City and Crime: Sense of Insecurity and Punitiveness

Urban crime, with its unique quantitative and qualitative characteristics, continues to be a significant and timely criminological issue. Within the framework of this postgraduate course, various aspects of the phenomenon are comprehensively approached through the findings of contemporary criminological research. The focus is both on urban crime in cities, examined through its conceptual delineation, evolution, and dimensions, and on informal social reactions, particularly the fear of crime. The discussion centers on the relationship between these two social phenomena and the factors influencing their creation and/or intensification. The course delves into epistemological and methodological issues concerning both urban center criminality and the "fear of crime," critically analyzing the concepts of "risk," "subjective perception of danger," and "vulnerability" through the lens of the interaction of various individual and social factors (such as gender, age, socio-economic status, education level, place, and type of residence). Special emphasis is also placed on the role of mass media in fostering feelings of insecurity and "moral panic," as well as on the effects of diminished trust in the institutions responsible for official social control of crime on public attitudes. The exploration of the subject is further enriched by examining the consequences of the fear of crime on both individual and collective levels, focusing primarily on punitive attitudes among citizens and anti-crime policy.