The influence of parental attachment and control in fear of crime among adolescents
Public anxieties on the safety of children and young people seem to be ever present in contemporary society. In research on fear of crime, these anxieties have been conceptualized as ‘altruistic fear’, or the fear for others’ – children, partner, family, friends – safety. Although children and young people are being seen as the significant object of these parental (adult) fears, only very little is known about the impact these feelings have on the feelings of insecurity among young people themselves. In this article, data from a representative study on Flemish youth between the ages of 14 to 19 (n=1200), are used to determine the influence parental attachment and parental control on fear of crime among youngsters. Specific attention is given to potential differences across gender with regard to this relationship between parental factors and fear of crime.