Izvorni znanstveni članak
Personal Fear of Victimization and Community Cohesion in the Communities with Different Degree of Urbanization in the Republic of Croatia
Lovro Borovec
; Hrvatski studiji, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Research on the impact of the degree of urbanization on the fear of victimization is very important but also not sufficiently analysed field in the world nor in the Republic of Croatia. This paper presents a unique analysis of the fear of victimization and community cohesion in seven communities in Slavonija and Baranja (Slavonski Kobaš, Garčin, Kutjevo, Pakrac, Virovitica, Slavonski Brod i Osijek Slavonski Kobaš, Garčin, Kutjevo, Pakrac, Virovitica, Slavonski Brod and Osijek), each with different degrees of urbanization, different population numbers and development index. The research is based on two zero hypotheses which deny the existence of differences between seven observed communities and is conducted on a sample of 695 participants, who are residents of the seven previously mentioned communities. Results indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in the fear of victimization present in Kutjevo and Slavonski Kobaš and Kutjevo and Garčin. Also, using the ANOVA-e and the post hoc Dunnett's T3 test, results show that there is a statistically significant difference in community cohesion between Slavonski Kobaš and Osijek; Garčin and Kutjevo; Kutjevo and Osijek; Pakrac and Osijek; and Osijek and Slavonski Brod. Taking Osijek into account, this research concludes that the degree of urbanization significantly affects the cohesion degree. Larger population numbers and a larger development index are good predictors of a lower degree of community cohesion. However, in Kutjevo - which stands out for its lower degree of fear of victimization and the bigger degree of community cohesion - it cannot be concluded that the urbanization degree caused the same type of results. That raises the question: what makes people in Kutjevo feel so safe and have more trust in people with whom they share their neighbourhood? The answer can be found in the quality of the implementation of the community policing. This requires further, more detailed research. This type of research has significant practical implications for the creators of the public community politics because it shows that a bigger focus on the community cohesion is necessary to reduce the fear of victimization and to equalize the community cohesion in the bigger communities with the cohesion in the smaller communities by a bigger degree of urbanization.
Ključne riječi
personal fear of victimization; community cohesion; degree of urbanization; Slavonija and Baranja.
Hrčak ID:
230339
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.12.2019.
Posjeta: 845 *