Crime Problems that Aren’t Community Problems: Rural Perceptions of Crime, Policing, and Fear of Victimization

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  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 7

Abstract

Literature and research on crime, policing, and victimization are abundant, but they are also disproportionately urban. Despite accounting for 97 percent of land area in the United States, 20 percent of the population, and more than 40 percent of police jurisdictions, criminological research has failed to recognize the unique opportunities rural communities have to offer. The existing data gap on rural communities’ experiences with crime, policing, and victimization results in a potential misunderstanding of the relationships between a community, crime, and local law enforcement. Utilizing survey data collected from small rural towns in Iowa, this study uses both objective and subjective measures to assess community safety, police effectiveness, and residents’ fears of victimization. By progressing the nascent research into rural crime, policing, and victimization, this study seeks to understand how residents can recognize that drugs, property crime, and domestic abuse are a problem in their community while simultaneously reporting that crime isn’t a problem in their community or how they feel their community is safe and that they aren’t worried about being a victim yet report feeling less safe than they used to.

Authors

• Colin Larter, Iowa State University

• David J. Peters, Iowa State University

• Kyle Burgason, Iowa State University