Crime in the Country - The Vulnerability and Victimization of Rural Citizens

• NCJ Number: 84226
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (1982) Pages: 271-282
• Author(s): B L Smith; C R Huff
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

While a considerable body of research, theory, and statistics has developed concerning the 'urban crime problem' in America, crime in rural areas has been comparatively reglected. This study addresses that neglect by refining and extending National Crime Panel victimization survey techniques to elicit the victimization experiences, perceptions, fears, and actions of residents of a highly representative rural county in the midwestern United States.

Abstract

The implications of this study are discussed, including the need to educate rural citizens concerning crime prevention in order to reduce their vulnerability to continued victimization. The data suggest that the romanticization surrounding rural America may help mask the fact that increasing diffusion of criminal behavior, along with increasing homogenization of our society, have significantly eroded the rural/urban dichotomy which has dominated criminological inquiry. (Author abstract)