Concern about and Fear of Crime in an Australian Rural Community

Gray, David E.; O’Connor, Michael

doi:10.1177/000486589002300407

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Additionally, Durkheimian notions of trust and solidarity (see Kennedy, 2000;Pratt & Eriksson, 2013;Karstedt, 2014Karstedt, , 2015 as well as individual values such as one's religiosity (Unnever, Cullen & Applegate, 2005;Unnever, Cullen & Bartkowski, 2006;Baker & Booth, 2016) or political allegiances (Tonry, 1999;Jacobs & Helms, 1996;Beckett & Western, 2001;Smith, 2004;Yates & Fording, 2005;Loader & Sparks, 2016) have likewise been shown to shape punitive attitudes (Lappi-Seppälä, 2008, 2012. Importantly, these variables themselves and their relationship to punitive attitudes are no doubt closely related to geography (see Gray & O'Connor, 1990;Yarwood & Gardnner, 2000).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Punitive attitudes across geographical areas: Exploring the rural/urban divide in Canada

Mulrooney¹,

Wise²

2019

International Journal of Rural Criminology

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The public is a powerful political actor when it comes to the question of what is to be done about law and order. Therefore, public attitudes towards punishment are of central importance to criminological inquiry. Research in this area has tended towards national (comparative) accounts of 'punitive attitudes' and, in an effort to explore correlates of punitive attitudes, particular sub-groups have been examined often based on certain demographic characteristics such as, for instance, race, gender and/or age. However, very little research exists exploring urban and rural variations in punitive attitudes. Yet, considering that populations may be widely dispersed from central metropolitan and urban areas to rural, regional and very remote areas, it is reasonable to assume that ecological factors and aspects of cultural geography impact upon punitive attitudes. To comparatively examine punitive attitudes across geographical areas, this study draws on cross-sectional data (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) derived from the Canadian Elections Study (CES). Specifically, the research employs a multidimensional measurement of punitive attitudes by exploring geographic variations in respondents' attitudes towards: (i) the goals of punishment; (ii) the intensity of penal sanctions; and (iii) specified forms of penal sanctions. The sum of the data is then drawn together to develop an index of punitivity, thereby providing a more holistic understanding of punitive attitudes. The findings indicate that on each measure the rural holds significantly greater punitive attitudes than the urban. The article concludes by considering theoretical explanations for these differences, of which future research should attend, with particular attention to the shared political logic between penal populism and political populism and how this contributes to the urban/rural divide as one of the greatest political fault lines in present day politics.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Punitive attitudes across geographical areas: Exploring the rural/urban divide in Canada

Mulrooney¹,

Wise²

2019

International Journal of Rural Criminology

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“…Concern about crime is generally considered the perceived seriousness of crime as a social issue (Gray and O'Connor 1991), whereas fear of crime is the perceived risk of victimization. Furthermore, several studies also explore the idea of vulnerability to express fear or concern about crime ( Skogan and Maxfield;Killias 1991;Killias and Clerici 2000); even if according to Maxfield (1984), this notion seems to have a limited value in explaining fear of crime.…”

Section: Background Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…", whereas, to operationalize concern about crime, the standard question usually used is "how concerned are you about crime in general?". In a study of the rural New South Wales community of Walcha for example, Gray and O'Connor (1991), to measure concern about crime, asked residents, "Is crime a serious local problem?" But the use of these "walking in the neighbourhood after dark" questions has been criticized more than once.…”

Section: Background Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of Seriousness and Concern about White-Collar Crime: Some Results of an Opinion Survey Among Swiss Banks

Isenring

2008

Eur J Crim Policy Res

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Scientifically, little is known about white-collar crime in Switzerland or concern about white-collar crime and even less about how concerned bank employees are about this criminality. This article is based on a small opinion survey of Swiss bank employees and tries to explore perceptions of seriousness and concern about white-collar crime among people who, in their position, might have to face this issue regularly. Past assumptions on the public's indifference towards white-collar crime seem not to be confirmed in this study as the results obtained demonstrate a greater sensitivity with respect to white-collar crime and especially towards crimes perpetrated by corporations. Even though Swiss bank employees do qualify white-collar offences as very serious acts, they are still more punitive with regard to ordinary crimes.

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“…Crime in rural areas is increasingly being viewed as problematic by policy makers and academics (Anderson, 1997;Aust and Simmons, 2002;Countryside Agency, 2002;Dingwall and Moody, 1999;Gray and O'Conner, 1990;Hogg and Carrington, 1998;Little et al, 2005;Mawby, 2004;Moody, 1999;Yarwood, 2007a). As greater attention given to the policing rural places, it is important to scrutinise emerging policing policies and to establish their impact on rural societies (Yarwood, 2007b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An exclusive countryside? Crime concern, social exclusion and community policing in two English villages

Yarwood

2010

Policing and Society

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Using the example of two English villages, this paper examines whether rural crime concern is evidence of an 'exclusive society' (Young, 2002) in the countryside. Specific attention is given to concerns expressed by residents as part of a consultation exercise to establish community-based policing partnerships in rural areas of the West Mercia Constabulary. Based on these findings the paper goes on to question whether local policing partnerships are capable of shaping idyllic visions of rural space in an exclusionary way. It is argued that while it is important to examine the spatialised rhetoric of rural crime concern, structural processes, rather than localised discourses, make a greater contribution to exclusion in the countryside

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Concern about and Fear of Crime in an Australian Rural Community

Cited by 16 publications

References 22 publications

Punitive attitudes across geographical areas: Exploring the rural/urban divide in Canada

Punitive attitudes across geographical areas: Exploring the rural/urban divide in Canada

Perception of Seriousness and Concern about White-Collar Crime: Some Results of an Opinion Survey Among Swiss Banks

An exclusive countryside? Crime concern, social exclusion and community policing in two English villages

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