NCJ Number
206818
Journal
Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: 2004 Pages: 7-22
Date Published
2004
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined the cultural practices and social patterns that enable crime to persist in rural communities of Australia.
Abstract
Although rural communities are often described as embodying qualities that discourage the commission of crime, such as high social cohesiveness, recent studies suggest that these qualities are not universal among rural communities. The authors report the results of a previous study of livestock theft in rural Australia which suggested that some communities with high cohesiveness enable the continued commission of certain types of crimes. In the first study the findings suggested that neutralization techniques allowed offenders to justify their offenses, but victims of crimes were outcast if they brought attention to the crime. The current study explored the pervasiveness of these cultural practices and social patterns within rural communities across Australia. The 620 respondents to the first study on livestock theft were re-surveyed by mail using Feather’s methodology of evaluating the deservingness of an outcome following an action. Participants evaluated scenarios describing three common types of livestock theft: (1) a professional theft of two truckloads of cattle; (2) a simple theft of one animal for food; and (3) a theft of stock by a neighbor farmer who also had a full-time job apart from the farm. Results of statistical analyses revealed that the perceived deservingness of the victim was positively related with the victims’ perceived responsibility for the outcomes, and negatively associated with the perceived seriousness of the crime and the amount of sympathy for the victim. The findings thus suggest that the pervasiveness of such cultural attitudes and practices may both facilitate the commission of certain types of crimes in highly cohesive rural communities and preclude the reporting of such crimes to the police. Figures, tables, notes, references