Crime, violence, and insecurity are among the most important social topics in contemporary

Costa Rica. These three issues play a central role in the media, politics, and everyday life,

and the impression has emerged that security has changed for the worse and that society is

now threatened permanently. However, crime statistics do not support this perception. The

paper thus asks why violence and crime generate such huge fear in society. The thesis is that

the Costa Rican national identity—with Costa Rica constructed as a nonviolent nation—

impedes a realistic discussion about the phenomena and their causes, and simultaneously

provides a platform for sensationalism and the social construction of fear.