The Central Role of Place in Rural Criminological Studies

Even though place-based theories are plentiful in criminology, their origins are predominately urban. Hence, their application to rural crime and criminal justice issues is limited. However, there is a second limitation, at least equal to if not an even bigger shortcoming. It is that criminological theories of place are constructed to explain variations in criminal offenses across various types of urban neighborhoods, or to examine the dynamics of crime within a single or a few localities. The issue is one of faculty logic – defining various crime issues before, or a priori, the framing of the community dynamics that may be salient causative factors. The purpose of this article is to argue for a reversal of the logic: that is, putting place first. Literatures from many decades ago are combined with more recent scholarship to help define the concept of community, and then to describe how community can advance rural crime and criminal justice studies. The article itself is an extension of some previously made argumentations by the author.