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Crime Comparisons Between Cultures
A Fulbright grant allowed Derek Chadee, a lecturer
in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the
University of West Indies-St. Augustine, to globalize
his research on the social psychology of fear
and crime. He traveled to CUNY-Hunter College
in New York, New York and the University of Central
Florida in Orlando, Florida, where he conducted
research, investigated new research methods and
formed many new partnerships for future international
collaboration.
Chadee had a head start on his cross-cultural
comparison of fear of crime, setting up at the
University of West Indies a replication of a study
done by his host, Jason Young, at Hunter College.
The experiment involved presenting brief television
news clips to 150 participants and then asking
them to propose an order in which the stories
would be shown in a future news broadcast. Chadee
then had his data available before departing to
the United States and was able to work directly
with Young to compare and analyze the results
in order to publish a manuscript on their efforts.
This allowed Chadee to get started on another
study while in New York with the help of Young
and an additional professor from the Department
of Psychology, Darlene Defour. Starting with a
questionnaire Chadee had administered in Trinidad,
the group added new questions and made adjustments,
making it relevant to the New York environment.
"This is the first-ever fear of crime study
of this kind being undertaken cross-culturally
with a Caribbean country," said Chadee. "The
study looks at psychological and social variables
including the effect of media, locus of control,
state-trait anxiety, self-esteem, community empowerment
and risk of victimization as explanatory factors
of fear of crime."
Chadee also spent some time at the University
of Central Florida, where he was able to focus
more on research methods and new means of data
analysis. After meeting with Raymond Surrette,
an expert in the analysis of the media's depiction
of crime, Chadee was able to strengthen his analysis
of a previous study in Trinidad and develop a
plan for a future study on the media and fear.
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Chadee took full advantage of every opportunity
to further his research and enable collaboration
while on his Fulbright grant. He participated
in a number of seminars, visited many different
institutions and met with leaders and experts
in his field. The experience provided him with
a better understanding of life in metropolitan
areas such as New York, which can differ greatly
from life in the Caribbean. It also helped him
gain perspective on the literature he had read
on the fear of crime, most of which was placed
in an American context. And since Chadee's visit
spanned the holiday season, his new American perspective
was not limited to classroom activities, as his
colleagues invited him to attend Thanksgiving
dinner, Christmas parties, and even a football
game.
Chadee accomplished a number of long- and short-term
academic goals, gained great international perspective
on his field of study, made an impact on his American
colleagues and paved the way for many future collaborative
efforts, all essential tenets of the foundations
of the Fulbright Scholar Program.
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"International education
exchange is the most significant current project
designed to continue the process of humanizing
mankind to the point, we would hope, that
nations can learn to live in peace"
--J. William Fulbright |
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