Facts in emotional debates

Prof Dr Frank Asbrock researches people's sense of security in places like the central bus stop

Chemnitz is home to the only criminological research institute in eastern Germany: the Centre for Criminological Research Saxony (ZKFS).
Prof Dr Frank Asbrock heads the institute and explains where the fear of crime comes from in this Doer of the Week interview.

Why is criminology such a special field of research?
Prof Dr Frank Asbrock: A lot of people have an opinion on crime - where it comes from and what can be done about it. But this opinion is often not particularly knowledge-based. It's a very emotional topic. We want to contribute to a fact-based view of crime.

Why is the topic so emotional?
Every one of us has an inherent fear for our own safety. We want to be well. Deviant behaviour causes us concern. How much depends on many factors, such as where you live or a general perception that the world is a dangerous place. People are also afraid of crime because it is often portrayed so blatantly in the media. The "crime scene" is not about having your wallet stolen. Yet the vast majority of offences recorded by the police in their annual crime statistics are theft and burglary. Murder and other threatening offences only make up a small proportion. But they dominate the debates.

The ZKFS is an independent research institute that currently employs eight scientists. As an affiliated institute of Chemnitz University of Technology, it is supported by the university. Prof Dr Frank Asbrock works as a professor of social psychology at Chemnitz University of Technology.

Does perception have a greater impact on the feeling of safety than facts?
Correct. If you ask people whether crime has increased in the past five years, most will say yes. But they also believed that 20 and 30 years ago. So we should be living in a terrible society today. In fact, crime in Germany has been falling overall for decades. Statistics show that it rises from time to time, and we have to take that seriously by looking at the causes. But mapping crime is difficult: the police crime statistics, which are published every spring, do not show crime in Germany, but rather the crime that the police are aware of, the so-called "bright field". The statistics do not reflect the "dark field". This is what criminological research attempts to do.

What influences the feeling of safety?
Many factors have an impact here - even those that have nothing to do with specific criminal offences. Among other things, the personal reaction to uncertainty is important - for example, how well you cope with not receiving an answer to something. In our studies, we find a strong correlation between fear of crime and a general view of the world as uncoordinated and dangerous. Experience is also key: a few years ago, we conducted a study with 500 people in Chemnitz and asked them in which area they lived and how safe they felt the city centre was. The results showed that people who live in the outer districts feel less safe in Chemnitz city centre than those who live there. This is because they know their way around the city centre and know how dangerous it is there.

Does police presence help to improve the feeling of safety?
Not automatically. If I suddenly see a lot of police in my neighbourhood, I think: Oh, what's going on here? If I can't explain it, it actually reduces my sense of security. A police presence can help in hot spots. But a general presence is better, which is why I personally think the police station at the central bus stop is a good idea. It gives people the feeling: "There's someone there, I can turn to them". But it doesn't seem as threatening as police officers in full uniform.

Can video surveillance help?
It doesn't necessarily reduce criminal offences. Where the cameras are, but not one corner further. But: video surveillance increases the feeling of security. And that's important, because if nobody dares to go into the city centre anymore, the vacancy rate will increase and the attractiveness for citizens will decrease. Then even fewer people will go into the city centre. This is where our work comes in: Fear of crime may well be justified, but we look at what it is linked to. Factors such as age, gender, general threat perception and much more play a role - and actual crime only to a small extent.

The ZKFS recently completed a large longitudinal study on crime perception, in which the same population group was surveyed over two years. It was one of the very first longitudinal studies in criminology.

How and where do you publicise your research findings?
We give public lectures and last year, for example, we organised an exhibition in the city library. We speak a lot at conferences and workshops with people from the field: security authorities such as the police or public prosecutor's office, youth welfare organisations and politicians. We are also active on social media. We have just produced a short film on the subject of "Freedom and deprivation of liberty", which will be shown on Lokomov, for example.

The ZKFS is an association that was founded at the beginning of 2021 on the initiative of the then coalition in the Saxon state parliament. In addition to research, the aim is to communicate the findings in a way that reaches people outside of academia.

Juvenile delinquency has recently been the subject of heated debate. Is it on the rise?
Yes, youth crime has increased twice in a row in the police crime statistics after coronavirus and is currently at around the pre-coronavirus level. But here, too, the question is: has it really increased or are the police just taking a closer look? The fact is that juvenile crime, for example, has been falling for decades. And: youth crime and youth violence are growing. This means that most of them stop when they become adults. Only a very small proportion remain criminals or violent offenders. Society and the justice system must take care of them, no question! But although they only make up a small proportion of the total population, they have the strongest influence on the public perception of juvenile delinquency. This is where our work comes in. We try to categorise the statistics and also research the dark field.

What does it mean for Chemnitz that a research institute that is unique in eastern Germany is located here and not in Leipzig or Dresden?
We always receive very positive feedback about our location. We feel connected to the city and are happy to bring our work into the city. We are keen to contribute to Chemnitz's civil society.

Where do you see Chemnitz as the European Capital of Culture 2025?
I've never lived in a city where it was so easy to get involved. That's great. There are many small initiatives that want to get something going in 2025 and hopefully help many people to revise their image of Chemnitz, which is still very much characterised by the events of 2018. If we manage to keep the city lively, the Capital of Culture 2025 can be a great place to be.