What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic?

How does the literature relate to your research questions? -1Crime; Popular Fears and their relationship to Young Men In order to delve beneath societys fearful relationship to crime and to young men a first step was to review the current literature. Stanko (2000) and others testify that fear of crime is a topic which resonates across the media and the political arena (Zedner, 2000:202; Reiner et al, 2000:107). To this day the subject of crime and its related fear hold the attention of many in academia. Over ten years ago Hale (1996) estimated there were already over 200 articles and books dedicated to the subject. Furthermore for many this fear of crime has come to be synonymous with two other fears: fear of the young and fear of men. As Richard Collier (1998:2) notes to a large degree the well documented public fear of crime is, in effect, a fear of men: of men as potential burglars, of men as physical attackers, of men who steal, deceive and kill, men who abuse, injure, harm and maim (Collier 1998:2). A recent YouGov poll recorded just under half (49%) of respondents agree that children are increasingly a danger to each other and adults (Rifkind & Maher, 2008). 43% agree that something has to be done to protect us from children [students emphasis] (Rifkind & Maher, 2008). Collier (1982) explains as criminologists have long recognised, it is sexstatus which is, along with youth, the strongest predictor of criminal involvement (Collier 1982: 2). The British Crime Survey 2006 found the public has an exaggerated view of the role played by young people in crime. It found they assume that half of all crimes are committed by young people, whereas the real figure is closer to 12% (Rifkind & Maher 2008). Many studies and theories have addressed this exaggerated view of the threat posed by the young. Some feature the role of the media and news (Smith 1984) and crime genre programming in particular (Madriz 1997:113); others the changing shape of social and work-place relations [REF]. Popular explanations include variants of the golden age thesis and discourses of decline. Hogg & Brown (1998) note: The depiction of crime as a problem of novel proportions is heightened by the press by juxtaposing the menacing present with nostalgic references to an apparently harmonious and peaceful past. (Hogg & Brown 1998:27) In this way, Hogg & Brown argue, crime figures are portrayed by the media as constantly rising and the crime problem ever worsening (Hogg & Brown 1998:27.) Intro to SCS & BCS and the Offender/Victim and Risk / Fear Paradox Before attempting to answer the question of what is this Fear of Crime and why it is directed so disproportionately at young men it is necessary to say something about how we come to know what we know about crime. Information on the extent of crime in the UK is not wholly available from official police statistics such as arrest and conviction rates. This is because many possible crimes are not pursued through to conviction.

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -2In order to supplement police statistics and to better capture data on incidences of crime and victimisation the Home Office conducts an ongoing social survey the British Crime Survey. The BCS is a self-report victimisation survey covering a representative sample of British households. The Scottish Executive conducts a similar survey, the SCS, which collects information from homes north of the border. As well as collecting information on the amount of crime, allowing analysis of its spread, prevalence, and severity; the British victimization surveys also ask respondents their attitudes to crime including how fearful or how concerned they are about crime and what measures their households take to avoid it. This is achieved in the British Crime Survey datasets by supplementing the victim form questionnaire with another section asking for the experiences and views of non-victims. From early victimization surveys a picture began to emerge about the average offender and victim. A composite picture of a victim began to emerge: he is young, single, unemployed, and socially active outside the home, probably drinks and shares many characteristics with the young man who is his assailant. (Stanko 2000:18) This is our first view of what is called the offender/victim paradox. Together with the Risk/Fear Paradox it places young men in a very strange relationship to society and to our current knowledge. Stanko notes that those most likely to be offenders have the highest risk of personal victimization and yet they consistently report to the same crime surveys that they feel safe walking alone on the street after dark (Stanko 2000:18). Critique of BCS & Introduction to the Constructed and Contested nature of Crimes It was initially hoped that the victimisation surveys would re-assure the public by addressing some of their misconceptions about the frequency and severity of much criminal behaviour (Stanko 2000:12). The format of victimisation surveys however ensures that the data they produce and the discourses they sustain are of a very conventional and restricted nature (Lee 2007:100-110). Walklate and Mythen (2007) argue that a relatively narrow focus on fear of crime has limited our understanding of the very phenomena we propose to study. They note that a predilection for quantitative data has guided criminology into producing and reproducing the elision between fear, risk and rationality (Walklate and Mythen 2007:211.) This methodological tendency linked as it is to an actuarial approach to risk lends itself to creating a technical and political fear of crime problem supported by statistics and headlines such as FEAR IS EVERYWHERE while simultaneously rendering it meaningless in so far as the numbers and scenarios they report will not fit the diversity or the reality of lived experience

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -3It was consistently reported across the literature and from data in the British Crime Survey (Hough 1995; Pantazis 2000) that the intensity and the frequency of fear was often not causally connected to the probability of harm in a number of ways (Furedi 2007:2). Young men for example are largely unconcerned about their high risk of criminal victimization (Newburn & Stanko 1994:1; Campbell 2008:143) while older women, even though they are at a lesser risk, can feel unsafe and afraid even in their own homes (Jones, 2006: 68). This contradiction, commonly referred to as the risk/fear paradox (Holloway and Jefferson, 2000:32) portrays an account of the differential spread of fear in society which at first glance suggests that the social phenomenon fear of crime, which as far as it is contrary to expectations based upon real risk, is somewhat confused and irrational. Holloway and Jefferson (2000) research mediating factors which can affect a divergence in risk and perceptions of crime and fear. Their account like a number of others (ref) seeks to explain this divergence in the perception of risk as originating in individual psychologies and biographies as much as in situational factors. They manage to highlight the role of anxiety as a mediating factor between risk, its perception, and resultant fear [ref]. Right realists note that crime is a cause of much harm in our society and that fear of crime also has the potential to impact negatively upon the lives of citizens. Although victimisation can often be less serious than portrayed the media, and although it is proportionally less frequent amongst the elderly than other groups, Brillon (1987) notes it has psychological, material and physical consequences that are much more serious for them than the rest of the population (Brillon, 1987: 3). By this account crime and fear of crime is very serious matter which places it high on the list of policy areas to be argued and competed over in the public political domain. The victims movement REF and the increased popularity and centrality of law and order to mainstream politics is testament both to the increasing importance of safety to the public and the ability of crime and victimisation to catch the imagination. Walklate (2005) suggests however that the term victim is used symbolically in the political arena for a purpose which in some ways is contrary to a policy of reassurance against fears. She notes that crime figures reporting for example a rise of car crime by 5 % and an increase or decrease in public concern about crime of 10% bind the population into building support and consent for the states policies or to call for tougher policies on the basis that we are all potential victims. We are included in the average potential victim. Murray Lee (2007) analysis deconstructed the fear of crime concept and some its related knowledge claims. His account was so critical of these discourses and the value of the fear of crime concept that he declared it empty placing an attempted injunction on its academic use (Lee 2007: 204). Despite the low risk of victimisation large areas of the community still display fear. Lee (2007) explains this as a result of the efforts of social scientists as much as the work of politicians.

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -4It is important to remember that a criminal individual or an instance of criminality is the result of a process of interpersonal and institutional interaction. Kituse and Cicourel (1963: 137) note: rates of crime and other forms of deviance can be viewed as indices of organisational processes rather than indices of certain forms of behaviour (In Bryman 2004: 213). It is in this sense that Box (1983) tells us crime has no ontological reality of its own. Theory & Beckers Labelling Perspective: Explain A problem of measurement arises around many issues in criminology due to the conflictual interactive and constructed nature of crime. As crimes often entail the application of a criminal sanction on prosecution or detection, offenders are often not keen to be caught or to admit to their crimes. Above this level there is conflict over how best to tackle crime including what behaviors should be criminal; how they should be treated; and how we can come to know of them at all. The exact nature number and spread of criminality is therefore contested due to the interaction and conflict inherent in crime. Furthermore the subjective and psychological nature of anxiety & fear simultaneously mean that irrationality is in part to be expected as a common reaction even to the thought of crime. validity of continual calls for law and order and tougher policing. The inclusion of questions on individuals concern about, or fear of, crime in the crime and victimisation surveys has meant findings are often used to enforce discourses on the need for tougher law and order or more police on the beat (Hogg & Brown 1998; Pearson 1983; Garland 2000:351). That tougher law and order and greater policing often means increased attention on the usual suspects at times amounting to systematic legal harassment of sections of the population has not been lost on academics (Box 1983; Feeley & Simon 1992:434.) Walklate (2005:123) reminds us that a critical victimology should be aware that the State is not necessarily neutral or benign in its activies. It is through the work of the state and generative mechanisms underlying its daily operation that the distinction is born between the kinds of victimizations we see as compared to those we dont see. Box (1983) for example reminds us that many types of victimising behaviour are excluded from legal proscription. Besides examples in the business or corporate domain such as corporate killing the protections offered or withheld from women under the law is a striking example of this point.

Realism Vs Idealism Seriousness & Perspective

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -5INDEED IT LOBYING THAT MAKES PHENOMENA VISABLE ZERO TOLERANCE - FEMINISM Although findings may be representative of respondents concerns Elliott and Ellingworth (1997) show that there are some obvious omissions from the sample frame These are the very people likely to have a critical view of the criminal justice system and police thus a number of harms related to law and order are absent. however a look at the SCS; BCS and deconstructions of such surveys by Elliott and Ellingworth (1997) show, findings of a high concern about crime essentially only require the targeted participants, e.g. home owners, the propertied middle aged and the elderly, to respond positively to the questions asked. Victimology Critique 4a) Victimology Critique Victim as a problematic concept 4b) Offender as a problematic concept 5) Feminist Critique of victimology & include White Collar Criminality Principle 1) The notion of Victim is problematic Miers 1990 on the process of acquiring the status and label of victim A large number of people may have had some form of victimisation but will not necessarily take on the label of victim, they may not have noticed the victimisation at all; or they may not be treated or accepted as a victim by society. The victimisation may not have been obviously criminal or recognizable as a conventional crime Domestic violence Corporate violence Social was the most important It may be difficult to make right Principle 2) The notion of Offender is problematic Principle 3) Problematic nature of the criminal justice process CritPrin1) Relationship between citizen and state is problematic State is not neutral or benign in its activities. In particular the state grants or denies citizens their rights - mmm The states interest in self maintenance Failure to escape the chains of a positivistic conception of science (Walklate :120) Translation into standards which can be measured objectively is problematic

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -6It is often an extension of incivility itself and can have detrimental effects of its own above and beyond simple repressive justice on proven criminal actors and in opposition to its intended purpose of community cohesion. 6) Contra Feminism Females have accurate conception of their own vulnerability and risk of victimisation. The fearless masculine persona means that men do not seem to fear victimisation Box (1983) reminds us many types of victimising behaviour are excluded from legal proscription.

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -7The Male Experience Before beginning data collection to develop understanding of the young male experience of crime it is necessary to place the research in a theoretical context. A concern with what it is to become and be male in its various guises (Goodey 1997) encourages the researcher to draw upon the long traditions of feminism and critical gender studies. Collier states: one of feminist critiques of criminology centered on a failure to account for the masculinity or maleness of crime and therefore the gender of crime itself (Collier 1998:3). Understanding the causes of crime or gender differentials is not the prime goal here. The focus on either the causation of crime in difference, whether biological or social (Brown 1998:27), or the control of crime has often led to further discrimination and lack of recognition for groups in society [MORE BETTER REFS] Feminist theory is a diverse and contested area (Carrington 1994) however some basic premises allow a perspective which recognises the constraining nature of a highly hierarchical and patriarchal society [REF]. In this research moreover it seems inherit from feminism a concern with equality; and recognition of the powerless position all individuals can find themselves in within a highly exclusive patriarchal society. In examining young males relationship to harm it becomes apparent that much of young mens experience of, and pronouncements on crime may be mediated through a fearless masculine persona (Goodey 1997:401). It is posited that this is related to the need for young men to find acceptance and security among their peers in a society where they can easily be excluded or simply judged deficient. Forwarding hegemonic masculinity as a concept which allows critique of current masculinity in relations to questions of social justice, Goodey states: Hegemonic masculinity teaches boys to be careful about expressing feelings of vulnerability (i.e. to whom and when; that is if they feel able to or indeed are aware of such feelings in the first place) (Goodey 1997: 403) In her sample of school children 72% of boys at age 11 were worried outside while only 57% of girls were. She noted: boys can and do experience crime and danger as anything on a continuum from fearful to fearless (Goodey 1997: 402). Thus just as deviancy can no longer be conceived of as a clearly isolated category, and although many still hold to notions of the fearful female and fearless male we are reminded fearful and fearless experiences of crime can no longer be viewed as gendered experience(Goodey 1997: 403). At age 15 the situation had reversed with girls showing the greater fear, 62% feared for their safety as opposed to only 36% of boys (Goodey 1997: 403). A central finding from this study which is of prime relevance here shows clearly that boys were willing to reveal fear. It was only as they became older that they no longer registered fear in their responses. Newburn & Stanko (1994:160) note studies have been able to uncover that men were willing to admit to being severely emotionally affected by crime. MacGuire & Corbett (1987) and Shapland et al (1985) both record the notable finding that the effects of violent

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -8crime are severe for a high proportion of men, as well as for women (Maguire & Corbett 1987:56). In her study of youth transitions and the fearless masculine persona Goodey (1997) found that young men were willing to express fear or anxiety about street crime up to a certain age. In the research which follows it shall be interesting to note how far the men in our sample report fear and how this relates to their perceptions of risk. Supplementing the survey method used with individual interviews Goodey asked the boys at what age they may feel safer or less worried. The answers she received revealed that for the boys becoming an adult meant becoming less fearful (Gooey 1997: 408). Crucially in the group work their was evidence early on of the boys gauging their answers against the postures and attitudes of others in the room ensuring they were not being harshly judged by the others. With each different response the boys are working out their own particular experience and relationship to becoming a man (their own particular hegemonic masculine biography), in relation to the responses of the rest of the group, which are often modified on hearing what someone else has to say (Goodey 1997: 408) Anderson & Brownlie, et al (2009) suggests that this may be the case. Their research on attitudes towards emotional support using a nationally representative sample for the The the 25th Social Attitudes Survey reveals that despite exposure to an increasing therapeutic industry Furedi (2004) over 25% of respondents felt it was not easy to talk about their feelings (Anderson & Brownlie, et al 2009:157.) This was further compounded when controlling for gender. 44% of men fell into the group labeled as least talkative, having consistently reported more negative answers on their emotional expressiveness and the value of expression (Anderson & Brownlie, et al 2009:158.) In the research that follows therefore Goodeys (1997) approach may prove useful. In order to uncover more of the experience behind mens fearlessness and their unflinching reaction to potential harms they should be asked directly what they think of the risk/fear paradox and young mens previously recorded ambivalent attitude towards victimisation [REF].

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? -9COPING or Not Really Bovered It has been decided thus far to ask young men their feelings towards crime including the appropriateness of the term fear as commonly used in popular political and academic discourse. It was also decided to review the literature on how individuals cope with emotional or stressful events with a view to understanding the range of methods our group of respondents may use in dealing with life. From within the fear of crime literature Holloway and Jefferson (2000) provide a theoretical framework using Freuds psychoanalytic principles for understanding the range of responses to anxiety and emotional stimuli. READ FROM HOLL & JEFF

Assuming that responses are relatively consistent and patterned; that one individual will react the same in one situation as he will in other exactly similar situations

The Experiment/Research 9.2 - ???) Taylor (1998 Coping Strategies, summary prepared by Shelly Taylor in collaboration with the Psychosocial Working Group, Last Revised July 1998. 9.3) Carver (1997) brief COPE is reviewed as a tool for measuring young mens responses to stress and methods of coping with emotional pressure. Reviewing this area it is particularly important to focus on problems of measurement in recognition of the primary aim of establishing which instruments may be of use or capable of aiding research into young mens responses to crime and possible coping styles. NEEDS EXPANDING HOLLOWAY SUMMARY OF OTHER FEAR ARTICLES & COPE & COPING BCS and SCS Failure to register the concerns of youth: Household Questionnaire It is filled in by on nominated respondent who gathers the data on the full household. It may be difficult for young men to communicate their specific concerns to the survey respondents and for them in turn to adequately report them in the questionnaire. The concerns do not really exist mmmm the youth would have to recognise them in the first place. Sampling Bias Means that precisely those homes in the least well off areas; those with young tenants are the least likely to respond.

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? - 10 4) In individuals chances of personal victimization are dependant upon the extent to which the individual shares demographic characteristics with offenders. - This leads me to question whether young males will associate much of the ambient potentiality for violence or anti-social behaviour as crime Is this differential Association DAT Or Cognitive Dissonance? Masculinity or Victimology in Crisis Goodey (1997:405) makes reference to Horrocks's (1994: 91) book Masculinity in Crisis, in which he discusses exaggerated masculinity or hyper-masculinity'. Noting that Horrocks rightly states 'men are constantly vigilant and repressive towards their own femininity' Goodey is careful not to draw to stark a conclusion from this. The tendency is to conceptualize mens emotional inexpressiveness as a negative. Indeed it was an implicit acceptance of this particularly in relation to young mens silence in the face of victimisation surveys and fear of crime discourses which helped focus the concerns of the current research project. The Risk fear paradox as uncovered explained by What about in Stanko & Thingy when men are victims Goodey argues that although such silence may suggest possible 'emotional damage' one cannot deny the latent power behind emotional silence. Displaying aggression and an absence of fear and vulnerability can work to boys' and men's benefit; it does not automatically put them into the category of victim. However, enthusiasts of the 'men in crisis' movement seem conveniently to categorize men as 'victims' in the face of well-worn feminist debate while claiming, at the same time, that they do not intend to upstage women's position as 'the oppressed'. Although the current research would not wish to embrace such a position fully it is exactly this position and related arguments that should help foreground the research. Goodey notes that Horrocks appears to be displaying is a limited interpretation of the pervasive power of hegemonic masculinity (405). Her critique however implies a curiously polarized and monochrome system of identification and understanding. Just as sure as absence of fear does not automatically put a young male in the category of victim neither has it proven to protect or exclude them from a wider range of harm and victimisation than other groups. Characteristics such as aggression, lack of fear, risk taking behaviour and previous delinquency linked to propensity to commit crime also expose young men to risk of criminal victimisation by association or reluctance to back down. On top of this a similarity to offenders and indeed a propensity to offend place them at an

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? - 11 increased risk of self-harm from unwise action and that visited upon them by a retributive justice system. If men are found to be in crisis indicators already suggest that they should have no more desire to be categorised in a straight forward way as simple victims than any respectful feminist should really wish to dominate the position of the oppressed.

In the current study of 35 Young Men between the ages of 16 and 30 it was found that although willing to discuss limited awareness of vulnerability and to recall a wide array of past criminal victimisation they were in the main unmoved by the thought of criminal victimisation. These findings are largely in line with those found in a number of other studies and contexts [which]. The youths relationship to crime and importantly the relationship between offending and victimisation make the young male experience of crime a subject which can be difficult to fully capture and convey using conventional methodologies.

Question) What is the benefit of studying Victims and Victimisation? Differentiation; Pathology & Determinism??? Victim Blaming Exposing Failures in Criminology & Criminal Justice Produce Administrative Crime Stats Or Building Consent for repressive Justice The notions of victim and criminal as distinct and separate categories does not hold The separation of victimisation from offending and the processes of criminalization and a trenchant tendency towards adopting positivistic abstractions cast in the shade of a criminal justice system which - like large parts of our culture industry - depends on a sharp contrast between a guilty offender and an innocent and suffering victim has limited our ability to study the harm Crime may be having on the youth (ESYTC Smith ??:?) victimisation and offending have not been brought together within a single explanatory framework Punishment Retributive Justice in the researchers view is essentially a form of victimisation. In terms of the subject or participants perspective the criminal justice process unfolds as

What have others said, written or researched about the topic? What theories illuminate your topic? How does the literature relate to your research questions? - 12 an intervention which whether or not it ends in conviction often has a negative impact on their life. When applied in the correct cases paying full respect to legality and issues of due process in policing trial and sentencing retributive justice is justified victimisation. Noting this however it is the researchers view that while punishment may be a necessary evil it is still an evil and should be treated as such in any theoretical framework. A focus on harm rather than black letter law criminality therefore encourages the researcher to consider the potential offender, who is often the victim of social exclusion, as essentially the potential future victim of the criminal justice process. Until it is reasonably believed that a crime has been committed our young people deserve our support and protection. And of course there is much to be said for extending support and protections in all situations including states of emergency and even unto those who have done wrong. At the very minimum however the support and protection society aim to offer particularly the young and powerless should extend to protection from negative consequences arising over irrational fears relating to the very capabilities of control they themselves refer to. In retrospect it would have been an area of much interest to review the literature and undertake study on the extent and ways in which societal and personal expectations can play a part in structuring and defining real outcomes. Limitations on research, particularly time, meant that a cross sectional study was necessary and a concern for issues of social justice beside the continued importance of both conventional crime and administrative criminology to the criminal justice enterprise made research into young male victimisation a viable choice.