Security as a contested concept

The concept of security is considered "fundamentally contested" by sociologist and philosopher Walter Bryce Gallie, implying that it has changing meanings, definitions, and applications depending on time, place, and modes of application.

A definition of security

Arnold Wolfers, a theorist of international relations, proposed a definition of security in 1952 that is widely used in law today: "Security, in an objective sense, measures the absence of threats to central values or, in a subjective sense, the absence of fear that these central values may be attacked." This definition does not specify the subject (who is threatened?) and does not clarify what a central value is, leaving interpretation to individuals.

Media and the societal issue of security

The media has contributed to making security a "societal issue" by "imposing its existence and importance," according to sociologist Gérard Mauger. Insecurity has been omnipresent in the media for about thirty years, despite a significant decrease in actual insecurity over a long period.

Security as a scarecrow

Sociologist Laurent Bonelli described insecurity as one of the themes perfectly adapted to the new journalistic constraints, particularly in television. This situation has been reinforced with the advent of 24-hour news channels, along with the almost systematic link made between immigration and crime, and the racist speech that accompanies it, even at the highest level of the state.

Immigrants and crime statistics

Immigrants are mainly overrepresented in visible crimes, "the simplest ones and therefore the most repressed by the police and the judiciary," according to the Institute Convergences Migrations. They are more often judged for simple thefts, minor property offenses, and infractions related to their irregular status.

Punishment and overrepresentation in prisons

People born abroad are subjected to immediate appearance before a judge in 5.7% of cases, compared to 2.9% for someone born in France. They are five times more likely to be placed in provisional detention and eight times more likely to be sentenced to prison. It is no surprise that immigrants are overrepresented in prisons.

Insecurity as a feeling

Insecurity is not a fact, but a feeling, "a worry caused by the possibility of danger." Thus, two insecurities can be distinguished: a subjective one (that which is felt regardless of the person's experience) and an objective one (measured by indicators on which we will return later).

Subjective versus objective insecurity

Since 2021, about two out of ten people feel insecure "often" or "sometimes" in their neighborhood or village. It is less than two out of ten at home. This subjective insecurity should be compared with the number of French people who have been victims of violence, 1.2% for 2024. Therefore, no, France is not afraid, but, just as the role of the media is predominant in the minimization of climate change, they contribute to an atmosphere in which the subjective feeling of insecurity is exacerbated.

Crime statistics and their limitations

Crime statistics are calculated using two methods: one from the police following the filing of complaints and which groups about fifteen criteria (homicides, sexual violence, armed thefts, burglaries, vehicle thefts, use of narcotics...) and the statistics from victimization surveys conducted by researchers and published in the form of a report called Vécu et ressenti en matière de sécurité, which was recently published at the end of October.

Victimization surveys and their purpose

The Vécu et ressenti en matière de sécurité survey has taken over from a previous one, Cadre de vie et sécurité, conducted between 2007 and 2021. For the Ministry of the Interior, the objectives of this survey are as follows: to measure the insecurity felt and the crimes of which individuals have been victims during their lives; to analyze the concerns of the population in terms of security and their opinions on the action of the security forces on French territory.

Complaints versus lived reality

According to researcher Julien Noble of the Scientific Observatory of Crime and Justice, interviewed by Bon Pote, "one should not take complaints as reliable statistics, they cannot reflect the evolution of violence. They go through the mechanisms of the institution, which implies a lot of bias." It is these figures, however, that are cited in the media as if they were the alpha and omega of the issue of insecurity in France.

Victimization survey methodology

The Vécu et ressenti en matière de sécurité survey collects data from a large sample, more than 200,000 people. The whole thing is piloted by the ministry, but with the support of INSEE and a team of researchers. Why not just rely on complaints? "By directly questioning the population, the survey aims to reflect as accurately as possible the lived reality on the territory, without restricting itself to those who file complaints," according to the ministry's services.

Homicide and violence statistics

In 2025, 978 people died as a result of homicide in France, a figure that has changed little in ten years and was four times higher in the 1960s. What has been increasing over the past ten years in terms of police figures are physical violence against people. Outside the family framework, the cases have gone from 160,000 in 2016 to 215,000 last year.

Violence within the family

The increase is even more significant within the family, going from 110,000 to 250,000. Complaints regarding physical violence experienced within the family framework are thus more important than those experienced outside and this has been the case since the beginning of the 2020s. A major fact that remains, however, far from the representations present in the media (external aggressions, streets and public transport "uninhabitable").

Discrepancy between police and survey data

So, an explosion of violence in the country? Not quite. When comparing these complaints to the figures from victimization surveys, the increase is not as clear. Thus, in 2024, 1.2% of the population was affected by physical violence. A figure that has only increased slightly over twenty years. This non-concordance between the data from the police and gendarmerie and the data from victimization surveys is explained by the fact that, from year to year, the number of reports can vary, regardless of the actual number of violence experienced.

Domestic violence and the #metoo effect

The best example may be the violence within the family framework, particularly domestic violence, where we are witnessing a release of speech, thanks to #metoo, which has allowed many more women to file complaints. Situations of violence that were previously silenced can now be counted. Researcher Julien Noble agrees with this: "The increase in complaints following sexual and gender-based violence is linked to a form of release of speech. This phenomenon is not verifiable on other indicators."

Decrease in property offenses

According to the ministry, there has been a general decline in property offenses over the past ten years. And this is indeed confirmed by the figures: the total number of thefts counted by the ministry, as well as burglaries and other damages, are decreasing significantly. A long-term trend since the beginning of the century in France.

Drug-related offenses on the rise

The most impressive is the significant decrease in car thefts: 220,000 in 2009 versus 120,000 in 2025. Finally, drug-related offenses are increasing in 2025, whether it is for use (+7%) or trafficking (+9%). These evolutions are part of an upward trend observed since 2020: +14% on average per year for drug use and +7% for drug trafficking.

The myth of increasing violence

"To say that society has never been so violent is absurd," according to researcher Julien Noble. The evolution of insecurity can be analyzed year after year. Every time the Ministry of the Interior publishes complaints, national and local media compare them to the previous year, without ever taking a step back.

Short-term comparisons are misleading

However, again, according to Julien Noble, this is problematic: "The evolution on a short time frame has no meaning. The longer the period, the better, otherwise, we cannot say anything." And what does this long period show according to the researcher? "The more we take a step back, the more we realize that we do not exceed the peaks. When we say that society is more violent, we always find a period where the rates were higher. It is an absolute absurdity."

The expansion of the concept of security

A specialist in legal issues, Dominique David, notes in his essay Security: After New York that the themes have evolved over the last century: "The history of our political societies in the 20th century is that of a very large extension, in various directions, of this idea of security. Security at work, social security, security of human movement, closer to us, food security, medical, even environmental security, have been major political issues of the last century..."

New sources of insecurity

Much less often mobilized, the sources of insecurity are indeed much more numerous than crime: the fear of losing one's job, the fear of social decline, the fear of not being able to finish the month, health and now the fear of dying of heat.

Professional instability and insecurity

A study by CREDOC showed that professional instability - and unemployment in particular - contributes to weakening social ties and is accompanied by a stronger feeling of insecurity. In the same vein, the sociologist Robert Castel has allowed the emergence of the concept of social insecurity, a phenomenon that characterizes people in a fragile situation, following a degradation of their professional, affective, or health situation.

Climate change and new insecurities

The concept of insecurity continues to expand today with the ongoing climate change: heatwaves, droughts, floods, clay shrinkage-swelling... The summer of 2026 is just another warning of the society's unpreparedness for the ongoing upheaval. Just like social insecurities, this one is not taken into account at its proper gravity (half of the housing is affected by clay shrinkage-swelling, thousands of people still do not have running water at their tap at the beginning of autumn 2026).

Insecurity and environmental factors

How can one feel secure if water runs out? If the apartment becomes uninhabitable in summer, if cracks spread? An insecurity that now affects far more people than the violence described here and which, unlike the latter, is not subjective.