NICOLE RADER, PHD
I am a sociologist who does research in the areas of gender and crime. Specifically, I focus on the social construction of victimization, fear of crime among women, and gendered depictions of victims and offenders through the media. I have published articles most recently at Deviant Behavior, Violence against Women, the International Review of Victimology, and the Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice. Additionally, I am a coauthor on the book Fear of Crime in the United States: Causes, Consequences, and Contradictions (Carolina Academic Press) and the author of the forthcoming book (see below for details!), Teaching Fear: How we Learn To Fear Crime and Why it Matters (Temple University Press). I have been at Mississippi State University since 2005 and currently serve as the Department Head in the Sociology Department.
Teaching Fear: How We Learn To Fear Crime And Why It Matters
Temple University Press, January 6, 2023
https://tupress.temple.edu/books/teaching-fear
“Where do lessons of “stranger danger” and safety come from—and do they apply differently for women? A gender-fear paradox shows that although women are less likely to be victims of most crimes (sexual assault aside), their fear of crime is greater. Moreover, girls and women—especially White women—are taught to fear the wrong things and given impossible tools to prevent victimization. In Teaching Fear, Nicole Rader zooms in on the social learning process, tracing the ways that families, schools, and the media have become obsessed with crime myths, especially regarding girls and women.
Based on in-depth research and family studies, Rader reveals the dubious and dangerous origins of many of the most prominent safety guidelines that teach young girls to be more afraid of crime. These guidelines carry over to adulthood, influencing women’s behaviors and the way they order their worlds, with dangerous consequences. As women teach their learned behavior and conditioned fear to others, gendered crime myths are recirculated from generation to generation, making them a staple in our society.
https://tupress.temple.edu/books/teaching-fear
Teaching Fear includes suggestions for taking precautionary measures and crime prevention strategies. Rader also provides guidance for instilling safety values and demonstrating how we can “teach fear better” to break this cycle and truly create greater security.”
Reviews of Teaching Fear
“Teaching Fear is an important contribution to the scholarly literature on the social reproduction of crime myths and offers a sharp analysis of how fear of crime works to limit women’s activity and reproduce gender inequality. It provides a critical foundation for anyone interested in interrogating contemporary fears of victimization and identifying the ways such false beliefs inform our behaviors and —Gender & Society
“Rader tackles the connection between fearful fictions about crime in the U.S. that she believes are designed to keep women, in particular, docile and afraid, and the real issues that greatly affect not just women but all Americans…. Rader explores how these stories are inculcated in U.S. society and the consequences that result when these often racist and/or gendered myths are internalized…. VERDICT Recommended for educators, parents, and readers interested in gender identity, politics, and law.”—Library Journal
“Rader does an excellent job at highlighting how the intersection of ideas about race and gender deeply shape how we understand crime. She explains this dynamic clearly and simply without losing any of the important nuances…. (I)t is an important contribution to the scholarly literature on the social reproduction of crime myths, especially gendered ones.”—Social Forces