Predicting perceived risk of crime: A multilevel study

On a sample of Italians selected from 71 Italian counties (N = 1,868), we performed two multilevel analyses aimed at predicting the perceived risk of crime at local (i.e. in the participants’ county of residence) and at societal (i.e. in the context of Italian society) levels. A significant proportion of the variation in local risk perception was at county level. The following individual variables predicted higher levels of this variable: indirect victimization, the perception of social and physical disorder, being a woman, being poorly educated, and being an older person. Among the ecological predictors, crime rate and unemployment rate predicted higher levels of local crime risk perception, while immigrant rate did not. Perceived risk of crime at the societal level did not show significant variation at county level. Education, being a man, trusting people, and adhesion to post-materialistic values predicted lower levels of societal crime risk perception, while number of sons/daughters and exposure to television news increased it. The limitations and possible development of this study are discussed.