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Abstract
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Donnermeyer (2016) states that nearly 50% of the world' s population lives in rural areas, but historically, only a handful of criminological studies have focused on crime in rural settings. Wells and Weisheit (2012) found that the rurality of the study sites diminishes the appropriateness and validity of criminological theories for studying crime in urban environments. Hence, the more rural the locality, the less effective theory is in explaining crime. Consequently, a new branch of criminology has developed - rural criminology - which focuses on the study of crime in rural environments and the testing, verification, and revision of classical criminological theories in these environments (Donnermeyer & DeKeseredy, 2013). Moreover, studies show that differences in the perceptions of police vary by the population size of communities. Crime prevalence also differs between urban and rural environments, as well as ideas on how to counteract crime and disorder - from formal, to semi-formal to informal solutions (Meško, 2019).
Both urban and rural environments exhibit much diversity in regards to the volume of various crimes and the criminological factors that contribute to these crimes. However, generally speaking, rural areas are characterised by a higher degree of social cohesion and informal control, and there is also less physical disorder (Harkness, 2017). Generally, the main differences between the populations of urban and rural communities are most apparent in 1) interpersonal interactions (frequency and trust), 2) common interests, 3) feelings of belongingness, and 4) the knowledge of other inhabitants in the community. Unemployment, housing problems, and crime and cultural frictions are generally more pronounced in urban areas (Rebernik, 2008), and numerous differences between urban and rural communities are also reflected in the criminological literature. Although official data suggest a higher level of crime in urban environments, this does not reflect a realistic picture of the actual situation in diverse rural settings, and of the criminal justice and safety needs within these rural environments (Meško, 2019).
Studies show that in rural settings, fear of crime is increasing (Gilling, 2016), and specific forms of criminality are more frequent (e.g., drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, environmental crime). Moreover, large cities have seen a decline in violent crime in past decades, while this does not apply to rural environments where, for example, the number of serious violent crimes does not show a similar decline (Ceccato, 2016). Even though the most common forms of crime in rural environments are interpersonal conflict, drug and alcohol abuse, and domestic violence, the main problem is that the communities are often more tolerant of these problems and some are not taken seriously (Smith, 2010).
It is possible that in some rural communities, fear of crime is more serious than the actural crime itself and has a direct impact on the quality of life of the people who live there, which reflects a type of neighbourhood disorder, independent of levels of victimisation. Studies have shown that rates of crime and rates of fear of crime are, however, mostly higher in urban environments when compared to rural settings (Adams & Serpe, 2000; Meško, Šifrer & Vošnjak, 2012; Skogan 1987)...
Language: en |