| Criminological studies of risk tend to conflate the future-oriented meaning of risk as probability with a present-oriented definition that views risk as equivalent to danger. Further, the significant contributions and advancements of other disciplinary approaches to risk have seemingly been ignored by criminologists. This disciplinary demarcation implies that risk involving the probability of crime and incivility is unrelated to risk associated with non-criminal behavior and events. Using data from the 1993 General Social Survey, we first determine the extent to which different people equally identify and perceive crime hazards and opportunities, as well as the extent to which similar people fail to equally identify crime hazards and opportunities. Second, following Wildavsky and Dake (1990), we compare types of dangers and opportunities (both criminal and non-criminal) to determine if there are general tendencies to be risk averse (i.e. potential losses greater than potential gains), or risk taking (potential gain outweighing potential loss), and how risk varies given the nature and type of hazard and opportunity under consideration. The results of our study contribute to a broader understanding of how it is that present hazards and opportunities may contribute to future probabilities and understandings of these probabilities. |
Updated 05/20/2006