Abstract
While it is true that in general urban crime is roughly three times higher than rural crime, over the last decades rural crime has increased at the same rate as crime in big cities. Whereas violent crime in large cities rose from 1966 through 1991 and then declined, rural rates drifted upward for the entire period. Moreover, some crimes are more prevalent in rural settings than in cities, while some others by definition cannot even be committed in cities at all (“rural-specific offenses”). Meanwhile, researchers have paid little attention to rural crime and justice. This is highly regrettable given that studying rural crime and justice can potentially contribute in very important ways both to criminological theory and to crime policy. This article deals with why it is important for researchers, the justice system, and society in general to pay greater attention to issues of rural crime and rural justice. Among the reasons discussed are statistical arguments defying popular misconceptions, arguments in the field of criminological theory, counterintuitive trends in rural crime, various disadvantages which rural areas suffer compared with urban ones, strategies for dealing with crime which must be adapted to the rural environment, and some others. Finally, both theory and policy implications are discussed, demonstrating that rural crime cannot be understood or controlled in the same ways as urban crime is.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Cebulak, W., Allen, R., & Olson, C. (March 2003).Project Safe Neighborhoods Quarterly Report to the Task Force. Presented to the PSN Task Force for the District of North Dakota. (unpublished).
Crime and Conflict in the Countryside. (1999). ed. by Gavin Dingwall, Susan R. Moody [Online]. Available:http://www.uwp.co.uk/book desc/1510.html
Donnermeyer, J. F. (1994).Crime and Violence in Rural Communities. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory [Online]. Available: http://www.nerel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envmm nt/drugfree/vldonner.htm
Fact Sheet: Rural Areas Magnify ‘Digital Divide’. [Online]. Available: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/digitaldivid e/factsheets/rural.htm
Jeffery, C. R. (1990).Criminology. An Interdisciplinary Approach. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Leonard, V.A., & More, H. W. (2000).Police Organization and Management. New York: Foundation Press.
Meryhew, R.Battered Women in Rural Areas Have Unique Problems Escaping Cycle of Abuse. March 19, 2000 Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St.Paul) [Online]. Available: http://www.letswrap.com/thenews/strib03190 O.htm
National Center on Rural Justice and Crime Prevention (1999).Rural Crime Facts [Online]. Available.http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/ncrj/rcrime.htm
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (March 1998).ensuring Public Safety and Justice in Rural America [Online]. Available:http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/reports/98Guides/rural/rural/txt
National Institute of Justice. (April 2000).Drugs in the Heartland: Methamphetamine Use in Rural Nebraska. Denise C. Herz
National Institute of Justice. (September 1994).Rural Crime and Rural Policing. Ralph Weisheit, David Falcone, L. Edward Wells.
Neubauer, D.W. (2002).America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Office of Justice Programs, Rural Task Force (1998). Washington, D.C. [Online]. Available:http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/reports/98Guides/rural/rural.pdf
Rural Crime Prevention Program: Evaluation shows Some Signs of Success. May 2002. The Legislative Analyst's Office. [Online]. Available:http://www.lao.ca.gov/2002/rural crime/rural crime 052102.html
Schmalleger, F. (2002).Criminology Today. An Integrative Introduction. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Steffensmeier, D. (1989). “On the Causes of White Collar' Crime: An Assessment of Hirschi and Gottfredson's Claims”. Criminology.27, 345–358.
Stock, C. M. (1996).Rural Radicals. Righteous Rage in the American Grain. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
Thurman, Q., Zhao, J., & Giacomazzi, A. L. (2001).Community Policing in a Community Era. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company.
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, NCJ 182437. February 2001 ‘Community Justice in Rural America. Four Examples and Four Futures.
Weisheit, R., & Donnermeyer, J.F. (2000).Change and Continuity in Crime in Rural America. From:The Nature of Crime: Continuity and Change. Criminal Justice 2000, v. 1, pp. 309–357, G. LaFree, ed.
Weisheit, R.A., Falcone, D.N., & Wells, L.E. (1999).Crime and Policing in Rural and Small-Town America. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Author Note: Dr. Wojciech Cebulak recived his Master's in Law from Copernicus University in Torun, Poland, and his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University. He has taught at Salem State College, Oklahoma State University, Kent State University, and is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Criminal Justice, Minot State University, 500 University Avenue West, Minot, ND 58707. He has also been Project Director of the Research Partner/Crime Analyst Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative for the District of North Dakota.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cebulak, W. Why rural crime and justice really matter. J Police Crim Psych 19, 71–81 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02802576
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02802576