A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The 2008 economic recession and the feeling of safety: is anyone still afraid of walking outdoors after dark?
Authors: Venetoklis, Takis
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Quality and Quantity
Journal name in source: Quality & Quantity
ISSN: 0033-5177
eISSN: 1573-7845
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-025-02253-0
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-025-02253-0
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499416855
Using the theories of General Strain and the Economics of Crime as intermediating mechanisms, I examine whether the 2008 economic recession had any effect on the individual feeling of safety, both short and long term. I use data gathered from 10 countries during 10 rounds of the European Social Survey, from 2002 to 2020/21 (N = 139741). I apply Interrupted Time Series ordered logit regression models with the gologit2 user-written command for Stata. Results indicate that long-term, there was no adverse effect amongst all the participants in the utilized sample. Short-term however, by 2010, the feeling of safety diminished in those that felt the most secure just before the crisis. Dividing the sample into smaller groups, short-term negative effects were observed in four countries (Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Portugal), and long-term negative effects in Britain and Ireland. In addition, I found short-term negative effects in groups of individuals who had outlier preferences and personal characteristics. Those were people that trusted the legal system and the police the least, their self- reported happiness level was low, had very conservative political views, had little education and reported having difficulties in coping with their current income.
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Funding information in the publication:
Open Access funding provided by University of Turku (including Turku University Central Hospital). The author declares that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.
