Thesis: The idea of living in a city atmosphere with a population of people whom are different in life style, views of society, background and economic status. Crime becomes a major factor in these areas. This article talks about the essence of fear, whom it affects and what it is.
Sally Engle Merry address the elements of fear and how it affects people who live in high crime areas. She chooses the Dover Square project wyhere there is a mixture of people. Some being black, white, chinese or hispanic. "
Each ethnic group is scattered throughout the development, yet residents mainatain virtually all of their close social relationships with neighbors of the same ethnicity. Consequently, neighbors who belong to different ethnic groups often remain strangers."
Merry goes on to explain how the different ethnic groups respond to their enviroment, she speaks of a young chinese woman who comes home at night by car alerting her parents to her arrival. A middle age black woman who does her errands before the youth populate the streets and then the chinese man whom is fluent in martial arts walks about freely. All of these people have the same fears and concerns but yet they respond to them differently.
Merry answers this by explaing that "interpretation of the surrounding enviroment" is what creates the fear in the individual. And because we all have different ways of perceiving our world then we all have different views on how fearful it is. "Fear refers to the inner emotional state and individual experiences as he or she contemplates the danger he or she beleives to exist." (Merry 125) Understanding this fact will allow one to understand how people perceive dangerous situations. Merry explains that each individual perceives fear differently whether be loss of property,personal harm and or humuliation by social figures. This perception is what ignites the emotional state of fear.
I conceptualize fear as being harmed physically, because it can potentially lead to death or severe health or emotional problems. With that personal conception of fear I often do not travel alone at night or in dangerous areas that I am not familiar with. My own conception of fear may differ from someone elses in that someone else may be afraid to lose property or be degraded in some way.Therefore, I agree with Merry that fear is a personal experience rather than a social one. Because each individual is different. And although we may all view life in similar ways our experiences and personal perceptions of our world is what ultimately creates the fear factor.
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