Sociology of fear of crime in the pandemic: What happened in mexican homes?

Abstract

From the sociology of fear of crime, I study how the perception of insecurity in Mexican homes changed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The transformation of this perception in Mexico during 2020 is analyzed based on the urban victimization surveys. It is found that, contrary to what is expected in the literature, this perception decreased, for which the questions are: What happened in the Mexican homes? Why did the perception of insecurity reduce during the COVID-19 pandemic? To explain this change, criminological variables related to the perception of insecurity are explored, such as home robbery and investment in security measures to make homes safer. At the same time, other variables associated with social isolation and the withdrawal of the population to homes are investigated, which changed the life in society globally as an effect of the pandemic. It is concluded that in this context, homes were positioned as central spaces to exercise the right to stay at home and avoid contagion, and also, they were resignified in the social imaginary.