Perceptions, Behaviors, and Satisfaction Related to Public Safety for Persons With Disabilities in the United States

• Author: Debra L. Brucker
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016815584997
• Published date: 01 December 2015
• Date: 01 December 2015
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Perceptions, Behaviors,

and Satisfaction Related

to Public Safety for Persons

With Disabilities in the

United States

Debra L. Brucker

1

Abstract

Data from the 2008 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation is used to investigate

fear of crime and satisfaction with police services among adults with and without disabilities in

metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in the United States, controlling for individual-level

characteristics. Persons with disabilities feel less safe, are more likely to exhibit protective beha-

viors due to safety concerns, and are less satisfied with police services than persons without dis-

abilities. Multivariate results suggest that persons with a disability who live in nonmetropolitan areas

have fewer concerns around personal safety but are generally less satisfied with local police services

than persons with disabilities who live in metropolitan areas. Policy implications and future research

directions are discussed.

Keywords

ecology and crime/spatial analysis, crime/delinquency theory, police organization/management, law

enforcement/security, quantitative methods, other

Introduction

In the United States, persons with disabilities experience lower levels of well-being than persons

without disabilities. Differences in well-being have been documented across multiple domains,

demonstrating that persons with disabilities face higher levels of economic and social disadvantage

than other persons in the United States (Brucker, Mitra, Chaitoo, & Mauro, 2015; Fujiura,

Rutkowski-Kmitta, & Owen, 2010). Fear of crime is an important dimension of well-being (Carle,

Bauman, & Short, 2009; Lorenc et al., 2012; Stiglitz, Sen, & Fitoussi, 2009) yet has received little

attention within the disability research community. Comprehensive research on disparities in fear of

1

Institute on Disability, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

Corresponding Author:

Debra L. Brucker, Institute on Disability, University of New Hampshire, 10 West Edge Drive, Suite 101, Durham,

NH 03824, USA.

Email: debra.brucker@unh.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2015, Vol. 40(4) 431-448

ª2015 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016815584997

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crime, personal protective behaviors, and satisfaction with police between persons with and without

disabilities is needed to guide the coordination of public safety resource allocation and service deliv-

ery that is necessary to improve the integration of persons with disabilities in economic and social

settings. Information on perceptions and behaviors related to safety can also uncover possible bar-

riers that persons with disabilities face in accessing the local services and supports that can increase

independence. After reviewing relevant literature, the analysis described subsequently will provide

new evidence of disparities in perceptions and behaviors related to fear of crime and satisfaction

with police services between adults with and without disabilities in the United States.

Literature Review

Estimates of the prevalence of disability in the United States vary by differences in measurement.

Historically, measurements of disability hinged on an inability to work. More recent conceptualiza-

tions have taken a broader view of disability, where ‘‘disability’’ can be understood as a condition

that results from the interaction between an individual-level impairment, activity limitation, or par-

ticipation restriction with personal and environmental factors (Palmer & Harley, 2012; World Health

Organization, 2002). A set of six questions adopted across federally administered household surveys

attempts to mirror this more expansive view by collecting information on sensory (hearing and

vision), functional (ambulatory and cognitive), and activity (independent living and self-care) lim-

itations. Based on this definition, nearly 40 million people, or 13%of the U.S. noninstitutionalized

population, are living with disabilities (Houtenville, Brucker, & Lauer, 2014). Impairments may

include ambulatory, cognitive, psychiatric, and sensory limitations. The prevalence of disability var-

ies by individual characteristics, with older adults, females, blacks, and Hispanics generally having

higher rates of disability than their comparison groups (Brault, 2012). Geography is associated with

the prevalence of disability as well, with higher rates of disability found in nonmetropolitan areas of

the country (Seekins & Greiman, 2014).

Persons with disabilities face higher levels of disadvantage than persons without disabilities,

along a number of dimensions. Working-age persons with disabilities have lower educational

attainment (Sevak, Houtenville, Brucker, & O’Neill, 2014), are less likely to be employed (Kess-

ler Foundation, 2014), and subsequently are more likely to be poor than persons without disabil-

ities (Brucker et al., 2015; She & Livermore, 2007). Housing conditions are worse for persons with

disabilities (Hoffman & Livermore, 2012), and persons with disabilities face high levels of food

insecurity (Coleman-Jensen & Nord, 2013). Levels of political participation and social capital are

lower for persons with disabilities as well (Brucker, 2015; Schur, Shields, Kruse, & Schriner,

2002). This article explores a possible additional area of disadvantage for persons with disabil-

ities—fear of crime.

Given the generally high level of disadvantage found among persons with disabilities, advocates,

policy makers, and service providers must continue to gather information that can be used to facil-

itate the efficient allocation of resources to address the needs of this population. Focusing on the

local environment may be one place to begin. Drawing from the definition of disability mentioned

at the outset of this article, the environment is a critical component of disability. Place matters in

terms of the ability to access employment opportunities and needed services and supports. Living

in a rural environment, for example, can create particular challenges for persons with disabilities.

In addition to disability being more prevalent in rural areas of the country, persons with disabilities

who live in rural areas face more barriers to receiving adequate health care (Iezzoni, Killeen, &

O’Day, 2006), transportation (National Council on Disability, 2005), and vocational (Johnstone

et al., 2003) services than persons without disabilities.

While residing in more urban areas may alleviate some of these barriers, different issues may

arise. For the general population, concerns with neighborhood safety arise more frequently in urban

432 Criminal Justice Review 40(4)