Abstract
Perceived insecurity in the public space: Personal, social and environmental variables. This paper explores perception of insecurity among the users of Barcelona’s public space. It describes the results of a research aimed to determine the key variables for the understanding of subjective insecurity. Structural equation models have been applied for this purpose. Results show low relative indices of causality for environmental variables, whereas those related to space representation, residential satisfaction and urban identity, social support and personal competences offer high predictive potential. It is concluded that insecurity perceptions in the public space are therefore strongly linked to social interaction processes and to the social construction of insecurity. Other results, like the influence of gender or age, are consistent with previous findings.
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D. Carro, S. Valera and T. Vidal are members of the Research Group in Social, Environmental and Organizational Psychology—PsicoSAO (University of Barcelona).
The research described in this paper has been supported by the General Direction of Prevention Services, Barcelona City Council.
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Carro, D., Valera, S. & Vidal, T. Perceived insecurity in the public space: personal, social and environmental variables. Qual Quant 44, 303–314 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-008-9200-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-008-9200-0