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    CHAPTER 1

    THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

    Introduction

    In recent times, the topic of fear of specific crime has acquired an unprecedented

    amount of consideration in the form of research; on the other hand there has been a great

    deal which remains unknown or unanswered (Wynne, 2008). The impact of fear of

    specific crime on lifestyle can be both positive and negative: an individuals likelihood of

    becoming a victim or their fear of specific crime will be affected by a variety of factors,

    some of which are almost impossible to quantify. Given that, the researchers have

    observed that most research done on the likelihood risk of being a victim in relation to

    fear of specific crime, only measures fear of specific crime in general. There are limited

    studies or researches that measure the likelihood of a specific crime in relation to an

    individuals fear of that same specific crime. These are challenges that will be addressed

    by the researchers and is a challenge to be addressed by future researchers.

    While the researchers study is narrow in scope, it is anticipated that this research

    will encourage future local researchers to perform similar critical analysis, but with a

    much larger design analysis Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to provide a

    comprehensive research on whether the demographic profiles in terms of gender, age,

    college classifications, and residence status, their routine activities, and prior

    victimization, impact or predict fear of specific crime directly among college students;

    and also if subjective victimization risk of specific personal and property crime through

    gender predict fear ofthat specific crime among college students.

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    Background of the Study

    Crime is a significant concern in urban areas of the Philippines. Typical criminal

    acts include theft, mugging, and rape. Carjacking, kidnappings, robberies, and violent

    assaults are very common throughout metro Manila and elsewhere in the Philippines.

    Crime data gathered by the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed that overall crime

    statistics for 2011 were similar to those reported in 2010. From January to November

    2011, the PNP recorded 230,817 crime incidents. This number still represents a

    significant reduction in crimes compared to the reported total in 2009 (333,416). For

    2011, physical assault and theft were the two largest contributors to the total number of

    incidents. Metro Manila remains the countrys crime capital (PNP, 2012); there were

    nearly 13,000 criminal incidents recorded during the first four months of 2012, these

    figures are from the Philippine National Police. That translates to at least 100 criminal

    incidents reported to the police each day from January to April in 2012. What is

    interesting is that 70 percent of the crime incidents recorded was crimes against property,

    such as robbery and theft (PNP, 2012). We hear data like this in the radio, read in the

    daily newspaper, and see it on television each day; this is based from the researchers

    experience that happens to live in Metro Manila.

    With the data given, it is possible to imply fear to those who have seen and

    understood those numbers, while fear of specific crime can be differentiated into public

    feelings, thoughts and behaviors about the personal risk of criminal victimization,

    distinctions can also be made between the tendency to see situations as fearful, the actual

    experience while in those situations, and broader expressions about the cultural and social

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    significance of crime and symbols of crime in people's neighborhoods and in their daily,

    symbolic lives (Gabriel, U. & Greve, W., 2003).

    Importantly, feelings, thoughts and behaviors can have a number of functional and

    dysfunctional effects on individual and group life, depending on actual risk and people's

    subjective approaches to danger. On a negative side, they can erode public health and

    psychological well-being; they can alter routine activities and habits; they can contribute

    to some places turning into 'no-go' areas via a withdrawal from community; and they can

    drain community cohesion, trust and neighborhood stability. (Stafford, M., Chandola, T.,

    & Marmot, M., 2007).

    The previous research that has been conducted concerning fear of specific crime

    among college students in the United States is not limited, but here in the Philippines,

    little or no research has been done concerning the fear of specific crime among college

    students. During the early 90s in the United States, five federal laws and many state laws

    have been created to increase security on university campuses (Security on Campus

    2000). These laws, which include provisions that require university police and

    administrations to accurately and openly report the schools crime statistics (Hudge

    2000), have fuelled an increased focus about crime committed inside and outside

    university campuses. Similar steps have been taken here in the Philippines to try to

    reduce campus crime cases. According to the National Capital Regional Police Office

    (NCRPO) chief, Leonardo Espina, PADs or police assistance desks have been installed in

    all universities and colleges with big student population (Calleja, 2013). These PADs aim

    to protect students from snatchers, pickpockets and other street crimes.

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    With an increased focus on campus crime and the requirement that universities

    report their crime statistics, it is important to pay attention to whether students are afraid

    of being victimized on or around their campus. In knowing and understanding the

    students fear of specific crime, university faculty and authorities can devise a way or

    program to make the students feel safer and aware of theirfear of specific crime.

    Fear of specific crime constitutes a topic of significant interest and has generated

    an extensive body of research. This focus is likely due to the fact that many more people

    experience fear of specific crime than experience an actual criminal victimization. When

    it comes to defining fear of specific crime there has been some controversy and no

    single agreed-upon definition exists. Fear of specific crime has included a variety of

    emotional states, attitudes, or perceptions (Warr, 2000). More contentious is equating

    fear of specific crime with perceived risk. The most recent treatment of fear of specific

    crime clearly distinguishes these two constructs and views perceived risk as preceding

    and causing fear. In an attempt to bring greater clarity to this area of study, a few

    researchers have advocated to use fear of victimization as a more precise term rather

    than fear of specific crime (Warr and Stafford, 1983) Most researchers and studies,

    however, use these terms interchangeably.

    Given the above statistics and information, the researchers decided to get college

    students from De La Salle University and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, both

    along Taft Avenue in Metro Manila, as students for their study. The researchers will

    view the students socio-demographic profile, routine activities, prior victimization

    experience (if any), and their subjective victimization risk as a predictor in their fear of

    specific crime and their fear of specific personal and property crime.

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    The researchers decided to further explore this topic because one of us

    experienced a crime, mugging to be exact, and has then been curious what could be the

    possible effects of that incident in ones life. How could other students relate in the

    researchers experience? Whether experiencing the incident or just knowing that someone

    was harassed, mugged, etc., or actually seeing a crime, the study will aim to gauge the

    fear of specific crime specifically among college students, since students are, statistically,

    one of the most likely groups to fall victim to crime (Bedenbaugh, 2003).

    Conceptual Framework

    In this research, the following theories/models were used as a foundation of the

    study accordingly to the researchers variables: The Victimization Model (Covington &

    Taylor, 1991), Sensitivity to Risk Model (Warr, 1987), Routine Activity Theory (Cohen &

    Felson, 1979), and the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) (Rogers, 1975, 1983; Tanner,

    Hunt, and Eppright, 1991; Arthur and Quester, 2004; LaTour and Tanner, 2003; Van

    Huyssteen, 2010). These four models/theories have been used in a number of empirical

    studies of fear of specific crime and, as such, provide the researchers with theoretical and

    methodological guidance in their study.

    The Victimization Model of Covington & Taylor (1991) is used in an attempt to

    explain fear of specific crime through a number of concepts related to an individual

    perceived risk, personal victimization, vicarious experiences with victimization, and the

    media. This model focuses on an individuals perceived risk and is based on the fact that

    fear of specific crime is related to peoples perception of their own physical and

    ecological vulnerability. An example would be the hypothesis that women and older

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    people are more fearful of crime because of their perception that they may not be able to

    defend themselves physically against an offender, making them feels physically

    vulnerable to an attack (Covington & Taylor, 1991). Overall, the victimization model tells

    us that perceived vulnerability, direct victimization, and vicarious victimization are

    related to fear of specific crime. Prior research suggested that middle-range experiences

    with crime have the greatest impact on fear of specific crime (Hale, 1996). In particular,

    those who feel they are vulnerable to crime and those who know a victim have higher

    levels of fear. The evidence suggesting that the media has an impact on fear of specific

    crime is mixed, and there is little consistent evidence to suggest that personal (direct)

    victimization has an impact on fear of specific crime.

    The Protection Motivation Theory(PMT) (Rogers, 1975, 1983; Tanner, Hunt,

    and Eppright, 1991) is borrowed from psychology and has been adapted to predict

    peoples behavioral intentions. The PMT examines the cognitive processes by which fear

    impacts persuasion. The premise of PMT is that people are motivated to protect

    themselves from physical, psychological, and social threats. Response to a threat is based

    on two cognitiveprocesses: (1) threat appraisal (assessment of the individuals personal

    risk of harm and severity of harm) and (2) coping appraisal (individuals perceptions of

    the recommended responses efficacy and an assessment of his or her ability to carry out

    this response).

    The model focused on the cognitive/rational reactions or coping responses to fear

    appeals and points out that fear may be considered a relational construct, aroused in

    response to a situation that is judged as dangerous and toward which protective action is

    taken (Rogers, 1983, 93). That is, the fearful content of the message motivates the

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    individual to think about ways of protecting himself, and change is not driven by feelings

    of fearfulness alone (Roser and Thompson, 1995). Accordingly, PMT postulates that a

    fear/threat appeal initiates two cognitive processes: threat appraisal and coping appraisal

    wherein four stimulus variables are evaluated: intention to adopt a protective response

    increases as the danger becomes more harmful (severity of the threat), probability that

    the event will occur if no adaptive behavior is performed (probability of occurrence),

    availability and effectiveness of a coping response that might reduce the threat (response

    efficacy), and the individuals perceived ability to carry out the coping behavior (self-

    efficacy). Self-efficacy may be the most important dimension (Leventhal, Watts, and

    Pagano, 1967).

    Additionally, Bandura (1977) has proposed that three factors influence ones

    feeling of self-efficacy: actual experience, vicarious experience, and verbal persuasion.

    However, ads typically do little to enhance ones self-efficacy (Hunt, Fransway, Reed,

    Miller, Jones, Swanson, and Yunginger, 1995). As such, PMT theorizes that a fear appeal

    will provide an impetus for the individual to assess the severity of the event, probability

    of the events occurrence, and belief in the efficacy of the messages recommendations.

    Sensitivity to Risk Model by Warr (1987) predicted that the influence of

    perceived likelihood on fear is moderated by perceptions of crime seriousness by the

    individual. There has been empirical support for the hypothesis that when people judged

    a crime to be especially serious, a lower level of perceived likelihood was needed to

    stimulate some level of fear. Individuals were more sensitive to a given level of perceived

    likelihood when they viewed the crime to be especially serious in nature and in

    consequence. Warrs model of risk sensitivity works in two ways; First, when students

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    judged crime to be especially uncontrollable, and when they judged crime to be

    especially serious in its consequence, a lower level of perceived likelihood was needed to

    stimulate relatively frequent worry about crime. Perceptions of consequence and control

    thus interacted with perceptions of likelihood to predict levels of worry about crime in the

    sample. Second, students tended to see victimization as likely when they saw the

    consequences to be severe and the event to be difficult to control.

    Overall, the risk sensitivity model tells the researchers that some crimes were

    typically seen as more serious than other crimes, that different people can come to

    different conclusions about the same crime, and that the interaction of individual levels of

    perceived seriousness and perceived likelihood in part generates the intensity of

    emotional response. Some individuals may associate a type of crime with especially

    serious consequences because they feel particularly vulnerable to the criminal event.

    They might, for example, associate burglary with violence in part because they lack the

    ability to defend themselves, and believe they could be a target of sexual assault in such a

    situation. But crucially, it is the subjective sense of seriousness and consequence that then

    leads to a subsequently heightened fear response, even when perceived probabilities are

    small, precisely because susceptibility and threat is believed to be high (Jackson, 2009).

    Routine Activity Theory is a sub-field of crime opportunity theory developed by

    Marcus Felson and Lawrence Cohen, and suggests that criminal victimization occurs

    when there is a motivated offender, a suitable target, and incapable (or absent) guardian

    of persons or property (Cohen & Felson, 1979). In other words, for a crime to occur, a

    likely offender must find a suitable target with capable guardians that are not present.

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    Routine activity theory premise is that crime is relatively unaffected by social causes such

    aspoverty,inequality,unemployment.For instance, afterWorld War II, the economy of Western countries was booming

    and the Welfare states were expanding. During that time, crime rose significantly.

    According to Felson and Cohen, this is because the prosperity of contemporary society

    offers so many opportunities for crime to occur: there is much more to steal Routine

    activity theory focuses on situations of crime; an example of this is that a person is more

    likely to be robbed or a victim of assault in the park than in their own home.

    Routine activity theory typically seeks to explain actual risk of victimization;

    however some researchers have attempted to use the theory to explain fear and perceived

    risk of victimization (Mesch, 2000; Rountree, 1998; Rountree & Land, 1996). These

    researchers attempt to answer whether aspects that might predict actual victimization risk

    can predict fear or perceived risk of victimization.

    The succeeding paradigm below illustrates how the researchers measured fear of

    specific crime among college students in college/universities situated in urban settings

    and how certain variables affects their of fear of specific crime. The paradigm was

    divided into four boxes; the first box shows the researchers predictor variables in the

    study, the second box shows the students fear of specific crime, the third box shows the

    students subjective victimization risk, and the last box shows the fear of specific crime

    among college students. The predictor variable box includes the demographic profile of

    the students, which includes their gender, age, college classification (freshmen or non-

    freshmen) and their residence status (live with their parents/guardian or dont live with

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    parent or guardian); it also includes their routine activity, and their previous experience

    with victimization.

    Demographic Profile

    Age Gender Year level Residence status History of Past

    victimization

    Routine Activities

    Numbers of Days inclass

    Goes to school alone Goes home from

    school alone

    Where do youusually eat during

    school

    Goes to bars afterclass

    Transportation to andfrom school

    How often they avoidgoing out alone

    because of fear of

    being a victim of

    crime

    Time that get out ofclass

    Subjective

    victimizationrisk

    Fear of Crime

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    Figure 1. Conceptual Paradigm. Measured fear of specific crime among college students

    in college/universities situated in urban settings and how certain variables affects their

    fear of specific crime. The paradigm was divided into four boxes; the first box shows the

    researchers predictor variables in the study, the second box shows the students fear of

    specific crime, the third box shows the students subjective victimization risk, and the last

    box showed the fear of specific crime among college students. The predictor variable box

    includes the demographic profile of the students, which includes their gender, age,

    college classification (freshmen or non-freshmen) and their residence status (live with

    their parents/guardian or dont live with parent or guardian); it also includes their routine

    activity, and their previous experience with victimization.

    Following the paradigm, there are two paths that lead to the fear of specific crime

    among college students and fear of specific crimes among college students; these two

    paths are in relation or connected to the researchers statement of the problem which is

    later stated. The first path is the direct path and starts at the predictor variables and is

    directly connected to the fear of specific crime among college students. This path

    basically states that the demographic profile, routine activity, previous experience with

    victimization and perceived seriousness of being a victim of crimes influence fear of

    specific crime among college students. The routine activity theory which seeks to

    explain fear of specific crime due to certain routine lifestyle activities that may increase

    ones exposure to crime (Mesch, 2000), can help prove this direct path.

    The second path is the indirect path and again starts at the predictor variables, but

    then goes through the students subjective victimization risk of specific personal and

    property crimes before connecting to the last box of fear of those same specific personal

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    and property crime among college students. This path also states that the demographic

    profile, routine activity, and previous experience with victimization influence or predict

    fear of specific crime among college students through theirsubjective victimization risk

    of being a victim of the same specific crimes.

    Statement of the Problem

    This study is aimed to determine the fear of specific crime and the fear of specific

    personal and property crimes of students from a university in an urban city; specifically

    De La Salle University and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde along Taft Avenue in

    Metro Manila. With this study, the researchers seek to answer the following question:

    How afraid are college students of being a victim of crime and specific crimes; and

    what variables explain or predict these fears.

    Specifically, the following queries would be answered:

    1. What is the demographic profile of the students in terms of:1.1.Gender1.2.Age1.3.College level1.4.Residence Status

    2. What is the routine activities of the students3. Will the demographic profile of the students affect or predict fear of specific

    crime among college students?

    4. Does the students routine activity that exposes them to greater victimizationincrease their fear of specific crime?

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    5. Will fear of specific crime among college students be affected or different moreor less by students who have been a victim of crime, compared those to who have

    not been a victim of crime?

    6. Will the students subjective victimization risk of specific crimes affect or predicttheir fear of that same specific crime, when grouped by gender?

    Hypothesis

    Based on the problem of the study and on the basis of the previous research, the

    research hypothesis was formulated and tested at the level of significance of 0.05:

    Ho1 The respondents demographic profile does not predict their fear of crime.

    Ho2 The respondents routine activities do not predict their fear of crime.

    Ho3 The respondents profile does not predict their subjective victimization risk to

    specific crimes.

    Ho4 The respondents routine activities do not predict their subjective victimization

    risk to specific crimes.

    Significance of the Study

    This study by the researchers contributes to the other literature and research by

    exploring fear of specific crime from the perspective of a student attending an urban

    setting school. It will concentrate and explore how one segment of the population differs

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    or is similar to the larger population in its level of fear of specific crime and what

    contributes to that fear.

    Crime has gone down all over the country except in Metro Manila, where the

    incidence rate has actually skyrocketed over the first half of 2012 (PNP, 2012). More and

    more people are becoming victims and after reporting the crime to the officials, most of

    them would tell the victims to just accept their fate and offer no more than that, without

    regarding the trauma they have experienced. Besides the statistics on crime in Metro

    Manila, there has been little or no research done about the fear of specific crime among

    college students. This study by the researchers hope to serve as a stepping stone and

    urge future researchers to study this topic locally.

    The results of this information to guardians of the students, teachers,

    college/universities and proper authorities to know and understand what factors cause

    students to be afraid or not afraid of being victimized. It can also provide ideas about

    how to address these fears and make students aware that crime and fear is an important

    issue to be taken seriously. To go more in-depth, this study and the results from it can

    help and contribute to the following:

    Psychology Students with the lack of empirical assessment of a psychological

    account on fear of specific crime (Jackson, 2009), this study can give a psychological

    perspective to psychology majors by explaining how crime can cause individuals to

    worry more than others; also, the seriousness in its impact and the consequence or

    psychological effect on an individual.

    College Students & Universities, being current college students and in

    conducting this study, the researchers have a better understanding of what underlying

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    factors can influence a persons fear of specific crime. Given that, this study can benefit

    other college students in knowing what factors cause students to be afraid or not afraid of

    being victimized on campuses can provide universities with ideas about how to address

    these fears and make students aware that crime is an important issue to be taken seriously.

    Researchers and Future Researchers. Fear of specific crime has been

    researched for decades; this study will help solidify the foundations and basis of the

    factors that is related to fear of specific crime. Researchers can also use this as reference

    to their future studies.

    Urban Communities. This study will help urban communities to be aware of

    what is going on in their environment specifically crime related events. The topic might

    help them relate their environment to our chosen environment and will help them be

    aware of the possible effects of fear of specific crime.

    School Administrators may get some data from the study and be able to apply

    certain things that will help the students feel safer in and out of the campus. Things such

    as assigning security guards in certain places at certain times and days.

    Parents can understand how the students (their children) feel about going to

    school. They can also coordinate with the school administrators to help build a safe

    community around the school.

    Scope and Delimitation of the Study

    This study by the researchers was conducted to determine the predictors of fear

    of specific crime directly and fear of specific personal and property crime indirectly

    through subjective victimization risk among college students. In particular, the studen t

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    students are from De La Salle University and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde along

    Taft Avenue in the Metro Manila area. The lists of specific personal crimes are: being

    raped/sexually assaulted being assaulted or beaten up with or without a weapon, being

    robbed or mugged, and being murdered; the list of specific property crimes are: having

    someone break-in their residence whether they are there or away. The dependent variable

    in the study will be the fear of the above listed specific crimes.

    The researchers independent variables are divided into four, such as the:

    demographic profile, routine activities, prior experience with victimization, and their

    subjective victimization risk; which is their subjective assessment of the likelihood of

    becoming a crime victim. The demographic profile information in the study includes the

    students gender, age, whether they are a freshmen or non-freshmen, and whether they

    live with their parents/guardian or they live alone/roommate. These variables were used

    to predict fear of specific crime directly.

    The second predictor in the study is the student students routine activity

    information. This information includes the latest time the students class ends, how many

    days a week do they attend classes, how do they usually go to school and back home in

    the sense if they walk or take transportation, if they travel to and from school alone,

    where they usually eat during school; whether they eat on or off campus, and how often

    do they go to bars/clubs after school or after class. Routine activities of students are a

    significant part of the research, since they affect students lifestyles. These variables were

    used to predict fear of specific crime directly. The third independent variable of the study

    is the prior experience of victimization of personal or property crime of the students if

    any.

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    This will also include whether the students knew somebody who was a victim of

    crime. These variables were used to predict fear of specific crime directly. The final

    independent variable in the researchers study is the students subjective victimization

    risk of the same list of personal and property crimes used in this research. This variable

    was used to predict the students fear of the same specific crime.

    To answer objective of the study, the instrument that the researchers used is a self-

    made survey with a variety of questions that are in relation to the variables in the sense of

    determining the students fear of specific personal and property crimes and what factors

    predict their fear of specific crime. The first set of questions is geared toward gathering

    demographic information while the second set of questions focuses on the students

    routine activities. These routine activities include: the latest time their class ends, how

    many days a week to they attend classes, transportation going to and from school, how

    often do they avoid going out of campus alone because of fear of being a victim of crime,

    where do they usually eat during school, and whether or not they go out to bars and clubs

    after class. The third set seeks information about students previous experience with

    victimization, including whether they were the victims of a list of specific crimes and

    whether they know people who were victims of the same list of crimes.

    The next main set of questions asks students to rank their fear of specific crimes

    on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. Following the questions that ranks

    students fear of victimization; they were asked to rank their subjective victimization risk

    of the same crime. Both sets used the same ranking scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the

    highest. The list of crimes included in the questionnaire include being raped or sexually

    assaulted, being beaten up, having someone break into the place they stay while the

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    student is at home, having someone break into the place they stay while the student is

    away from their residence, having something stolen from them by force or being mugged,

    being threatened with a knife or gun, or being murdered.

    The strength of the instrument used in this research for measuring fear of specific

    crime on college students is that it is thorough, and it allows the students to think in-

    depth about being a victim of crime. A simpler survey could have yielded different

    results, since students would not have been asked as many detailed questions.

    The process of data gathering began with setting the criteria for the researchers

    study; which would be that the students would have to be first to fourth year college

    students from a college/university in an urban city setting. The particular

    college/university that the researchers have chosen as a representative of an urban

    college/university is De La Salle University and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

    along Taft Avenue in Metro Manila. The researchers selected these two schools because

    of their accessibility and because of its urban city location; thus purposive sampling was

    used.

    Before the researchers began the actual study, a pilot testing of 20 college

    students who meet the criteria will be conducted to validate the reliability and

    consistency of the instrument that will be used. After gathering data from the students in

    the pilot test, the researchers proceeded to the actual data gathering as approved by the

    research center and the statistician of the researchers. The students of the pilot testing

    were not included in the actual study.

    With the permission of the professors of the schools, The Fear of specific crime

    Among College Student Survey was distributed and administered in the classrooms for a

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    total of 8 different classes; 5 will be conducted in De La Salle University and 3 will be

    conducted in De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. Here, the students will be assisted by

    the researchers to inform them first of what the study is all about, before they will be

    given the questionnaire to start answering. The survey questionnaire was given 20

    minutes at the end of each class to the students to complete; the researchers was there

    for the entire duration to assist and collect the finished questionnaires. The students will

    be allowed to leave the room after they have completed the survey questionnaire. A total

    of 93 students was collected, but only 90 was used for the study; the other three did not

    specify their gender, so therefore was not used. Once the data was collected from all the

    students, the researchers tallied the scores on their personal laptop using Microsoft

    Excel and then was statistically treated by a personal statistician who will be using

    Microsoft Excel and PHStat; a program for statistics.

    Although the researchers study was carefully prepared and reached our objective,

    some limitations of the researchers study should also be recogn ized. First of all, only 8

    classes were used to get a total of 90 students from two schools. 90 students from two

    schools is not enough and might not represent the majority of college students at each

    college. It would have been better to get more students from one school and more

    students from the other school. A second and final limitation of the study is that there

    may be mixed feelings, thoughts and behaviors about crime and the anticipation of crime

    (Gray, 2008). People may change the way they behave as a precaution or defense

    mechanism against crime and general lack of comfort in an environment.

    This could play a role when the students start answering the survey

    questionnaire; their thoughts and mixed feeling could affect the way they answer the

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    questions. Future researchers can solve this by conducting a mixed method of

    quantitative and qualitative research on the fear of specific crime. In this sense, the future

    researchers will be able to get deeper interpretations and results by interviews and case

    studies of the individuals who answered a fear of specific crime survey.

    Definition of Terms

    The following terms are defined operationally to be able to show readers how

    they are used in the context of the researchers study.

    College Classification is the separation of college students according to their year

    level. In this study, we divided our sample into Freshmen and NonFreshmen.

    Crime is any legally prohibited action or activity that is considered to be a

    wrongdoing to the public. In particular, specific crime in this study is: being raped or

    sexually assaulted, being beaten up, having someone break in to your residence, being

    mugged, being threatened with a knife or gun, and being murdered

    Fear isan emotion that is felt as a sense of dread; alerting you to the possibility

    that youre physical self might get harmed

    Fear of specific crime an emotional state of fear in which you feel a sense of

    dread when it comes to either being raped or sexually assaulted, being beaten up, having

    someone break in to your residence, being mugged, being threatened with a knife or gun,

    and being murdered

    Perceived Seriousness a state of becoming aware or insight of being concerned

    of being a victim of either being raped or sexually assaulted, being beaten up, having

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    someone break in to your residence, being mugged, being threatened with a knife or gun,

    and being murdered

    Residence Status in this study was used to describe whether a student is living

    alone or is living with her/his parents.

    Routine Activity any routine lifestyle activity such as going out at night to bars or

    clubs or walking alone at night from school, that may or may not increase the persons

    exposure to crime and become a victim

    Subjective Victimization Risk the individual's subjective assessment of the

    likelihood of (re)becoming a crime victim; a state of becoming aware or insight of being

    exposed to the chances or likelihood of being a victim of either being raped or sexually

    assaulted, being beaten up, having someone break in to your residence, being mugged,

    being threatened with a knife or gun, and being murdered

    Urban isa high population density area with vast human activities and features

    Victim/Victimization isa person, who suffers from either being raped or sexually

    assaulted, being beaten up, having someone break in to their residence, being mugged,

    being threatened with a knife or gun, or being murdered