Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Grace Under Fire : Altruistic Behavior And The Risk Of Criminal Victimization, Andy Lucas Blaize Davies

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Two studies investigate whether the perceived risk of criminal victimization reduces altruistic behavior as social disorganization theory predicts it will. The first study, of 160 nation-states, suggests not. Rather, the relationship depends on national culture. In highly religious countries, for example, the perceived risk of victimization actually appears to increase altruistic behavior. The second study, an experiment conducted on samples both of undergraduate students and internet users, suggests that certain individuals for whom the risk of criminal victimization may be particularly salient - volunteers worried they may be put in harm's way, and fatalists paranoid about the inevitability of victimization …