Being Feared: The Micro-Dynamics of Fear and Insecurity PDF
Preview Being Feared: The Micro-Dynamics of Fear and Insecurity
Being Feared The Micro-Dynamics of Fear and Insecurity Ben Ellis Being Feared Ben Ellis Being Feared The Micro-Dynamics of Fear and Insecurity Ben Ellis School of Criminology University of Leicester Leicester, UK ISBN 978-3-030-61544-4 ISBN 978-3-030-61545-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61545-1 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such namesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreefor general use. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinforma- tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen made.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmaps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: David Wall/Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Grandad Knight 1923–2020 Preface A man in his 30s sat at his office desk in the early evening. He liked to workbeyond5pmbecauseitmeanthecouldavoidtheworstoftherush hour traffic. It was December and the winter freeze had taken hold. So, when it was time to head home he put his hat and gloves on, along with his big winter coat and prepared to brave the sub-zero temperatures. He worked in a large public sector organisation and there were always unfamiliar faces passing by him in the corridors but a smile and a nod usually punctuated each encounter. He made his way to the exit of his building.Astheautomaticdoorsopenedthecoldairhittinghisfacewasa shock.Yetwithlittlehesitationhepressedhishandsalittledeeperintohis pockets and stepped outside. As he made his way to the staff multistorey car park it started to rain. He pulled the hood of his coat up and bowed his head slightly to stop the cold wind and rain from getting to his face. He had to cross a number of roads and pass between several buildings to get to his car. There were many people walking around and going about their business but he kept his head down and made his way quietly. There was a woman walking in front of him making her way similarly, hepresumed,tohercarandajourneyhome.Sheappearedtobecold.She was clutching her bag close to her with her arms folded. As the throng of people started to thin out he turned down the street on which the car park stood. The woman glanced behind and saw the man but continued to walk towards the entrance to the car park. She opened the door and entered. The man followed a few seconds later. vii viii PREFACE He opened the door and entered the room to pay his ticket for the car park barrier. He looked to his right and saw that the woman he had been walking behind stood in the corner. She was staring back at him, eyes wide open, clearly flustered by something. She was visibly shaking. “Idon’thaveanymoney!Idon’thaveanything!”Sheshouted.“Thereis nothing in here!” She gestured towards her handbag without loosening her grip on it. She looked terrified. The man was confused. He really didn’t know what to think at first. He stood, unable to comprehend what the woman was talking about. The thought crossed his mind that there may be something wrong with her but it slowly started to dawn on him; she thought he had come to mug her. She thought he had followed her into the room to mug her! He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do. Should he be sympathetic and calm her down? Should he be annoyed? Should he be insulted? What is it about him that has caused this reaction? He just wanted to go home. The man had experienced this sort of thing before but never with this intensity. “I am just going to pay for my parking ticket if that’s OK?” He said. The tone of his voice was calm but he hoped it also conveyed his annoy- ance at being suspected of criminal intent. The woman, still standing in the corner, was clearly shaken. As the man put his money into the machine the woman’s demeanour quickly changed. She was apologetic. She must have finally realised he was a member of staff but the impact of her initial impression and reaction left an awkward atmosphere as the machine approved the man’s payment. He hurriedly took his ticket from the machine and went to his car without looking back at the woman or saying anything further. He had not meant to cause this impression but what could he do? He was making a journey he had made hundreds of times before. That woman had been deeply afraid of him and he knew it. Leicester, UK Ben Ellis Contents 1 An Introduction to Being Feared 1 Fear of Crime and Being Feared: A Brief Background 2 TurningtheTablesonFearofCrime:TheAimsandPurpose of This Research 3 The Conceptual Approach to the Research 4 Methodology Within the Research 5 Towards an Understanding of ‘Being Feared?’ 8 Structure of the Book 10 References 13 2 AnObjectofFear?SettingtheSceneforUnderstanding Being Feared 17 The Dramaturgical Model 20 Meaning and Interaction 22 Dramaturgical Awareness 26 Defining the Parameters of Being Feared: Goffman’s Encounters 28 Focused and Unfocused Interaction 29 Performance and the Minutia of Interaction 33 Front: Setting, Appearance and Manner 34 Goffman: From Situation to Structure 37 Primary Frameworks 38 References 41 ix x CONTENTS 3 Pillars of Fear—Purposeful Fear 43 Purposeful Fear 44 References 60 4 Pillars of Fear: Accidental Fear 61 Being Feared: Why Me? 69 References 76 5 Pillars of Fear: Alleviating Fear 77 Adapting to the Presence of Fear 84 References 90 6 Pillars of Fear: Competent/Dutiful Fear 91 References 103 7 The Importance of Context: The Body, the Desire and the Duty 105 The Importance of the Body—The Presentation of Self 106 The Importance of Context 114 References 123 8 Conclusion: The Dynamics of Being Feared—The Polarity of Intensions 125 Where to from Here? 128 References 133 Bibliography 135 Index 151 CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to Being Feared Abstract Thisintroductorychapterhasthreefunctions:(1)tointroduce theprojectandthecontentofthebookincludingthepillarsoffear;(2)to specificallyoutlinethemethodologiesusedtogatherthedata;(3)togive ashortreviewoftheexistingliteratureonthistopic,teasingoutwhatthe new sociological and criminological questions are regarding this insight intofearofcrime.Thesediscussionsarebasedsomewhatonbroaderideas aroundtheimpactoffearofcrimeandhowthisresearchissituatedwithin it. Keywords Fear of Crime · Being Feared · Framework · Goffman · Context The purpose of this chapter is to provide a concise overview of this book and its research on being feared. In doing so it considers the topic, aims and rationale of the work to follow. It introduces the background to the focus of this research and situates the book within the current perspec- tives of fear of crime. Shortfalls within the existing research literature are identifiedandthishelpstoprovidethesetting,rationaleandcontextfrom whichthisresearchmovesforward.Followingsectionsspecifytheaimsof the project, introduce the data collection methods, and provides a brief overview of literature. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1 Switzerland AG 2020 B. Ellis, Being Feared, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61545-1_1
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