ABSTRACT
The definition of crime always forces us to take into account 'the feeling (or feelings) of security'. This concept is not only related to the occurrence of crime, but can also be explained as anxiety due to the existence and possibility of crime. Indeed, this anxiety can be defined as the fear of crime, rather than the physical and psychological effects of the crime itself; this notion first appeared as a separate issue at the beginning of the 1970s (Taylor, 1988). This emotional outcome always occurs before the actual occurrence of crime and depends predominantly on people's responses; ultimately, however, it affects social relationships, fully destroying what can be considered some of the basic qualities of life. The British Crime Survey argued in 1996 that measuring people's fear of crime is imperative as it acts as an indicator of the crime problem and of the degree of public concern regarding crime (Lawson and Heaton, 1999).
