Patterns of Offending in Urban and Rural Areas

• NCJ Number: 89648
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: (1983) Pages: 129-142
• Author(s): J H Laub
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-JN-AX-0029
• Sponsoring Agency: US Securities and Exchange Cmssn
• Corporate Author: Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Ctr
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Although the level of crime varies dramatically across the urban-rural dimension, little research has been directed at the issue of patterns of offending across this dimension.

Abstract

Using National Crime Survey (NCS) victimization data, this paper examines to what extent the patterns of offending by particular age, race, and sex subgroups are similar in urban and rural areas. It was found that the patterns of age, race, and sex offending are essentially the same in both urban and rural areas. Particularly impressive is the consistency in the rankings (from high to low) of the propensity of offending in urban and rural areas when age, race, and sex were examined simultaneously. Also, these NCS data generally parallel Uniform Crime Reports arrest data with respect to the offender characteristics of age, race, and sex. This suggests that existing criminological theories can be applied to rural, as well as urban, crime patterns regarding the issue of offender characteristics. (Author abstract)