Page 344 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

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CRIME IN RURAL COMMUNITIES 315

countries. The five dimensions that define the Gradually, rural crime is being recognized
organization of a community partially com- as a significant set of phenomena for empiri-
pose and influence rural communities of cal research and the application of crimino-
other countries as well, though the dynamics logical theory. The volume of studies focused
with which they operate may vary dramati- on crime in the rural context that now
cally. The problem is that there is not enough appears in journals and in presentations at
research to know for sure. professional society meetings where crimi-
Crime in rural places displays high variabil- nologists congregate, is already at a notice-
ity. Some communities are stable, with little able level and continuing to grow each year.
in- or out- migration and neighbours who This presents many valuable opportunities
know each other well. In these communities, for the advancement of scholarship for rural
crime levels are generally low (Jobes et al., criminology and for the general field of crim-
2004), although some studies suggest that it is inology.
merely the case that crime in stable rural and Focusing on rural-related crime in this
agricultural communities is simply less invisi- new century requires dual acknowledgement
ble (Barclay et al., 2004; DeKeseredy and of local context and global influences, hence
Joseph, 2006). When two or three of the extending Mills’(1959) original idea. Simply
factors are in rapid flux or are sources of put, the extension incorporates community as
considerable strain, levels of crime increase the key to a specification of local context,
markedly, not because of social disorganiza- whether this specification is operationalized
tion per se, but because forms of social organ- quantitatively or qualitatively. Ultimately, a
ization conducive to crime are created. comprehensive theory of rural crime must
Further, one factor unique to all rural commu- account for ways that broad national and
nities is their small size, which can make them global-level influences affect the context of
more vulnerable to the development of new daily living as defined by the kinds of com-
forms of social structures in a shorter period of munity/neighbourhood level factors that
time. We also argue that stability should not create distinctive forms of local social struc-
imply lack of crime, as endemic crime can tures and their accompanying crime profiles.
occur because informal local patterns of What are the next steps? The first real
unethical, immoral and illegal behaviours, advance will be to discard the logic implied
such as domestic violence, are perpetuated. in so much of the criminological literature,
There is increasing recognition that rural including that focused on rural crime, that
crime is a social phenomenon that merits disorganization (i.e., disruption, lack of sta-
international sociological analysis. There is a bility, rapid change) and high levels of crime
need for concepts that promote cross- are necessarily related and that organization
national and cross-cultural analyses. A theo- (i.e., stability, cohesion, and integration) is
retically grounded approach to rural crime related to low levels of crime. As we have
will facilitate innovative and fertile discourse found, this is not easy. If readers of this arti-
amongst scholars, whether their approach is cle go back to the beginning and carefully
qualitative or quantitative. An established examine each word, sentence and paragraph,
and persistent concept in sociology, ‘commu- they will certainly find passages that appear
nity’, is at the core of key theories of crimi- to correspond to what we now suggest is
nology, including social disorganization obsolete. The important point, however, is
theory. Community structure is applicable to that rural crime researchers must begin to
comparative analyses across the full spec- identify forms of ‘social organization’ that
trum of social structures from traditional to co-vary with different types of crime. This
post-modern. Equally important, community is where the thinking about crime needs to
structure is a crucial causal force behind be turned upside-down, and crime
crime in both rural and urban areas. in the rural context is the ideal laboratory.