Crime prevention through environmental design: a study of fear of crime and social integration based on different road hierarchy in a residential area in Penang, Malaysia
| dc.contributor.author | Marzbali, Massoomeh Hedayati | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-05-26T08:30:24Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2015-05-26T08:30:24Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012-10 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The concern for environmental safety has led to extensive research on the subject of crime prevention. The influence of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) in reducing crime and fear has found broad theoretical support, but its multivariate predictive relationships have not been empirically validated. This study focuses on the assessment of the CPTED construct that is hypothesized to be a predictor of fear of crime and social integration based on different road hierarchy. Prior to conducting the main survey, the 2010 offence data was used as an index of crime to determine the crime context. A checklist was administered by using on-site observation to measure the CPTED construct and street permeability followed by a questionnaire survey to examine the residents’ demographic characteristics, fear of crime, social integration and victimization experience. The study employed a stratified systematic sampling method in order to select samples among stratums (road hierarchy). In all, 294 respondents from a selected group of residents were involved in this study. The study employed descriptive and inferential methods for statistical analysis. Both structural equation modeling technique using AMOS and inferential statistics using SPSS were employed in order to analyze the data. It should be noted that the CPTED measurement used in this study is the first multidimensional CPTED measurement in the world. Besides the novelty of the measurements, the study contributes to the body of knowledge by examining patterns of fear of crime based on different road hierarchy. The study finding shows that there is a significant positive direct influence of street permeability on fear of crime, while there is negative and direct influence on social integration. Residents on cul-de-sacs perceived lowest level of fear of crime, but when they are linked to a footpath they will tend to be associated with a high level of fear. CPTED is found to be an effective factor in enhancing social integration. The effect of social integration on fear of crime is negative and significant. The findings also reveal that there is a negative indirect effect of CPTED on fear of crime through social integration. This reflects the importance of leading strong social ties in generating feelings of safety, especially in high crime contexts. The results further demonstrate that social integration fully mediates the effect of CPTED on victimization, where high CPTED level is associated with less crime experiences. However, contrary to other studies, the study also found a non-significant association of fear with age and gender. This could be due to the high crime context of the study area. This study concludes that CPTED strategies should be encouraged among residents especially in less stable neighborhoods. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/757 | |
| dc.subject | Crime | en_US |
| dc.title | Crime prevention through environmental design: a study of fear of crime and social integration based on different road hierarchy in a residential area in Penang, Malaysia | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
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