Page 335 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

9781412934633-Chap-21 1/10/09 8:54 AM Page 306

306 THE ISA HANDBOOK IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY

examine the relationship of human will to little to change the headstrong urban bias of
criminological behaviour (Deflem, 1999). He criminology. Vold (1941) was careful to point
claimed that essential will, associated with a out that homicide rates in the rural portions
Gemeinschaft-like form of social organiza- of some states exceeded those in the major
tion, was related to murder and other forms cities of other states. Clinard’s (1942, 1944)
of violent behaviour (as well as perjury and work on rural criminal offenders highlighted
arson); while arbitrary will, which is con- both similarities and differences from urban
nected with a Gesellschaft form of social offenders, as did Gibbons’ (1972) study
organization, explains more rationally of criminals in rural Oregon over 30 years
planned types of crime, such as theft, con and later. Dinitz (1973) conducted victimization
fraud and robbery (Deflem, 1999). From research in a small Ohio town, representing
Tönnies’ point of view, the dichotomy is one of the first attempts to use a crime survey
trans-historical, that is, communities were in a rural locality. Furthermore, studies of
made up of a mix of both types of will. juvenile delinquency in rural places by Lentz
Unfortunately, Tönnies’ dichotomy was (1956), Feldhusen et al. (1965) and Polk
misinterpreted to some extent, so that by the (1969) were early exceptions to the urban
time the Chicago School of sociology was dominance of criminology.
beginning its empirical studies of crime, the The situation began to change signifi-
focus was squarely on the heterogeneity and cantly in the late 1970s and since then, rural
other so-called Gesellschaft features of urban crime scholarship has slowly but inexorably
neighbourhoods (Deflem, 1999). Even increased. Some criminologists focused on
though the Chicago School developed at a the so-called ‘culture of violence’ found in
time that was not too far from America’s the southern region of the USA (O’Connor
frontier days of violence and lawlessness, the and Lizotte, 1978) and explored further
myths about rurality and lack of crime had issues of homicide in non-metropolitan
formed. Studies of crime within the urban counties (Bankston and Allen, 1980). Fischer
milieu already had cornered the intellectual (1980), utilizing classic Chicago School of
market in criminology. criminology themes about urbanism (Wirth,
Adding to the situation was a very com- 1938), examined the spread or diffusion of
prehensive review of scholarship about rural violence from urban to rural places. Smith
society, including rural-urban comparisons and Huff (1982) studied the perceptions of
of official crime rates from the USA and sev- crime and victimization among residents in a
eral other European countries by Sorokin rural county of northwestern Indiana.
et al. (1931). They concluded that ‘the Wilkinson (1984a, 1984b) and his associates
number of crimes or offences is greater in the (Wilkinson et al., 1982, 1984) adopted a
cities than in the country’, that ‘cities pro- more social disorganization-like approach to
duce a proportionately greater number of the examination of rural violence, consider-
offenders than does the country’, and ‘in gen- ing the possibility that poverty combined
eral the agricultural population is one of the with social and physical isolation disrupts
least criminal of all occupational classes’ mechanisms of social control within places
(Sorokin et al., 1931: 266–67). with small populations.
Throughout the first 80 years of the twen- One critical mass of research, this time
tieth century, rural crime research was focused more on property offences, was con-
largely ignored, except to be juxtaposed to ducted by Phillips and associates (see book
the conditions that cause crime and were of readings by Carter et al., 1982). Phillips’
falsely assumed to exist only within urban work is important because it greatly influ-
places. Some exceptions did exist. Smith enced the development, for the first time, of
(1933) wrote a comprehensive account of a network of scholars who began to pursue
rural crime in the USA, but apparently it did sub-topics within rural crime that reflected