Technology and Risk Perception on U.S. Campuses

The chapter presents a study, conducted between 2016 and 2017, regarding the risk perception, and the consequent perception of change in habits, among students of two of the most prestigious university campuses in the United States. The choice to look overseas originates from a peculiarity: within each American university campus, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is in charge of transmitting notifications to students via email whenever a crime is committed on campus or in the surrounding area. The purpose is to provide adequate awareness of criminal phenomena. The research question aims to understand to what extent the sharing of information, relating to criminal events, through technological channels (email and social networks) can have an impact on the perception of risk and on the perception of change in the behavior of students. The data was collected using a mixed research method (questionnaires and interviews); regarding the qualitative technique 20 semi-structured interviews were collected and 2 focus group were carried out. Using the quantitative tool of the questionnaire, 985 responses were gathered. The statistical analysis allowed the evaluation of the impact of digital communication of criminal phenomena on the students’ perception of risk. Quantitative elaborations generated the results, thus offering the possibility of determining which types of students - or categories - are most influenced (in perception and behavior) by these communications.