Vulnerability and place:a test of the psychology of perceived vulnerability for women and men

Research shows that women’s heightened worry about crime reflects a stronger sense of psychological vulnerability, constituted not only by their perceptions of the likelihood of victimisation but also their sense of control over victimisation and the anticipated consequences of crime. While gender differences in worry have been widely studied, less is known about how neighbourhood context shapes these psychological processes. This study addresses this gap by testing the model of perceived vulnerability among 2,862 participants nested in 80 neighbourhoods in Victoria, Australia. We examine whether perceptions of likelihood, control and the consequences of crime differentially predict worry about crime for women and men, while also accounting for between-neighbourhood variation. The results reveal distinct gendered processes of vulnerability: women’s worry about crime is more place-based, clustering more strongly by neighbourhood, whereas men’s worry is more person-based, shaped primarily by their own assessment of likelihood rather than broader environmental factors. Additionally, perceptions of control and consequences play a key role in shaping women’s perceived vulnerability but are not significant predictors for men. By integrating psychological and ecological perspectives, this study highlights the need to situate individual-level fear of crime processes within the neighbourhood contexts in which they are experienced.