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Fear of crime and fear of falling : English anxieties approaching the millennium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Ian Taylor  and
Ruth Jamieson
Ian Taylor
Affiliation:
University of Salford, (Salford).
Ruth Jamieson
Affiliation:
Keele University, (Keele).
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Abstract

This paper develops an analysis of the ways in which the issues of ‘unemployment’, ‘social order’ and ‘crime’ appeared to be dealt with, within the dominant culture of English society in the mid-1990s.

Revisnng the famous debate between Perry Anderson, Tom Nairn and Edward Thompson in the 1960s, the paper argues for an understanding of the specificity of the English ‘social formation’ and, in particular, the sensibilities of the dominant middle class of that country. Inspired in part by field work in the English suburb in which the authors currently reside, the paper applies this approach to the analysis of the deep anxieties that are routinely exhibited in such areas in the mid-1990s over crime—anxieties which are then separately examined along six discrete dimensions: a) the safety of self, b) the safety of home and employment position, c) personal status and the symbolic world, d) the loss of virtue, e) the fears for England, and f) the crisis of the inheritance. The paper concludes by arguing for an interpretation of the widespread fear of crime as a complex social metaphor, with a specific social/national provenance, invisible to the mass of contemporary empirical social scientists in England whose work is parasitical upon such fears.

L'article analyse la façon dont le «chômage», l'«ordre» et le « crime » ont été traités dans la culture dominante de la société anglaise au milieu des années 90. Reprenant les termes du début des années 60 entre Perry Anderson, Tom Nairn et Edward Thompson, c'est la spécificité de la fonction sociale anglaise qui est en question, et en particulier la sensibilité propre à la classe moyenne, majoritaire ou dominante dans le pays. Les auteurs sont marqués par le travail de terrain conduit dans les banlieues et l'anxiété enregistrée concernant le crime. Six dimensions d'analyse sont retenues : a) sécurité personnelle, b) sécurité du domicile et du travail, c) statut personnel et univers symbolique, d) la perte des valeurs, e) les peurs pour l'Angleterre, f) la crise de l'héritage historique. La conclusion est que la peur du crime est une métaphore sociale complexe qui échappe à la grande majorité de la recherche sociale empirique.

Der Aufsatz untersucht, auf welche Art und Weise die herrschende Kultur der englischen Gesellschaft der 9oer Jahre Arbeitslosigkeit, Gesellschaftssystem und Verbrechen behandelt. Basierend auf der Debatte zwischen Perry Anderson, Tom Nairn und Edward Thompson in den 196oer Jahren, fordert diese Abhandlung dazu auf, die für die englische Gesellschaft charakterisierende Entstehungsweise und ganz besonders die Empfindungen der Mittelklasse dieses Landes zu begreifen. Inspiriert durch Untersuchungen in englischen Vororten, in denen die Autoren wohnen, nutzt der Aufsatz diesen Ausgangspunkt für die Analyse tiefsitzender Ängste, die in der Mitte der 9oer Jahre in diesen Gegenden vor Verbrechen geäußert werden. Ängste, die anschließend seperat analysiert werden : a) eigene Sicherheit, b) die Sicherheit von Hab und Gut und des Arbeitsplatzes, c) persönliche Position und symbolische Welt, d) Verlust der Tugenden, e) Angst um England und f) Krise des historischen Erbes. Der Aufsatz macht eine weitverbreitete Angst vor Kriminalität als vielschichtige soziale Metapher fest, mit einer besonderen sozialen/nationalen Herkunft, die zeigenössischen empirischen Sozialwissenschaftlern in England fehlt und deren Arbeiten über solche Ängste hinwegsehen.

Type
Actualité Européenne
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , May 1998 , pp. 149 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © Archives Européenes de Sociology 1998

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