Does the Mexican War on Organized Crime Mediate the Impact of Fear of Crime on Daily Routines?

Organized crime and drug cartel violence are major problems in some Latin American countries. This study examines the relationship between fear of crime and daily routines. It fills a gap in the international literature by testing the mediating effect of the war on organized crime (WOC) in Mexico. Integrating conventional individual and neighborhood characteristics with a local context variable, such as the intensity of the WOC and drug violence, provides a more complete view for understanding fear of crime in this country. Based on a national victimization survey, it was found that respondents in areas gravely affected by the WOC and drug violence were also more negatively affected in their daily routines after controlling for a set of classic correlates of fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization. However, no evidence was found to support that the current WOC mediates the relationship of fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization with daily routines.