The Relationship Between Antisocial Stereotypes and Public CCTV Systems: Exploring Fear of Crime in the Modern Surveillance Society

Situational crime deterrence measures like CCTV are not always associated with reductions in fear of crime. This study explores this unexpected finding by investigating the interaction between target type and the presence of a CCTV camera, in order to test the effect this has on impressions of the target and corresponding fear of the location the target was shown in. Participants (n=120) were shown either a picture of a male " skinhead " , a " studious " female, or no one within an urban setting in which an obvious CCTV camera was either present or absent. Participants then rated the scene using scales estimating crime frequency, worry and target activity. Estimates of location safety fell for the male " skinhead " target and activity impressions were more negative, but only when a CCTV camera was also present. Ironically, in some circumstances, public crime deterrence measures may prime pre-existing negative stereotypes about others and so foster suspicion, undermine trust in others, and increase fear of crime. (Institutional ethical approval application PSY/12/06/JA) 3 Open street public CCTV systems are an ever-present feature of the modern urban landscape. It has been estimated that there are some 4.2 million cameras which are either within, or visible from public space in the UK Williams, 2008), with reductions in fear of crime (FOC) being a stated objective since the early days of their introduction (Honess & Charman, 1992 p2). More recently, Gill & Spriggs (2005 p44) describe reducing fear of crime as one of CCTV " s " main objectives ". However, the findings in relation to CCTV and public reassurance are complex and mixed. For example, Ditton (2000) found that respondents prospectively estimated a reduction in FOC (safety) after the introduction of CCTV to Glasgow city centre. Despite this, when the system was installed no significant difference emerged in FOC, a pattern that paralleled results in two control locations. In fact, somewhat strikingly, Ditton also found that respondent claims that they would " avoid " the city centre (where cameras had been installed) rose respectively. Yet, over the same period respondents showed the reverse trend in control locations without cameras (43, 39, and 37 per cent). These 4 sorts of findings are not confined to a single measure of FOC within the Ditton (2000) study, nor are they confined to this study alone. More recently Gill & Spriggs (2005) sought to test whether people …