Fear-of-crime research, although plentiful, has been plagued by criticism that it often focuses on generalized, global measures of fear instead of specific instances that elicit an emotional response of fear. Much of the criticism is justified. Little is known about women’s perceptions of confidence in managing dangerous situations or crimes, or if confidence is correlated strongly with fear. College women (n = 564) completed the Perceptions of Dangerous Situations Scale, a survey instrument validated for college women, consisting of 34 crimes and dangerous situations. Women rated each situation with regard to their fear of and their confidence to manage selected situations. Ratings were subjected to multidimensional scaling, producing two dimensions that were interpreted as Personal Threat and Intimacy. Cluster analysis produced eight interpretable clusters for fear and eight for confidence. Implications for self-defense curricula and rape prevention training are discussed.
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