Ya know, it's not uninteresting...

[hedgehog]

9. The real question is why people in some areas are so

fearful they will be confronted with criminals, and people in other areas are pretty laid back. Do these attitudes reflect actual crime rates or perceived crime rates? Another possibility is that they represent the degree of class and/or racial tension. If everyone in an area is of the same general socio-economic level and racial tensions are low, I suspect that people are more relaxed. I think people generally fear "the other".

I think parts of Appalachia and other Scotch-Irish strongholds are a special case. The Scotch-Irish culture has a strong streak of mistrusting the stranger and a need to protect personal honor. (The Hatfield-McCoy feud was an actual event).


Another measure of this is the need the lock car doors and/or use a car alarm. My sister was boasting of her elegent sedan with heated leather seats. At the time, I was driving a 25 year old Chevette. I got lost driving across the city one time and ended up in a bad looking neighborhood. I was a little tense until it occurred to me that no one is ever going to car jack a 25 year old Chevette! That was the first and last new car I ever bought. I never bother to lock the doors. My husband locks car doors, but he drives a lot of rental cars for work.