Perceptions of Danger

This Element explores how citizens understand general crime and violence against women, especially intimate partner violence (IPV). Drawing on interdisciplinary literature, this Element makes the case that cognitive heuristics and risk assessments, in particular, shape the way people see crime versus IPV. The central argument is that cognitive heuristics that generate risk perceptions help us understand why the public worries excessively about crime, with important political consequences, while downplaying IPV. This fosters distinct attitudes toward IPV and general crime. Accordingly, this Element sheds light on why victim-blaming is so prevalent in the context of IPV. Using original survey experiments from Brazil and Mexico, the study shows that respondents attribute more responsibility for prevention to the victim for IPV than for general crimes, display optimism bias with acquaintance victimization, and approve different types of policy remedies to deal with general crime and IPV.

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