Citation

Mawby RI. J. Rural Stud. 2015; 39: 262-270.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.12.003

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite the plethora of research on crime and rurality, relatively little has been written about location in terms of the offender or the victim. This is all the more surprising, given that wider criminological theories, such as routine activity theory, address how and why perpetrators and their victims are drawn to the crime locale, and perceptions of an endangered countryside often assign responsibility to outsider offenders. This contribution draws on the writer's work, between 2002 and 2005, in carrying out the Cornwall Crime Surveys (CCSs) in one rural county of England, to develop an exploratory model of crime and place in the countryside. In terms of both offender and victim, it is argued that location can be viewed in two ways: firstly, the status of offenders and victims in the area; secondly, their reasons for being at the crime scene. Thus victims' status in the area can be described according to whether they are: long term residents; recent arrivals; second home owners; temporary residents, e.g. seasonal workers; or visitors, e.g. holidaymakers or there on business. While their reasons for being at the crime scene may be because it is their home, workplace or a leisure facility. Similarly, offenders' status in the area can be described according to whether they are: long term residents; recent arrivals; temporary residents, e.g. seasonal workers; visitors, e.g. holidaymakers; travelling criminals; or commuter criminals. And their reasons for being at the crime scene may be because it is their home, workplace, or leisure facility, or a location specifically targeted.

This model adds to our understanding of where and why offences are committed in rural areas, fear of crime, and what crime reduction measures might be most effective.