A Comparative Study of Fear of Crime among Korean Immigrants in the United States and Native Koreans in South Korea

Scholars implicitly assume that the conceptual models of fear of crime found in the Western literature are also applicable to populations that have different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. To investigate whether such an assumption is legitimate, the current study analyzed survey data from samples of Korean immigrants in the Detroit metropolitan area and native Koreans in Seoul, South Korea. The result indicated a higher level of fear among native Koreans than Korean immigrants. The presented subgroup analyses revealed that perceived incivility, confidence in the police, and ethnic attachment were significant predictors of fear of crime among Korean immigrants, while gender, vicarious victimization, and perceived crime increase in the neighborhood were significant among native Koreans. Based on these findings, we offer implications for future research.

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