Perception of Safety, Social Participation and Vulnerability in an Urban Neighbourhood, Lagos, Nigeria

Various models explain the fear of crime in the literature. This paper reports a study on the fear of crime in a public housing scheme. It examines two different models which may explain the fear of crime. The rationale was that the components of these models and the fear of crime are associated with the quality of life of residents. The result suggest that the model which explains the perception of safety using facilitating factors (vulnerability and disorder) is more explanatory than the model which uses inhibiting factors (social participation and sense of community variables).