The National Crime Forum, sitting for the first time outside the greater Dublin area, has been told that while, nationally, better-off households were more at risk of being the victims of crime, in Cork the opposite was the case.
A survey conducted by University College Cork suggested that crime was viewed as the major problem for people in the six areas of the city which it covered.
However, according to Mr Ciaran McCullagh, a lecturer in sociology at UCC, the nature of concern about crime varied by class.
"Generally, households in middle-class areas of Cork were concerned with burglary whereas those in working-class areas were concerned about drug abuse and drug dealing," he said.
The number of working-class households which gave crime as the big problem in their area was four times the number which mentioned unemployment.
Seven times as many gave drugs as their biggest problem compared with those who named unemployment, Mr McCullagh said.
He cited figures showing that 2 per cent of households in middle-class areas experienced burglaries compared with 14 per cent in one working-class area surveyed.
In the case of vehicle crime, including car thefts and thefts from them, the overall level was low and equally divided by class and area.
But the lower level of car ownership in working-class areas meant that, proportionately, people living in such parts of the city faced a greater risk of having their cars vandalised.
The survey, Mr McCullagh told the forum, involved 300 households, a relatively low number.
But the finding was that people in working-class areas were more likely to feel that they were being treated a lot worse by the Garda than people in other areas of the city.
People in middle-class areas were more likely to know a member of the Garda to speak to.
"Overall, these results would suggest that the crime problem in Cork may be a more complex one than it appears.
"Those living in areas where they are more likely to be victims of crime are also those who feel that the Garda do not understand them and do not treat them particularly well.
"Resolving the dilemma may take more than a dose of zero tolerance," he added.