Rural Crime and Community Safety

Crime is often perceived as an urban issue rather than a problem that occurs in rural areas, but how far is this view tenable? This book explores the relationship between crime and community in rural areas and addresses the notion of safety as part of the community dynamics in such areas.Rural Crime and Community Safety makes a significant contribution to crime science and integrates a range of theories to understand patterns of crime and perceived safety in rural contexts. Based on a wealth of original research, Ceccato combines spatial methods with qualitative analysis to examine, in detail, farm and wildlife crime, youth related crimes and gendered violence in rural settings. Making the most of the expanding field of Criminology and of the growing professional inquiry into crime and crime prevention in rural areas; rural development; and the social sustainability of rural areas, this book builds a bridge by connecting Criminology and Human Geography. This book will be suitable for academics, students and practitioners in the fields of criminology, community safety, rural studies, rural development and gender studies.

‘This book is a vital part of an ever-growing movement in criminology to bring a scholarly and multidisciplinary focus to crime in a rural context. Dr. Ceccato’s book adds a significant new chapter to the rural literature because it explores crime in a region of the world where rural crime scholarship has never gone before – Sweden. Yet, the book is international in its reach because she brings to her analysis her own background, having grown up in rural Brazil, and a comparative perspective based on her own extensive knowledge of the rural crime literature from around the world.’ - Joseph F. Donnermeyer, Professor Emeritus, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, USA‘What a book! This is one of the most comprehensive texts on the topic of crime in rural areas that has ever been written. An amazing and important book about a neglected topic. With impressive engagement and skill, Vania Ceccato challenges a number of stereotypes and prejudices about crime and security in rural areas. With the use of a huge data set, the author presents us with a rich amount of evidence for a more qualified understanding of crime in rural areas.’ - Gunnel Forsberg, Professor in Human Geography, Stockholm University, Sweden ‘Rural crime and safety is an under-researched area and Vania Ceccato's book is a welcome addition to the emerging literature in the field. Its detailed case studies from Sweden provide a strong empirical foundation, whilst its analysis and arguments will be of interest to criminologists, geographers and sociologists everywhere.’ - Michael Woods, Professor of Human Geography, Aberystwyth University, UK‘Rural Crime and Community Safety is an important and timely addition to the growing literature on rural criminology. This thorough examination of contemporary issues in farm crime, environmental and wildlife crime, gendered violence, youth problems and crime prevention in rural Sweden is compared and contrasted with research from other countries. The book provides further evidence that rural communities are not always the safe, crime-free places they are often perceived to be and that rural criminology is a vitally important area for enquiry for students, researchers, policymakers, police and other criminal justice practitioners.’ - Elaine Barclay, Associate Professor, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Australia

Vania Ceccato is Associate Professor at Housing and Safety Research Group at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden. Her current interests are urban and rural crime, transit safety, housing and community safety, gendered violence, crime prevention and spatial analysis.