Concern and Fear of Crime in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Female respondents indicated the most concern about crime, while female, compared with male, students expressed the least concern; indicating the possibility of significant changes in response once adulthood is reached. Females and students expressed the most fear of crime, though females had a higher proportion than males who never think about being victimised. A partial explanation for the apparently inconsistent results reported, in this and other studies, may be that our method of testing fear may also be assessing acceptance of female‐youth behavioural norms.