Zia hsseain Yosufi, Seyed Hossein Hosseini, Seyed Mehdi Seyedzadeh
While the issue of fear of crime and its associated social and physical disorder has been extensively studied in the global academic community for decades, it remains a relatively novel concept in Afghanistan. This study aims to elucidate the impact of disorder on the escalation of fear of crime in Kabul City. Employing a survey methodology, this research involved a sample size of 913 individuals aged 15 and above residing in Kabul. A multi-stage cluster sampling technique was utilized to select the sample. The findings reveal that 7.9% of Kabul residents do not fear any crimes, 15.8% have a low level of fear, 39.1% experience a moderate level of fear, 9.9% have a high level of fear, and 27.4% did not provide a response. When ranking the levels of fear from low to high, a concerning 64.9% of residents reported a moderate to high level of fear of crime. The average fear of crime was found to be relatively high (56.24) in the first cluster (West Kabul) and moderate (48.70) in the second cluster (North Kabul), a difference confirmed by statistical tests. Furthermore, fear of crimes against property was reported by 80.4% of respondents, while fear of crimes against persons was reported by 84.2%, both of which are alarmingly high. The results indicate a significant difference between the two clusters, with residents in the first cluster experiencing significantly higher levels of fear of crime. Inferential statistical analysis demonstrates a significant relationship between the variables and fear of crime. A model assessing the impact of variables on fear of crime reveals that social disorder, age, residential location, and physical disorder account for over 70% of the variation in fear of crime, with physical disorder being the most significant variable. A strong positive correlation was found between fear of crime and both social and physical disorder, indicating that as disorder increases, so does the level of fear of crime .
Keywords: Fear of crime, Social and physical disorder, neighborhood, increase in crime and Kabul city