FEAR OF CRIME AMONG DAYAK COMMUNITIES RESIDING IN CRIME HOTSPOT AREAS IN SARAWAK, MALAYSIA

• Main Authors: Tharshini, N. K., Zamri, Hassan, Dolly, Paul Carlo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Publications International Lahore, Pakistan 2022
• Subjects: H Social Sciences (General); HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/41760/1/Fear%20of%20-%20Copy.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/41760/; http://www.sci-int.com/search

Fear of crime is widely associated with the declination of an individual’s subjective well-being and community cohesion. However, robust evidence is still scarce on how local crime is associated with the emotional domain of an individual. Thus, the aim of this research is to identify the relationship between anxiety and fear of crime among Dayak communities residing in crime hotspot areas in Sarawak, Malaysia. Data was quantitatively collected among 365 respondents from the cities of Kuching, Sibu, and Miri. Meanwhile, a correlation test was employed to measure the relationship between anxiety and fear of crime among Dayak communities residing in crime hotspot areas in Sarawak, Malaysia. The result of the study shows that a majority of the respondents were from the Kuching district (50.1%), females (74.8%), belonged to the Iban ethnicity (69.9%), and resided in terrace housing (43.8%) in urban areas (77.0%). The findings also depicted that there is a significant relationship between anxiety and fear of crime (r =.701, p < 0.01) among the Dayak communities residing in the crime hotspot areas. It is deemed important to identify the emotional regulation of the community members residing in crime hotspot areas; thus, the predictors of mental health and other contextual risk factors can be identified to propose crime prevention strategies that target vulnerable groups within the community.