Abstract
![CDATA[The development of criminological theory has been grounded on urban centres with urban youth as the focus. From Walter Miller’s explanation of the focal concerns to the Chicago School’s development of social disorganization theory, criminological theories have focused almost solely on urban youth and urban centres. The lack of theoretical explanations for crime in rural areas has hampered our understanding of crime and deviant behaviour (see Donnermeyer, 2007 ). Rural areas are distinct from urban areas. Research has demonstrated that drug use, gun availability and poverty diff er in rural and urban centres. Moreover, some crimes are unique to rural areas, such as livestock theft. Scholars have also pointed out that rural areas are often seen as homogenous by criminologists. However, rural areas display a wide variety of characteristics, such as poverty level, racial composition and unemployment. Therefore, there is a need for the development of criminological theory based on rural areas.]]
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Rural Crime |
Editors | Alistair Harkness, Jessica René Peterson, Matt Bowden, Cassie Pedersen, Joseph F. Donnermeyer |
Place of Publication | U.K. |
Publisher | Bristol University Press |
Pages | 305-307 |
Number of pages | 3 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781529222029 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781529222005 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2022 |