

Reuband (2009: 233) gives supportive

arguments or a ocus on ear o crimeas he points to its more proound

inuence on peoples wellbeing in

comparison to the relevance o actual

victimization experiences. O course

victimization can have traumatizing

eects and strongly inuence

a persons mental and physical

health but one also has to think o

the strong numeric gap betweenvictimized and eared persons. What

i 5% o the population becomes a

victim o crime but 25% are actually

convinced o being at a serious risk o

victimization?

Ldemanns point o view that ear

o crime is an inuencing variable or

the quality o lie (2006: 285) sounds

convinving. Hence one could wonder

why the main ocus o many crime

preventive strategies exclusively

lies on preventing crime. Why is

ear o crime just given secondary

importance? O course it is obvious

that crime data is objective and

relatively easy to collect due to its

numeric ormat. Still, one should

be aware o the oensereporting

behavior on behal o victims that

strongly inuences the bright

eld data (Schwind 2007: 398) andthereore also does not depict reality

as it might be desired.

To sum it up radically, the

legitimization o power is easier to

execute when ocusing on crime, only.

But what is it that shapes our daily

lie experiences? It is not any precise

and objective gures but rather oursubjective eelings while navigating

through public and private space. The

ear o crime paradox (see chapter 1)

helps to illustrate this line o thought.

Hence, low crime rates alone do

not lead to high eelings o security

automatically but the individual`s

perception is important. Furthermore,

as a consequence o eeling unsaewe might even limit our range o

operation and thereore also impair

our quality o lie. Lupton (2000: 21)

even considers ear o crime to be a

constriction in your everyday lie.

She points out that ear o crime can

but not always has to be a remarkable

social problem. This constriction is

the result o the adjustments people

carry out in order to avoid eelings o

insecurity (Mesko 2008: 174). In line

with Ldemann, Zaraonitou (2008:

166 .) even claims that people with a

low satisaction in their neighborhood

eel twice as unsae as those being

satised.


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Introduction

Ldemann (2006: 286 .) gives

convincing arguments why ghting

ear o crime is an important issueor a neighborhoods quality o lie.

First o all, ear o crime produces

individual costs or the urban dweller.

One has to spend an increased

amount o time or taking detours in

order to avoid dangerous places and

situations. Furthermore the eared

person is limited in its personal

reedom due to reactant behavior. Inaddition opportunity costs, monetary,

coordination and transaction costs

arise or the eared resident when

one or instance has to ask others or

help or takes a taxi in order to avoid

the eared spaces and people. Besides

these individual costs, Ldemann also

points out negative externalities that

transcend the individual perspective(see Graph 2).

Decreases in turnovers, vacancy

o shopping acilities and sinking

real estate prices are just a ewexamples. These can even ampliy

ear o crime as a weakened local

inrastructure rooted in decreasing

demand can reinorce the isolation o

a neighborhood. This can lead to an

increase o its degree o deprivation

but as the strongest consequence

even create nogo areas. People might

avoid these and thus this opens theopportunity or the creation o non

socialized spaces or criminals. As

a result, real places o ear might

emerge i we ollow Wilson and

Kellings broken-windows theory

(see 2.1.2.)

However, other scholars (i.a. Kury/

ObergellFuchs 2008: 63/64)reveal that the level o ear o crime

Graph 2: Fear o crime & socioeconomic decay cycle (data: based on Ldemann 2006: 2 86 .; own layout)

e.g.

+ turnovers

+ shop vacancies

+ sinking real estate

prices

FEAR OF

CRIME

i.a. avoidance

behavior

weakening of local

infrastructure

worst case:

NO GO AREA!

increasing isolation/

social deprivation of

the area


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within the population is hugely

overestimated. Methodological

problems o the surveys conducted aresaid to be the main reasons or that.

In case that this is true, many political

decisions are initiated and realized

without justication.

The ongoing debate about the

degree o importance o ear o

crime and its dimensions convey a

certain demand o research in this

eld. The question whether earo crime actually is a problematic

issue in Viennas Transdanubian

Rennbahnsiedlung and Berlin

Spandaus Obstalleesiedlung will be

approached in this paper.

1.2Focus & researchqueston

This thesis ocuses on researching

the phenomenon o ear o crime in

highrise housing estates in outer city

deprived neighborhoods.

In the context o this thesis, ear o

crime relates to everywhere outsideo the residents very own sphere the

public and semipublic space. This

included or instance stair cases,

garbage rooms, parking spaces and

public spaces outside such as the

MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION

IN HOW FAR IS FEAR OF CRIME

PRESENT AMONG RESIDENTS OF

DEPRIVED NEIGHBORHOODS?

SUBQUESTIONS

1. Does fear of crime exist among residents in deprived neighborhoods?

2. If yes, what is its nature?

3. How to counteract fear of crime? Are crime prevention measurements

appropriate strategies to reduce the level of fear of crime in deprived

neighborhoods?


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Introduction

playgrounds or local shopping centers.

The decision to research peoples

eelings o security in public spaces isdue to the assumption that the home

is oten considered to be a place o

control and security (Lupton 1999:

9). O course one should not ignore

the high share o domestic violence

but in the ramework o this project,

the ocus is laid on ear o crime in

public and semipublic areas due to the

limited availability o sensible datasuch as victimization experience in

the domestic sphere. Furthermore,

a special interest in understanding

urban processes played an important

part.

The main interest is to analyze

whether residents o highrise housing

estates in outer city deprived areasactually have to deal with arising

eelings o insecurity in the semi

public and public spaces o their

neighborhood. The population o

the neighborhoods analyzed are

composed o signicant shares o

oreigners, lowincome residentsand unemployed who in general

have to struggle with their daily lie.

On purpose, neighborhoods with a

certain negative reputation but which

are not known to the main trouble

hotspot o the city have been chosen.

1.3Structure

The content o this thesis can be

divided into three main parts: a

theoretical, practical and an analytical

component. Graph 3 depicts a sketch

o the research design.

The general introduction is ollowed

by chapter 2 which includes the resultso an indepth literature review.

Thereby, theoretical knowledge on

ear o crime and crime prevention

could be collected (see Graph 3, phase

I).

1 THEORY Literature review Concepts o ear o crime characteristics Origin Concepts o crime prevention

2 CASE STUDIES Research/ on-site visits/ interviews Neighborhood prole Physical structure Demographics Specics Crime prevention strategies Survey among residents

3 ANALYSIS Discussion o survey results Matching with crime prevention strategies Comparison o cities

Conclusion

Graph 3: Structure o the thesis (own layout)


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The papers analyzed are mainly taken

rom AngloSaxon and German

speaking scientic journals, booksand other related publications. The

selection represents the broadness

o the body o research that has been

conducted in these countries towards

ear o crime.

The third chapter contains

inormation concerning the case

study areas (see graph Graph 3phase II) that have been compiled

with the help o onsite visits,

inormal interviews with local

experts such as the police or

neighborhood management oces

and an analysis o grey literature (e.g.

reports, inormation yer). These

dierent sources helped to draw a

comprehensive picture o the physicaland social situation in the case study

neighborhoods. In June/July 2011, a

survey among 100 local residents in

each case study neighborhood ahs

been conducted by the author.

Finally, all the inormation gathered

is analyzed and discussed in chapter

4 and 5.


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Theoretical part

02Theoretical partThe theoretical element is divided into three main parts. Fear o crime andcrime prevention are treated individually whereas the last is an innovativecombination o both in terms o content.2.1

Fear o crmeA literature review on ear o crime

reveals an extensive body o research

where a broad variety o perspectives

on the topic can be ound.

The most common act reerred to is

that ear o crime is a matter o public

and academic discussion (Bannister

2001: 807; Boers 1993: 65; Reuband2009: 233; Gabriel et al 2003: 600).

However, there are dierent opinions

about the exact beginning o this

interest. The USA is regarded to be the

starting point o academic discourse

on ear o crime where rst interest

arose around the 1960ies/1970ies

(Walklate 2001: 930; Boers 1993:

66). This interest in the AngloSaxon

academic world still exists as the

recentness o many articles and

quantity o literature available reveals.

Germanspeaking researchers did not

discover the topic until the year 1989.

The enormous social and societal

changes that came along with the all

o the Berlin wall lead to an increased

perception o insecurities. This was

especially true among the East

German population and marked the

beginning o an indepth research onear o crime in Germany (Gerber et al

2010: 142).

The Austrian case is less intense due

to the act that the country did not

ace such intense and rapid social

changes compared to the reunited

Germany. O course, the stream o

immigrants rom countries behind theIron Curtain since the early 1990ies

had a certain impact too but the living

conditions or the initial population

did not change as prooundly.

Thus, no signicant level o ear o

crime was noticed. In combination

with a hardly existing academic

criminological inrastructure this

resulted in a less intense research on

the topic in Austria.

Germany

Boers

Kury

Ldemann

Obergell-Fuchs

Oberwittler

Reuband

Austria

Hirtenlehner et al

Sessar/ Stangl

Table 1: Fear o crme authors accordng tocountry o ocus


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The Austrian academic research pool

mainly oers articles by Hirtenlehner

and Stangl. These two academics areopposed to six authors on the German

part who oten drated more than one

document with a special ocus on ear

o crime (see table 1). The comparison

shall underline a lack o interest and

maybe also need in the Republic o

Austria concerning ear o crime. I

this is due to an absence o the ear

o crime in Austria itsel or just thehardlyexisting interest on behal o

researchers shall be answered through

the empirical part o this thesis.

2.1.1General ntroductonto ear o crme

A denition o the term ear o crime

is a dicult undertaking as there

is strong terminological conusion

(Hirtenlehner in Kury 2008: 108).

However, the majority o researchers

agree upon the complexity o ear

o crime (Vanderveen 2008: 34;

Kury/ObergellFuchs 2008: 54;

Eriksson 2008: 15; Jackson 2004:298). So ar, the level o research

oten concentrated on describing

the phenomenon with the help o

empirical studies but the development

o an all embracing concept has oten

been neglected (Hollway 1997: 256;

Lupton 1991: 1).

Psychologcal emergence

Prior to ocusing on the characteristicso ear o crime, its emergence will

be presented rom a psychological

perspective. To my mind, one has to

comprehend rst how the individual

develops ear o crime beore

analyzing possible catalysts and

reecting about countermeasures.

A threestaged process describes

the psychological genesis o ear ocrime and consists o a cognitive,

aective and conative dimension.

This distinction is applied by most

Germanspeaking researchers (Kury/

ObergellFuchs in Kury, 2008, p.54/

Hirtenlehner in Kury, 2008, p. 109/

Ldemann, 2006, p. 291/ Boers, 1993,

p. 67 ./ Reuband, 2009, p. 234 235/

Gerber et al. 2010: 143).

Cogntve level

On the cognitive level, a person

conducts a primary appraisal in the

sense o Lazarus approach. This

means that the person demonstrates

rst o all a certain degree o risk

sensitiveness. Kilias describes risk

sensitiveness as the awareness o

a person to be exposed to a risk (in

Gerber 2010: 144). The aected

person might pose himsel questions

such as:

Why are these people ollowing me?

Do I carry anything valuable with me?


19/10211

Theoretical part

Subsequently, an evaluation o the

individuals coping abilities ollows.

Can I run away?

Do I care i someone is stealing that

backpack?

The subjective victimization risk

is assessed which means that the

individual is estimating his personal

likelihood o becoming a victim

o crime. Important attributes orassessing the risk include gender, age

and contextual actors such as own

behavior, attractiveness o the good

and past experiences. Hirtenlehner

(2003: 162 .) states that this

evaluation is rather a specic result

o the direct environment than o

concrete crime experiences.

However, it should be emphasizedthat a person can only develop ear

when there is a discrepancy between

the perception o personal likelihood

o victimization and coping abilities.

A young male person or instance may

be at a high risk o being attacked as

he shows some provocative behavior

but he maybe does not care that much

and eels condent enough to cope

with consequences o that incident.

Summarizing the cognitive level, ear

o crime does not mean the perception

o risk only (Pantazis 2000: 147;

Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 545; Reuband

2009: 235; Lupton 2000: 23) but also

an anticipation o consequences and a

lack o eective protection. However,

urther requirements have to be

ullled in order to diagnose ear o

crime rom a psychological point o

view.

Afectve level

The second stage o the psychological

genesis o ear o crime is shaped by

an aective dimension. Emotions

arise as a reaction to the danger

assessed and the eeling o inability

to meet this challenge. This crime

related eeling o insecurity dependson the individuals vulnerability.

The concept o vulnerability is a

result o perceived competences

and resources (Reuband 2009: 237

.). It is connected with gender, age,

health, the social, psychological and

nancial position (Pantazis 2000:

416; Reuband 2009: 237). Kanan

and Pruitt (2002: 529) highlightthe distinction between social and

physical vulnerability. Especially

the social vulnerability is o strong

interest or this thesis as it describes

a requent exposure to ear-inspiring

situations which is due to ethnicity

and income. However, they have not

ound any consistent evidence yet

or this specic hypothesis. Further

indicators or social vulnerability

are the perception o disorder and

incivilities (Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 544).

Conatve level

The third stage o the emergence

o ear o crime is known as the

conative dimension. It encompasses

the behavioral reaction to prevent or


20/10212


end o crime ater having assessed a

certain risk, rating inadequate coping

abilities and reacting with an emotiono ear. This dimension can include

avoidance o people and places or

taking prevention measures as or

instance changing modes o transport

(Gerber et al 2010: 144).

Tradtonal approach

An example or a traditionaldenition o ear o crime is given by

Hirtenlehner (2003: 120) as he breaks

it down to an emotional reaction

towards delinquent behavior that is

perceived as a personal risk. Hence,

this approach does not take the third

part o the psychological model into

account.

Experenced vs. expressed ear

Some researchers (Kanan/ Pruitt

2002: 528) overcome this tight

denition. Reuband (2009: 237 238)

or instance oers an interesting

division o the ear o crime concept

where he reers to an individual ear

o crime with a personal charactersimilar to the traditional one. This

model has been in the ocus o

many academic studies. In addition,

Reuband is convinced about the

existence o a so called social ear o

crime that rather describes a cross

social phenomenon. Farrall et al

(2006: 1 .) are in line with Reuband

but introduce new termini. The

individual ear is termed experienced

ear as it relates to real crime

thus to specic moments o anxiety.

In contrast to that, the so called

expressive ear reers to concerns

about broader social issues and

expresses concerns about social

cohesion and moral consensus.

Recapitulating the three-staged

psychological model it becomes clear

that fear of crime contains more thanjust being afraid o becoming a victim

o crime. The person has to:

1. Evaluate its subjective

victimization risk

2. Generate feelings of insecurity

(emotion)

3. Show a behavioral reaction

Denton

The knowledge about the

psychological development o ear

represents the necessary basis or

actually describing the character o

the ear o crime phenomenon. It has

to be emphasized again that there

exists no unique approach among

researchers. I ear o crime is still

an appropriate term or this complex

phenomenon can be a matter o

discussion as well. But as Vanderveen

(2008: 41) argued convincingly one

should not abandon the term as

there exists an already vast body o

research. In addition, the wording

ear o crime seems to appeal to

many people and groups.


21/10213

Theoretical part

Personal understandng

Within the ramework o thisthesis the aorementioned broader

conception o ear o crime in the

sense o Farrall and Reuband will

be applied. Hence, ear o crime can

have dierent acets an individual

one and one expressing broader

social issues. Jackson et al(2004: 298

.) summarize it most convincingly

as they describe ear o crime as aninterplay o risk perception, emotion,

vulnerability and the interpretation

o ones environment. This also

includes the reading o ones social

environment as well as the physical

surrounding. This approach apppears

most persuasive as it encompasses

actors o the micro and macro level

(Farall et al 2006: 31; Wilcox et al2003: 323) and thereore allows a

plurality o approaches to explain

ear o crime. However, behavioral

reaction will be addded as these

reects the impairment o the quality

o lie a concern o main importance.

2.1.2

Explanatory models

In general, one can register a clear

distinction between AngloSaxon and

Germanspeaking literature when

it comes to actors that are assumed

to lead to the emergence o ear o

crime. Whereas the BritishAmerican

researchers ocus on mesolevel

actors such as the community and

neighborhood, the German speakers

oten emphasize the role o the

macro level with its global risks andgeneral insecurities (Gerber et al: 152).

Nevertheless, some scholars also use

multiactor models that work with the

dierent approaches.

The ollowing paragraphs contain an

overview about the major explanation

models o ear o crime. These

are partly overlapping and none

dominates (Bannister 2001: 808 809;Hirtenlehner 2003: 120; Ldemann

2006: 287 288). For that reason,

they are presented in a random

order which does not reer to any

hierarchical structure.

Vctmzaton model

The victimization approach takes themicrolevel as a point o departure

and explains ear o crime as a product

o victimization. Thus, a person has

already become a victim o crime and

thereore is araid o an iterated crime

experience. Victimization does not

necessarily have to be direct but can

also be an indirect one (Ldemann:

2006: 287). This is the case i a person

or instance witnesses a crime or a

related person becomes a victim.

However, the majority o scholars (i.a.

Zaraonitou 2008: 164; Hirtenlehner

2003: 121; Reuband 2009: 239)

neglect the exclusive power o

explanation o the victimization

model with dierent arguments.

On the one hand, Reuband (2009:

240) states that crime is already


22/10214


perceived as a daily risk and people

thereore consider it as part o their

reality which cannot be avoided.On the other hand, victims o crime

show other ways o coping with

their experiences than only ear.

Taking precautions or neutralizing

the incident (cognitive dissonance

reduction) are just two alternatives

that might even prevent a rising

level o ear (Zaraonitou 2008: 161).

Furthermore objective data revealsthat only a small part o society

becomes a victim o crime but the

ear o crime rates are way higher.

Thus, not everyone eared can have

been a victim o crime beorehand

(Hirtenlehner 2003: 121).

In connection with the victimization

model the ear o crime paradox isan interesting concept to look at. It

describes the requently empirically

stated act that cohorts with lowest

victimization risks show the highest

level o ear o crime (Boers 1993: 71;

Wilson 1982: 4; Covington 1991: 231

232). It especially applies or women

and elderly who show high levels o

ear but are statistically less likely to

become a victim o crime than men

or young people. This can most likely

be explained by a higher vulnerability

o these groups as they or instance

sometimes eel inerior in terms o

physical strength.

Dsorder approach

The classical disorder approachocuses on how people experience and

interpret urban space (Hirtenlehner

2008: 130). The perception o certain

physical and social characteristics,

the so called incivilities leads to

an increased level o ear o crime.

Hunter coined incivilities in 1978 as

indicators o urban decay (Eier et al

2009: 416). In connection with earo crime incivilities show a collapse

o community morals, standards

and values. They are perceived as a

sign or an eroding inormal social

control and diminishing interpersonal

trust within the neighborhood. It is

conveyed that no one is taking care o

the environment and thereore leads

to the assumption that nobody mightintervene in case o danger. Incivilities

can either be aesthetical detractions

such as grati or litter, unpleasant

contacts with persons like youth

gangs, beggars, drunken people or

things that pose a risk to ones health

like needles or condoms(Oberwittler

2008: 227). According to Reuband

(2009: 243) physical disorganization

contributes less than social incivilities

to the emergence o ear.

Broken-Wndows-Theory

The disorder approach is based

on Wilson and Kellings Broken

window theory which was published

in 1982. It draws a link between crime

and disorder on the community level.


23/10215

Theoretical part

The name derives rom its main line

o thought:

I a window is broken and letunrepaired all o the rest o thewindows will be broken soon

(Wilson/ Kelling 1982: 3).

The perception o a broken

window is interpreted as a sign o

normlessness and a prestage o

crime. As a consequence inhabitantswill withdraw rom public space

and use the streets less intense. The

decrease o social control now really

occurs and thus more windows will

be broken. I worst comes to worst

people even move out and new people

arrive in a community characterized

by anonymity and weakened

inormal social control. The theoryis not limited to broken windows as

incivilities but also includes others

such as littering or public drinking

(Wilson/ Kelling 1982: 5). The process

explained cannot only happen in

dilapidated areas but also in more

auent ones.

Eier et al (2009: 417) remark that

the inuence o incivilities as signs

o disorder on ear o crime is not

undisputed among scholars. Kanan

and Pruitt (2002: 530) or instance

recognize a link between incivilities

and the perception o risk. Boers

however reects on it even urther

and is aware o the act that ear o

crime needs the perception o risk

and an emotional reaction as well

(Nonnenmacher 2007: 497) just in

line with parts o the psychological

emergence model. Thus Boersacknowledges only an indirect

inuence o disorder on ear o crime.

Hirtenlehner (2008: 127) disapproves

the classical disorder theory as an

explanation model or ear o crime.

Despite these disaccords, the disorder

approach seems to nd much more

approval in the scientic community

than the victimization model (i.a.Kury/ ObergellFuchs 2008: 71).

However, critics arise that disorder in

urban space is not enough to explain

ear o crime solely but suggest a ocus

on social actors (Oberwittler 2003:

45).

Socal dsntegraton model

The socal dsntegraton approach

assumes that there exsts a

relatonshp between ear o crme

and local socal captal.

The concept o local socal captal

covers the dmensons o contacts

to neghbors, nterpersonal trust,

socal coheson and collectve

ecacy (Ldemann 2006: 288).

The lastmentoned descrbes the

common normal socal control o a

communty.

Ldemann (2005: 50) dstngushes

between bondng socal captal

that can be ound wthn one

neghborhood and brdgng socal

captal whch can exst between

derent neghborhoods and strata

o socety. Local socal captal s o


24/10216


specal mportance the ndvdual

s unable to exercse control alone

and thus belongs to the group ovulnerable. Even the own copng

abltes are weak, a strong local socal

captal s mplyng normal control n

the neghborhood, support structure

or copng wth socal problems, sense

o amlarty (Kanan/ Prutt 2002:

531 .) and hence can decrease the

ndvduals ear o crme (Erksson

2008: 1516 ). Accordng to ths theoryear arses due to mssng (ntegraton

n) local networks, weak communty

organzaton and poor neghborhood

amentes (Kury/ ObergellFuchs

2008: 76 77). It supposes that

low local socal captal leads to a

decreased socal control whch results

n ncvltes and n a nal result n

ear o crme (Eer et al 2009: 416).Jane Jacobs (1961: 36) already called

or eyes on the street as a tool o

social control in order to improve the

perception o security.

In reverse, the level o ear o

crime decreases the more a person

is involved into the community.

Bellair (1991: 680) doubts that a

high requency o social contacts

is necessary and even possible

in nowadays society. He even

avors weak ties as these also can

contribute to the collective ecacy.

As already shown, the social

disintegration model is strongly

connected with the disorder approach

as incivilities are perceived as signs

or a diminished inormal social

control and once again can lead to

ear o crime (Covington 1991: 232;

Boers 1993: 72; Hirtenlehner in Kury2008: 313; Nonnenmacher 2007:

494).

Research could neither proo nor

deny the importance o the model

in unison. Several researchers

approve it (i.a. Nonnenmacher 2007:

497 498), others are denying it

(Kanan/ Pruitt 2002: 545) and stillothers only state an indirect eect

o social disintegration on ear

o crime (Eriksson 2008: 15 16).

But the act that or instance the

German government ocuses with

its comprehensive program Socially

Integrative City (Soziale Stadt) on

strengthening the social capital in

deprived neighborhoods, approves acertain acceptance o the concept. In

how ar it contributes to a lower level

o ear o crime, will be discussed

with the help o empirical data in

chapter 5.

Generalzaton thess

The generalization approach

considers ear o crime not as a

rational response to posed risks

but as a sign o deeper insecurity

(Hirtenlehner 2003: 162; Reuband

2009: 242). The phenomenon

thereore is transcending the area o

crime (Sessar 2008: 29). Hence, it is

more a social problem than a personal

condition (Zaraonitou 2008: 159).

The idea proceeds on the assumption


25/10217

Theoretical part

o ear o crime being a acet o

general insecurities and as a result o

social transitions (Hirtenlehner 2003:122/ 2009: 16). Other aspects o

nowadays general insecurity include

social ears, personal ears, disorder

and ear o crime (Hirtenlehner

2008: 149). In this model ear o

crime is inseparable o other orms

o insecurity which can be o social,

cultural, economical and political

nature (Kury 2003: 10). But why dopeople actually project their general

ears such as ear o becoming

unemployed or losing the current

social status onto crime? First o all,

intangible ears become nameable

and people have something concrete

to express (Hollway 1997: 265).

Secondly, ear o crime can bea way to express dissatisaction

about living conditions towards

the administrational and political

levels. Deriving rom that the

ordering character o ear o crime

or measurements and policies

becomes clear (Hirtenlehner 2009:

17; Kury/ ObergellFuchs 2008: 75;

Zaraonitou 2008: 159). Interestingly,

the generalization thesis has mainly

been used by the German speaking

part o academia (Gerber et al 2010:

151) which might be explained by the

strong social changes since 1989.

Other models

As already indicate,d ear o crime is

a complex phenomenon and oers

a variety o explanation models.

However, the above mentioned are

the most requent and relevant onesaccording to the basis literature

on ear o crime. Nonetheless, two

urther approaches that can be o

relevance or this thesis will be

mentioned.

On the one hand, the social status

can be o importance. Empirical

research states that inhabitants withsocial problems or less education

show higher level o ear than

bettero (Covington 1991: 238 .;

Pantazis 2000: 420; Oberwittler

2003: 43; Nonnenmacher 2007: 501;

Br 2008: 9/15; Hinterlehner 2009:

19). It is assumed that these people

are more vulnerable and thereore

show diculties to cope with risks.Furthermore low social capital, lack

o social control and the high share o

oreigners are associated with this so

called precariat thesis.

On the other hand, the closely related

presence o the stranger is a point

o departure or understanding the

phenomenon (i.a. Lupton 1991: 13 .;

Ldemann 2006: 298; Kanan/ Pruitt

2002: 530). The conrontation with

dierence or sometimes even clash

o cultures makes people araid o the

unknown and unpredictable. Hence,

this skeptical attitude makes it even

more dicult to agree upon common

norms and values. I these are not

given no strong local social capital

is able to arise and the level o ear


26/10218


increases (Covington 1991: 238).

Summarizing the models presented,

one can conclude that there is nosingle explanation or the emergence

o ear o crime.

2.1.3Measurement oear o crme

The measurement o ear o crime

holds an extensive part in the

academic discourse. Discussions

reveal that no method is generally

accepted yet and objections are

raised concerning every approach.

In general, there are two distinctive

ideas towards measuring ear o

crime: the quantitative and the

qualitative one. Most o the timesthe reliability and validity o data

retrieved are in question. Beore

showing their unique advantages

and disadvantages, the origin o

measuring ear o crime will be

presented.

Standard ndcator

In the 1960ies, US-American

researchers developed the so

called standard item or standard

indicator. The name is misleading

as it does not originate rom

characteristics as high quality

and precise measurement but

its extensive use in empirical

research over the past decades

(Kury 2003: 10; Reuband 2009: 238).

The standard item asks whether

there is an area in the respondentsneighborhood where he would not

go to alone at night. A reormulated

version inquires:

How sae do you eel or wouldyou eel being alone in yourneighborhood ater dark?

The question has been criticized

or its general and rather unspecic

character as it does not ask or crime

directly (Reuband 2000: 185; Kury

2003: 10; Kanan/ Pruitt: 528; Jury/

ObergellFuchs 2008: 55). However,

Reuband (2000: 191) admits that

the majority o respondents actually

make the connection towards crime.

Kanan and Pruitt (2002: 528) ault

that the standard item does notcapture dimensions o a broader

dened ear o crime such as social

ears. Further critique includes

the remark whether this kind o

question is asking or an emotional

reaction or just an evaluation o the

perceived risk o crime as not every

risk perception leads to ear o crime

(Pantazis 2000: 418; Kanan/ Pruitt2002: 528).

The validity o the standard item can

also be challenged as crime oten

does not happen during nighttime

exclusively. Thereore a certain risk

should in all objectivity also exist

during daytime. Notwithstanding,

one should be aware o ear o crime


27/10219

Theoretical part

being subjective by denition. All

in all, one might doubt that one can

capture the complexity o ear ocrime with one single question.

Quanttatve vs. qualtatve

approach

In general quantitative methods are

known to lead to stronger ears than

qualitative interviews in case one

consults the same person (Sessar2008: 25 .). The problem o many

quantitative measurements is their

standard and closed character (Kury/

ObergellFuchs 2008: 53) which

results in an overrating o ear due to

a given choice o answers. Farrall et al

(2006: 1) name that an invocation o

attitude as the interviewee is sort o

led to express something he hardlyexperiences with any requency.

However, in most cases the ocus lies

on quantitative instead o qualitative

methods (Lupton 1999: 2). The

increased amount o work, limited

time and nancial resources can

explain this model o choice.

Problems o measurement

In addition to having the choice

between either a quantitative

survey or qualitative interviews

other problems occur concerning

the measurement o ear o crime.

In general, methods measuring the

level o ear o crime include an

overestimation o requency o ear

experiences (Jackson 2004: 299).

Another requent distortion is a non

attitude on behal o the respondents

(Kury/ ObergellFuchs 2008: 77).This behavior describes respondents

who only have vague ideas about

crime. In order to give an answer

generally accessible inormation (e.g.

media; riends and acquaintances)

is expressed instead o neglecting

eelings o insecurity.

To sum it up, the measurement o

ear o crime is a challenge withinacademic research.

2.2Crme preventon

2.2.1

OvervewOne main goal o all research on

ear o crime should be to prevent

or at least reduce ear o crime

within society. Until now, there is no

such specic term as ear o crime

prevention but various institutions

and political levels deal with the

concept o crime prevention in

general. Hence, it seems reasonable

to dene this term rst beore

dealing with the specics o counter

measurements against eelings o

insecurity.

Denton o crme preventon

There are many denitions o the

term crime prevention and so ar


28/10220


no unied approach, applying orall countries, exists. Thereore, the

lowest common actor shall be mypoint o reerence here - the UnitedNations denition. In 2002 theUnited Nations Economic and SocialCouncil (ESOSOC) declared thatcrime prevention has to be consideredas

[] strategies and measures thatseek to reduce the risk o crimesoccurring and their potentialharmul eects on individuals andsociety, including ear ocrimeby intervening to infuence theirmultiple causes.

(ECOSOC resolution 2002/13)

Crime prevention approaches

Crime prevention measurementsoten have dierent starting pointsdepending on the basic criminologicaltheory applied. The ollowingdierentiation shall illustrate crimeprevention targeting people incontrast to measurements inuencingenvironmental actors. However, thetwo ideal types are oten interwovenand in the eld a clear distinction isoten difcult.

a) Developmental approach

A distinction o crime preventionmeasurements in this category canbe done on three levels whereaseach stage ocuses on a dierentdevelopmental stage o crime (c.Schwind 2007: 17).

1. Primary prevention aims toreduce the deeper causes odelinquent behavior. It includesactions such as improved welare

policies, drug prevention or the

promotion o the sense o right

and wrong. These activities are

geared towards the whole society.2. In contrast to that,secondary

crime prevention aims to

discourage the potential oender

and reduce the opportunities

to commit a crime. CCTV

surveillance in hotspots areas,

taxi services only or women or

specic changes in urban design

are only a ew examples osecondary crime prevention.

Whereas primary and secondary

crime prevention strategies aim to

prevent rsttime delinquencies,

tertiary crime prevention gears

towards keeping the delinquent rom

reoending. This can or instance be

done through probation service or the

execution o a prison sentence.

b) Stuatonal crme preventon

The so called situational crime

prevention can mainly be ound in

the category o secondary crime

prevention. It approaches the

problem o crime by ocusing on

the opportunity to commit a crime.

Certain physical conditions as

well as liestyles might convey that

committing the crime is a good

choice as there is a suitable target as

or instance an old wealthy woman

carrying jewelry without protection

Felsons and Cohens routine activity

theory (1979). Another criminological

basis o situational crime prevention

is Cornishs and Clarkes rational


29/10221

Theoretical part

choice approach (1986) who assumed

that the criminal oender is taking

a decision which appears rational tohim to engage in specic criminal

acts ater considering or instance the

risks and rewards.

These theores can be seen as the

theoretcal oundaton o the concept

o stuatonal crme preventon whch

ams to reduce the opportuntes or

specc categores o crme by ncreasngthe assocated rsks and reducng the

rewards (Clarke 1995: 91). Stuatonal

crme preventon has oten been

contested or the conecture that the

strateges actually rather dsplace

crme nstead o preventng t. The

most typcal examples o stuatonal

crme preventon are CCTV

survellance and changes urbandesgn.

One o the rst who drew a

connecton between archtecture

and crme was Oscar Newman wth

the deensble space concept o

1972 that s based on an emprcal

study. A deensble space should

create the physcal mpresson o

a socal abrc that deends tsel

(Newman 1972:3). Hence, the man

dea behnd s to ncrease eelngs

o responsblty wth the help o

desgn eatures. It s assumed that

people who eel responsble take

care o ther neghborhood and

ntervene n case o ncvltes or

the ntruson o strangers. Hence, an

urban decay as Wlson and Kellng

propose can be counteracted

ust by physcal nterventons.

The archtect Newman based hscrmenhbtng concept on the

prncples o natural survellance,

terrtoralty, mage and mleu ().

The model s lmted to physcal

nterventons.

The CPTED (Crme Preventon

through Envronmental Desgn)

approachs nventor Jeeryhas had the smlar basc dea

o desgn crtera by n the

1970es. Hence, the strateges

o natural access control,

natural survellance, terrtoral

renorcement and target

hardenng are part o the concept

as well. Later on, communty

buldng strateges have beenntegrated wth tradtonal

polcng methods (Altes/ Van

Soomeren 1998: 1). These

strateges are beng carred out

by the collaboraton o derent

actors and local resdents. The

measurements encompass steps

to mprove the qualty o le and

creatng actvty space. However,

attenton should be pad to the

acceptance o these spaces on

behal o resdents.

Thereore, the CPTED approach

also calls or a socal program

whch ncludes or nstance

educaton acltes whch

mght be a necessary addton

n deprved neghborhoods. A


30/10222


specal pont o nterest n areas

wth a hgh share o adolescents s

the acltaton o lesure actvtestargetng ths group. Altes and Van

Soomeren pont out that they should

have an allocated

[] place to meet that snt organzed.

The only thng that should be organzed

s the choce o the rght locaton and the

desgn o the shelter.

(Altes/ Van Soomeren1998: 3)

A typcal CPTED process shouldalso nclude the plannng o urther

mantenance and more generally

speakng a development process n

collaboraton wth the neghborhood.

The role o the polce wthn CPTED

s to support saety networks, to

nstall communty boards and to

remove eopardzng elements rom

the communty such as drug dealers.

To sum t up, CPTED overcomes the

ntal lmtaton to physcal strateges

and s aware o the act that crme s

not a techncal but a socal problem,

too.

2.2.2

Crme preventon nAustra/ Venna

The ollowng chapter llustrates the

general state o the art concernng

crme preventon n Austra n general

and Venna n specc.

In contrast to crme preventon

poneer countres as Great Brtan or

the Netherlands, crme preventon

s a relatvely neglected topc wthn

Austras poltcal and socetal sphere(Stangl/ Zetnegg n.s.: 3). There

s no legal ramework on nether

poltcal level that deals wth a

broader crme preventon approach

or at least consders t to be a task o

mportance. Stummvoll (2004: 13)

concludes that

Prvention grundstzlichPrivatsache der Brger ist, und diePolizei diese dabei zu untersttzenhat. 3

Polce

Paragraph 25 o the security police

law (25 Sicherheitspolizeigesetz) is

pointing to this crime preventive taskon behal o the police. The Austrian

police express their ocial will

towards collaborative work but hardly

any is carried out in reality. I so, it

only takes place on an inormal basis

(Stummvoll 2004: 14/40). Hence,

the crime preventive work on behal

o the executive power is limited to

two man elds the normatoncenter o the crmnal nvestgaton

department (Krmnalpolzelcher

Beratungsdenstes - KBD) and the

lason ocers (Kontaktbeamte).

The small unt (n terms o number

o sta) o the normaton center

o the crmnal nvestgaton

department started n 1974 and

manly advses a selselectve group

3In prncple, preventon s a prvate matter. However, the polce have to support resdents n ther crmepreventon actvtes. (own translaton)


31/10223

Theoretical part

o people seekng help and advce

concernng the preventon o drugs,

sexual crme, volence and propertycrme (Stummvoll 2004: 23). As a

consequence, the maorty o people

are not wthn reach as a proactve

behavor on behal o resdents s

needed n order to pass on the specc

knowledge.

The concept o the lason ocers

has been ntated at around thesame tme but ther scope o duty

ders sgncantly. A common

polce ocer has to ulll the tasks

o represson and preventon at the

same time. Since 1984, there is a

special group o ocers who ocus

on youth (Jugendkontaktbeamte) . The

liaison ocers are oten asked or

help in order to mediate interculturalor neighborly conicts but due to a

lack o training and motivation they

hardly ever contribute to anything

like social cohesion.

Accordng to Stangl (n.s.: 4) the

concept s not well accepted and

respected among members o the

polce whch s reected n ther

motvaton to conduct the ob.

Stummvoll (2004: 41) explans ths

by organzatonaladmnstratve

reasons as well as specc cultural

atttudes.

Austran Center or Crme

Preventon

The national wide acting association

sterreichisches Zentrum fr

Kriminalprvention mainly

aims to ght violence, abuse and

addctons. Derently as ts namendcates, ts actvtes only ocus

on conductng programs at schools

and kndergardens. A scentc or

networkng dmenson s not part o

ther scope.

Other actors

In addton, there exst o courseother actors who are dealng wth

crme preventon n ts broadest

sense.

The Vennese Team Focus s or

nstance a small group o socal

workers who are observng, analyzng

and tryng to nd solutons to

concts and socal problems npublc spaces such as parks or metro

statons.

Other nsttutons and ntatves

oten ocus on the preventon o

drugs and volence whle requently

targetng at oenders at rsk such as

youth or other resdents o deprved

areas. However, there s no such

thng as an ocal crme preventon

network n Austra where best

practce approaches are exchanged,

collaboratons enorced and whch

classes crme preventon as a

matter o mportance wthn Austran

socety.


32/10224


Summary

The normaton gathered leadsto the concluson that Austra s

an undeveloped country n terms

o crme preventon. Stummvoll

summarizes it to the point while

saying:

[] die Verantwortung frSicherheitsaugaben wird []an den staatlichen Souvernbertragen, was dazu fhrt,dass Eigenvorsorge und

Eigeninitiative fr kommunalePrventionsmanahmen in dieserGesellschat unterentwickeltbleiben.4

(Stummvoll 2004: 41)

2.2.3Crme preventon n

Germany/ BerlnThe Frst Perodcal Report on

Crme and Crme Control by the

Federal Mnstry o Justce and o the

Federal Mnstry o the Interor (2001)

encapsulates the German approach to

crme preventon as:

Erolgreiche Kriminalprventionist eine gesamtgesellschatlicheAugabe.5

(Federal Ministry o Justice et al. 2001: 457)

Consequently, crme preventon

n Germany s carred out at all

derent levels: the natonal, the

ederal and the local one. In general,

measurements at these levels can

be categorzed accordng to the

developmental crme preventon

model (see chapter 2.2.1) and ncludeor nstance youth polces or crmnal

prosecutons.

The report also draws attenton to

the aspect o ear o crme as t asks

or crme preventon strateges that

am to reduce the obectve rsk o

vctmzaton as well as nuencng

the condtons or the emergenceo ear o crme (2006: 459). The

subsequent report o 2006 s even

callng or evaluatons o the eect o

communty-based crme preventon on

the reducton o eelngs o nsecurty

(2006: 483 484).

Communty-based crme

preventon

Communtybased crme preventon

(Kommunale Krmnalprventon) s

gven specal mportance n Germany

as t s taken or granted that most

crme s rooted and conducted

locally. A strong ocus on the local

level shall respond to speccs o

the communty. The concept can be

categorzed as a stuatonal crme

preventon strategy (Stummvoll 2003:

11).

The dea o communtybased crme

preventon has been nspred by

the communty polcng trend that

started n the 1980es n the USA.

Durng the early 1990es crme

preventon n Germany changed to

be perceved as crosssocetal task

4 The responsblty or securty s transerred to the state. As a consequence, ndvdual arrangementsand proactvty towards communtybased crme preventon reman underdeveloped n ths socety. (owntranslaton)

5 Successul crme preventon s a task or the socety as a whole. (own translaton)


33/10225

Theoretical part

where the local level holds man

mportance (Wurzbacher 2008: 152).

In addton, a change o atttudetowards the polce beng the only

nsttuton wth the task o ensurng

a sae envronment and socety took

place. Untl then, local governments

housng, socal and youth polces

already caused crme preventve

eects but these were more or less by

products that have not been planned

drectly (Feltes, 2008: 256).

Communtybased crme preventon

embraces the basc prncple that local

socal powers pck up local problems

o publc securty, develop solutons

collaboratvely and mplement these

n nterdscplnary workng groups.

The maorty o ntatves deal

wth crme related to youth, drugsand publc spaces. An estmated

number o 2000 German ctes

and muncpaltes have nstalled

commttees o communcaton

and cooperaton wth the polce,

local governments, poltcs, ustce,

economy, socal servces and other

actors n order to contrbute to

mprove the local qualty o le.

Most o the successul local crme

preventon bodes pursut a cross

departmental approach where all

knds o local powers are nvolved.

Examples or local crme preventon

bodes n Berln are crme preventon

councls (Prventonsrat) even

though there are only a total o

three n the whole cty. However,

the Neghborhood Councls

(Quartersrte) wthn the program

Socally Integratve Cty (see below)can be assgned as local crme

preventon bodes as well.

Federal Commttee Berln aganst

Volence

The majority o ederal states

(Bundeslnder) in Germany haveinstalled ederal crime prevention

councils (Landesprventionsrte).

The City o Berlin instead has

established the Landeskommission

Berlin gegen Gewalt as the central

crime prevention body which aims

to reduce crime and violence. It links

crime prevention actors, inorms the

public about activities related to theeld and especially ocuses on the

prevention o violence at schools and

juvenile delinquency.

Polce

The Berln polce corps shows a broad

varety o actvtes related to the

preventon o crme. Ths ncludes

specal programs towards property

crme, elderly, domestc volence,

volence n publc space, vctm

protecton (ncludng homosexuals),

youngsters, volence at schools,

stalkng and many more.

However, the polce are lmted

towards nterventons n urban

plannng processes snce 2002 when

the status o a publc agency (Trger


34/10226


entlcher Belange) has been lost.

Beore, property developers were

oblged to nclude the polce ntother buldng proects through the

accessblty o plans. Ths opened

the opportunty or remarks towards

aspects that mght pose a problem o

urban securty and can be prevented

durng plannng processes already.

The ramework o the so called

Berln model (Berlner Modell) o1998 descrbes the role o the polce

to be o a ctzenorented character.

Its crme preventve element s

the ncreased requency o polce

presence n the neghborhoods whch

s realzed wth patrols on oot and va

publc transport (Ptter 1999: n.s.).

Socally Integratve Cty

The Socally Integratve Cty (Sozale

Stadt) program has been ntated n

1999 by the natonal government n

collaboraton wth the Federal States

n order to counteract the decay

o socally dsadvantaged areas.

Neghborhoods have been chosen

along socodemographc areas whch

ndcate processes as or nstance

socal segregaton, dscrmnaton

and others pontng towards

deprvaton. Even though crme

preventve eects are not named

as a prmary goal o the program, t

contrbutes to many aspects that are

gven mportance by crmnologcal

theory.

The man tool n order to acheve

goals lke socal cohesveness, the

promoton o ethncal and socalntegraton or the sense o ownershp

s the so called Neghborhood

Management (Quartersmanagement).

Specally allocated neghborhood

management teams are most o the

tme located n the center o the area

and take on a crosslnkng role. The

concept o the Socally Integratve

Cty takes upon the German approacho crme preventon as a ont task and

thereore nsttutons lke housng

socetes, neghborhood centers, local

busnesses and school are ncluded

nto the actvtes conducted.

Another tool wthn the program

are the Neghborhood Councls

(Quartersrte) whch consst onterested local resdents. These

bodes orm part o decsonmakng

processes such as the allocaton o

program unds and thereore add

the partcpatve dmenson to the

Socally Integratve Cty program.

However, Wurzbacher (2008: 210)

notces a lack o a detaled adustment

o the Neghborhood Management

Oces towards the preventon o

(volent) crme. Nonetheless, the

crme preventve eect can not be

neglected. One can even consder

the Socally Integratve cty to be a

communty buldng strategy that ts

nto the CPTED model (see 2.2.1). It

supports the communty as t helps

to organze people, and lterally oers


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Theoretical part

a roo or neghborhood actvtes and

contacts (Altes/ Van Soomeren

1998: 2). Furthermore the tool othe Neghborhood Councl supports

the nvolvement o local people n the

plannng o actvty spaces (bd.). As

a consequence, t s both a condton

o and a contrbuton to the process o

communty buldng (bd.).

Concluson

An analyss o data concernng crme

n preventon n Germany/ Berln

reveals a strong ocus on socal

measurements n order to reduce

(ear o) crme (Schubert 2007:

34). Stuatonal crme preventon

s conducted to a lesser extent.

However, crme preventon s not

perceved as the duty o a snglensttuton n Germany. Stummvoll

gves an nterestng percepton o

what character successul crme

preventon as a task or the socety as

a whole would be:

Wenn City-Managementund Kriminalprvention zuSynonymen werden, und der

Kriminalprventionsbegri

weitgehend im BegriLebensqualitt augeht, dannwird dem Thema Sicherheit eineDimension zuerkannt, sodass manmit Recht von Kriminalprventionals gesamtgesellschatlicher

Augabe sprechen kann. 6

(Stummvoll 2003: 12)

From the plan normaton gven

concernng the approach towards

crme preventon n Germany, wecan assume that the abovementoned

statement s vald or at least the

man lne o thought gears towards

that drecton. I t s also true or the

Obstalleesedlung and whch eects t

has on ear o crme, wll be dscussed

later.

2.3Fear o crmepreventon

Even though ear o crme s

mentoned n the ECOSOC resoluton

2002/13 (see 2.2.1), t s n general

a rather gnored aspect wthn

academc research. In contrast to thatpoltcans oten take t nto ocus or

at least regard t as a sde benet or an

am n addton to declnng numbers

o crme . But how shall polces work

there s no relable basc knowledge

on preventve measures on behal o

the scentc communty?

Besdes the already mentoned

neglect, a ew scholars proposed

some strateges to ght ear o crme

n ther papers.

Hrtenlehner (2003: 162 .), who s an

advocate o the generalzaton thess,

asks or measurements at two levels.

On the one hand, polces should

be taken on the global and natonal

level to ght general nsecurtes.

On the other hand, local polces

6In case that city management and crime prevention become synonymous as well as crime prevention asynonym or quality o lie, then the topic o security has reached a dimension where we can talk o crimeprevention as as a task or the society as a whole. (own translation)


36/10228


should ocus on the creaton o

normal socal control and collectve

ecacy. Thus local networksshould be strengthened and socal

dsntegraton prevented.

The Swedsh Crme Preventon

Councl (Erksson 2008: 16) educes

rom a study on segregaton and ear

o crme that the level o partcpaton

should be ncreased n order to

reduce the level o ear o crme.Furthermore, Erksson demands

measurements that deal wth

condtons that aect peoples perceved

and actual vulnerablty (bd.).

Jacksons (2004: 310 311) ocus

les on tacklng antsocal behavor

and other sgnals o llness o the

communty. Hence, he acknowledgesthe dsorder as well as the socal

dsntegraton theory to be o hgh

relevance.

Ths overvew o proposals on behal

o academa concernng preventng

ear o crme shall llustrate that

polces can have a broad character

and shouldnt concentrate on one

aspect only. However, there should

be awareness concernng the act

that there s no perect soluton to the

ear o crme no matter whchever

strateges you mght take (Lupton

2000: 32). Nonetheless, academa

could at least change ts ocus

towards takng the preventon o ear

o crme nto consderaton or ther

research.


37/10229

3 Case studies

03Case studiesThe Transdanubian neighborhood Trabrenngrnde in Vienna (Austria) andthe Obstalleesiedlung in BerlinSpandau (Germany) have been chosen as casestudy neighborhoods in order to analyze the phenomenon ear o crime in acomparative manner.3.1

Selecton ocase studyneghborhoods

The two case study areas have been

selected along dierent criteria that

helped to structure the selection

procedure.

Language

One preliminary demarcating element

was the matter o language. Due to

the probability o problems arising

regarding translating a standardized

questionnaire and then comparing

these results, the selection has been

limited to Germanspeaking areas

only.

Physcal structure

In terms o physical structure, high

rise housing estates with varying

numbers o oors have been selected.

Both areas have been built in the

period o modernist planning between

the 1960ies and 1970ies. The seven to

teenstories Trabrenngrnde have

been built between 1973 and 1977

which is similar to the construction

period o the Obstalleesiedlung. The

twooor to seventeenoor housing

estate inhabited since 1975.

The predominant type o building

with its highrise character has oten

been criticized because o a lack o

human dimension. In his book Lie

between buildings o 1987, Jan Gehl

states that arrangement and physical

structure o housing estates o that era

prevent social interaction and stem

Picture 1: Berlin, Obstalleesiedlung(source:www.bing.com)


38/10230


approximately 3 km away rom the

provincial border to Lower Austria

(Niedersterreich).The Obstalleesiedlung is located

around 17 km westward rom the

geographical centre o the city and

around 3 km away rom the border to

the ederal state o Brandenburg.

Sze o populaton

The case studies selected where

requested to be o similar size in terms

o population.

The Viennese census track o 2001,

the only statistical data available

on such a small geographical scale,

indicated 9.004 inhabitants or the

Trabrenngrnde.

The Social Urban Development

Monitoring 2010 with the

geographical reerence system

the so called lie between buildings.

In his opinion, multiple levels,

large spaces, wide streets and tallbuildings as they can be ound in both

areas convey a cold and impersonal

surrounding. In addition, the senses

and communication between people

is made dicult as the physical

arrangements prevent visual and

auditory contact(Gehl 1987: 52 .).

However, both neighborhoods still

impress with their relatively high

share o common green space (see

picture 1+2).

Locaton

The two neighborhoods are located

in the periphery o the city. The

Trabrenngrnde can be ound

in the northeast o Viennas city

centre. The neighborhood is located

Picture 2: Vienna, Trabrenngrnde (source:www.bing.com)


39/10231

3 Case studies

Picture 3: Berlin, Obstalleesiedlung(source:www.bing.com)

Picture 4: Vienna, Trabrenngrnde(source:www.bing.com)

oLiving Environment Areas

(Lebensweltlich orientierte Rume

LOR) stated that 10.821 inhabitants

live in the statistical sector Berlin

Maulbeerallee (key 05020523) where

the Obstalleesiedlung occupies most

o the area.

Problem areas

The judgment concerning a certain

degree o problematic nature o

the case study areas was a dicult

undertaking. In the case o Vienna,

the author drew upon the ndings o

the international study Insecurities

in European Cities. Crime-related

ears Within the Context o New

Anxieties and Community-based Crime

Prevention which classied the

Transdanubian area to be perceived

as a problematic area concerningyouth and social inrastructure by

media and politics (Sessar et. al 2007:

76).

Figure 1: Comparison o general data Trabrenngrnde vs. Obstalleesiedlung (data: Statistik Autria,Monitoring Soziale Stadtentwicklung 2010; own layout)


40/10232


The Obstalleesiedlung has been

integrated into the program Socially

Integrative City (see chapter 2.2.3) in2005 which gives evidence that it is a

socially disadvantaged area. The area

is classied level two (out o three)

which reers to medium intervention.

Other crtera

The citation o urther criterions (see

gure 1) would appear reasonablebut because o availability and

comparability o data they cant be

utilized as the aorementioned.

Noteworthy are the share o

oreigners and people with migration

background in both neighborhoods.

Unortunately, the Viennese data

o 2001 is out o date and does not

depict policy changes in terms oaccessibility to the council housing

estates in Austria. In 2001, the

percentage o oreigners among

residents was only 7,3% but since

2006 the social housing market has

been opened up to oreigners. Hence,

one could assume that the share o

oreigners has been rising enormously

since then. In addition, the quota

o citizenship by naturalization has

been rising between 2001 rom 5,3

naturalizations per 100 inhabitants to

5,8 in 2004. This probably has lead to

rising shares o people with migration

background as well.

3.2 Venna

Trabrenngrnde

Locaton

The Vennese case study

Trabrenngrnde s stuated n the 22nd

dstrct n the northeast o Austras

captal, more precsely n Kagran.

The area analyzed s bordered bythe Leblgasse n the north, the

HugoWenerWeg n the east, by

the eponymous Rennbahnweg n the

south and the Austerltzgasse n the

west (see pcture 5).

Hstory

The name o the neghborhoodTrabrenngrnde derves rom trottng

tracks that were to be ound ntally

on the grounds o the housng estate

beore the 1920es. In the 1970es, the

Cty o Venna constructed the largest

housng development o that tme on

ths greeneld ste. From 1973 to 1977

2.424 new housng unts have been

bult n order to ght the problem o

housng shortage.

Physcal structure

The housing complex is composed

o six spacious courtyards that

are arranged around an elongated

courtyard. Five o these are closed in

but accessible via passages rom all

directions. This type o construction


41/10233

3 Case studies

leads to an intensication o noise

related problems such as echo. Thecourtyards eature many green

spaces including lawn, bushes, trees

and many paths. In addition, there

are a ew playgrounds and seating

possibilities.

The buildings complexes o the

Trabrenngrnde lack a common

height but instead the dierent

numbers o oors break up the usual

strictness. In combination with

dierent colored acades a character

rich in variety is achieved even

though the general housing type

might propose a more homogenous

and dull appearance.

In order to ulll the demands o

local amentes, a shoppng center

s stuated between the northern

and southern row o courtyards.

It s desgned as a promenadeand sheltered by a glass and steel

constructon. However, n summer

the constructon aects the qualty o

stay negatvely as t accumulates the

heat.

The courtyards are car ree zones

and parking is possible all around

the area as well as in underground

parking below the shopping center.

Inrastructure

Snce 2006 the neghborhood s well

connected to the metro network

due to the extenson o lne U1. The

staton allows resdents to reach

the hstorcal cty center wthn 15

mnutes and thereore contrbutes

Picture 5: Trabrenngrnde case study area (sources:www.bing.com)


42/10234


enormously to an extenson o ther

spatal moblty. Another mode o

transport s the bus lne 27A but man

mportance s gven to the metro.

Housng market

All o the councl housng apartments

(Gemendebau) o the Trabrenngrnde

are owned by the nonprot

muncpal body Stadt Wen -Wener

Wohnen and all under the general

rent law. In 2006 the access to these

housng unts changed as the socal

housng market was opened to non

Austran ctzens due to pressures

rom an EU rulng. Beore 2006,

ocally only Austran ctzens could

apply or socal housng. Snce 2006

however, nonAustran ctzens wth

a longterm resdence permt can

apply or socal housng (Renprecht

2007: 40). Ths had a strong mpact

on the composton o the populaton.

Renprecht reers to the emergence

o ntercultural concts betweenresdents and newcomers. I ths

s also the case n Venna wll be

dscussed n chapter 5.

Populaton structure

The ollowng data s based on

the mcro census o 2001 or the

regstraton dstrct 80 (Zhlsprengel) where the Trabrenngrnde are

part o. It should be clared that

the regstraton dstrct 80 covers

more than the actual sze o the

Trabrenngrnde but t s the smallest

statstcal unt avalable. The area has

been home to 9.004 people n 2001

that lved n 2.424 housng unts.

In terms o age, the Trabrenngrndeare n comparson to the whole cty

o Venna a strkngly young dstrct.

Whereas the pe

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