1st Edition
Rural Victims of Crime Representations, Realities and Responses
Rural Victims of Crime offers a pioneering sustained assessment of ‘the rural victim’. It does so by examining and analysing the conceptual constructs of a victim and challenging the urban bias of victimisation and victimology in criminological study. Indeed, far too much criminological scholarship is based on the false assumption that rural areas are relatively crime free – and thus free, too, of victims.
Providing international perspectives, chapters in this edited collection focus centrally on notions of place and space, and constructions of rural victims in a variety of contexts, exploring the impact that geographic location has on the type and prevalence of victimisation. The concept of victimisation is often considered in terms of interpersonal relationships between humans, neglecting the potent impact of victimisation of non-humans and the natural and built environment. Rural Victims of Crime discusses existing notions of victimology in relation to non-human subjects, broadening conceptualisations of the victim and associated impacts resulting from victimisation. Structured in three parts, Rural Victims of Crime conceptualises the rural victim, enhances understanding of the realities of rural victimisation and considers both formal and informal responses to rural victimisation. Chapters are accompanied by practical, contemporary case studies to connect theory with praxis.
This book is an essential and valuable resource for academics, students and practitioners alike in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, rural studies, victimology, geography, sociology and spatiality.
1.Rural victims of crime in contemporary context Rachel Hale and Alistair Harkness PART I – Representations 2.Measuring and researching rural victimisation Rachel Hale, Alistair Harkness and Kyle J.D. Mulrooney 3.Access to justice for rural victims Joseph F. Donnermeyer 4.Rurality, crime and fear of crime Vania Ceccato PART II – Realities 5.Interpersonal violent victimisation beyond the cityscape Ethan M. Rogers, Mark T. Berg, James C. Wo and William Alex Pridemore Case study: Lethality beyond the cityscape 6.Male violence against women in rural places Walter S. DeKeseredy Case study: Rural battered women syndrome 7.Victims with disabilities in rural areas Marg Camilleri Case study: Barriers to reporting victimisation for rural victims with complex communication needs 8.Victimisation of the vulnerable older rural resident Barbara Blundell, Emily Moir and Amy Warren Case study: Applying the crime triangle to Indigenous rural elder abuse 9.Modern slavery in agrarian settings Richard Byrne and Kreseda Smith Case study: Farm worker victimisation by an organised criminal gang in the United Kingdom 10.Victims of farm crime Gorazd Meško and Katja Eman Case study: Metal rods in corn – when personal resentment exceeds all limits of normal 11.Victims of hate crime in rural communities Melina Stewart-North, Rachel Hale and George Van Doorn Case study: Beard cutting as hate crime in a rural Amish community 12.Rural victims of the climate crisis Rob White Case study: My home is on fire 13.The natural and built rural environment as victims Louise Nicholas and Suzie Thomas Case study: Rio Tinto destruction of Juukan Gorge cave system, Western Australia PART III – Responses 14.Legal supports and services for rural victims Hannah Haksgaard Case study: South Dakota’s Rural Attorney Recruitment Program 15.Policing rural victims Danielle Watson, John Scott, Tiffany Sutherland and Lamese Laponi Case study: Policing rural victims in the Pacific Island State of Tuvalu 16.The provision of support and advocacy for rural victims Shelly A. McGrath and Melencia Johnson Case study: Victim advocacy in the Delta Region of the United States 17.Community-level responses to rural victimisation Tarah Hodgkinson Case study: Implementing SafeGrowth in North Battleford and Roma 18.Rural victimology scholarship into the future Rachel Hale and Alistair Harkness
Biography
Rachel Hale is an independent researcher based in Melbourne, Australia.
Alistair Harkness is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of New England, Australia.
This volume fills a critical gap in the literature and significantly advances knowledge on rurality and victimization. Rich in detail and broad in scope, it offers a thoughtful and provocative challenge to the urban bias evident in victimization theory, research, and practice. A must read for all scholars and students interested in victimization and social contexts.
Jillian Turanovic, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University
Victims of crime are neglected globally – and even more so in rural areas. Harkness and Hale address this void through Rural Victims of Crime, offering an innovative assessment of ‘the rural victim’. The book is an expedition through notions of place and space, constructions of rural victims in a variety of contexts, and the impact that geographic location has on the type and prevalence of victimisation. A must-read for academics and students of the subject.
Willie Clack, Senior Lecturer in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of South Africa, Pretoria
Victimisation research typically focuses on urban settings, despite differences in experiences, impacts, risks, barriers to help-seeking, and responses in rural areas – as victim/survivors, advocates and practitioners can attest. This important collection provides much needed insights, evidence, theoretical and conceptual contributions, and calls for greater attention (and resourcing) beyond the cityscape.
Bridget Harris, Associate Professor of Criminology at Monash University and Deputy Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre
This volume significantly expands our understanding of victimization by situating it in a global rural context. Opening chapters lay the groundwork for coverage of a range of substantive topics, each structured around a theoretical framework. Case studies accompany these topics, putting a human face on each.
Ralph Weisheit, Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice at Illinois State University
This book brings to the forefront the vital link between the need to understand the context of victimisation for the billions of rural peoples around the world, and their great need for access to justice services in the countries where they live.
Joseph F. Donnermeyer, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University
