The Importance of Place: Safety and Security of Rural Peoples and Communities in an Urbanising World

Povzetek

Even though this article has a primary focus on crime in rural environments, it attempts to be more inclusive through its discussion of the sociological concept of community and of the work of C. W. Mills, Jock Young and others who link social structure and crime. Hence, the title is narrower than the implications of the narrative, and that is because the concept of community has a universality for what is has to say in gaining a greater understanding of crime and of citizens' perceptions of both the police and of safety and security in any kind of environment, from the smallest villages to the largest cities in the world today. This article primarily discusses issues associated with understanding crime from the point of view of the vast diversity of rural community environments found throughout the world, and of the diversity of urban community environments as well. It describes a general theory of community and then applies it (through three core elements associated with all communities, and six reciprocal relationships) to key rural criminological issues, including: drug production, trafficking, and misuse; agricultural crime; and violence against women. It examines an emergent and very important issue in the study of rural crime, and one can be seen in all of the articles in this edition of the journal.' It is the issue of "access to justice" in terms of its many dimensions - geography, marginalised groups, the challenges of people with disabilities, and the distribution of police resources and the consolidation of police stations and agencies, among others. The article concludes with a small set of recommendations for the advancement of research and theory in rural criminology.