Student perceptions of campus crime and campus involvement.

Abstract

Among the student characteristics examined, freshmen had a higher perception of crime than sophomores. Conversely, sophomores had a higher level of involvement than freshmen. Females had a higher perception of crime than males. Also, those that had experienced personal or secondary victimization, had a higher perception of crime.

Finally, student perceptions of crime significantly influenced the level of involvement in plays, concerts, movie nights, campus-affiliated religious organizations, honorary organizations, professional/departmental organizations, being a spectator at sporting events, attending conferences and conventions, and participating in non-required internships/practicums. These findings suggested that participation in activities that are primarily conducted in the evening hours are significantly impacted by student perceptions of crime.

There were several interactions between the variables related to worry of specific crime situations and perception of crime and involvement. These variables were: worry of being sexually assaulted, worry of a friend being sexually assaulted, worry of being attacked while driving around the campus, worry of being mugged on campus, worry of being beaten up, knifed or shot on campus, worry of being murdered on campus, worry of your residence hall room being burglarized while someone is home, and worry of your residence hall being burglarized while no one is home.

Exposure to campus crime events and media stories related to criminal justice issues were not significantly related to perception of crime suggesting that other variables influence the way students viewed campus crime. Likewise, viewing television programs that used crime reenactment was not significantly related to perception of crime and involvement in campus activities.

The population selected for this study was students from East Central University in their freshmen and sophomore years surveyed in the Spring semester, 1998. Of the 200 freshmen and 200 sophomores surveyed, 136 responded for a return rate of 34 percent. Differences were reported at p $<$ 0.05.

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between student perceptions of campus crime and involvement in campus activities. Student perceptions were determined by examining: student characteristics, awareness of campus crime events, media exposure to crime and criminal justice issues, personal or secondary sexual or physical victimization, knowledge of weapons on campus, and worry of specific crime situations. The level of involvement was represented by determining the average level of involvement in thirty-four variables related to participation in a variety of on-campus events, clubs and organizations, sports, academic experiences, faculty and staff interactions, community service, and employment.