Table Of ContentBeing 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
