Effects of Fear of Crime on Social Acceptance Under Social Conflict Perceptions Toward Ex-Prisoners: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Fear of crime (FOC) decreases a person’s social acceptance of ex-prisoners (SAX). However, the extent to which FOC impacts SAX is unclear. Using a national sample, this study aimed to explore the extent to which (1) FOC impacts SAX by elevating social conflict perception and (2) social equality moderates the association between FOC and social conflict perception. Using bootstrapping, a moderated mediation effect model was constructed to analyze the extent to which FOC impacts SAX and the potential mediating and possible moderating effects of social conflict perception and social equality, respectively. The findings reveal that FOC significantly and negatively impacts SAX after controlling for sex, age, educational level, marital and subjective socioeconomic statuses, Internet utilization, and victimization experience factors. The results indicate that people with high FOC are less willing to accept ex-prisoners, an effect partly explained by the mediation of social conflict perception, and that social equality plays a moderating role between FOC and social conflict perception. This study contributes to the literature by extending research on the social effects of FOC, as to date, most research has focused on the FOC attitude that favors the punishment of offenders, and there is hardly any research on whether a hostile FOC attitude could spill over toward ex-prisoners in society. In addition, this study explains the association between FOC and the social acceptance of targeted social groups and provides an innovative explanation for a precondition based on the inner relationship between FOC and SAX, supported by empirical evidence.