Concern About Crime Among Montana Farmers and Ranchers¹

Abstract

The effects of previous victimization, distance from law enforcement and neighbors, and sufficiency of police patrols on fear of crime are estimated using data from Montana farmers and ranchers. Victimization has the strongest direct effect. Distance from police and neighbors seems to heighten sensitivity to lesser police patrol activity in isolated areas, which in turn increases concern about criminal victimization. Fear of crime in rural farm areas reflects, in part, the spatial arrangements and related consequences of living in these regions.

Determinants of the Fear of Crime: The Combined Effects of Country-Level Crime Intensity and Individual-Level Victimization Experience

“…Some studies suggest that victimization experience has a minimal impact on fear of crime (Donnelly 1989;McGarrell, Giacomazzi, and Thurman 1997). Yet, others indicate contradictory evidence (Bennett and Flavin 1994), even suggesting that victimization experience is the strongest predictor of directly influencing fear of crime (Saltiel, Gilchrist, and Harvie 1992). Furthermore, it has been noted that, despite the small variation in actual victimization experience between individuals residing in stable versus growing communities, residents of areas with recent surges in population growth are significantly more fearful of crime than their counterparts living in stable communities (Krannich, Greider, and Little 1985: 75).…”

Illegal rural enterprise – developing a framework to help identify and investigate shadow infrastructures and illicit criminal networks

“…Illegal Rural Enterprise: The concepts of the "rogue farmer" and "criminal farmer" (Saltiel et al, 1992;Wiber, 1995;Smith, 2004Smith, , 2011Heffernan et al, 2008;Smith, 2010;Smith and McElwee, 2016) are gaining traction in the literature of criminology and rural sociology. Indeed, Wilkinson et al (2010) refer to the "exploitative farmer" and Cross (2013) to the stereotype of the "bad farmer."…”

Crime and Safety in the Rural

“…In the United Kingdom, the annual economic cost of farm crime has been estimated at 45 million pounds (Morris et al 2020). Furthermore, while on a local level there are obvious impacts such as economic losses due to theft and loss of work time, farm crime can also affect farmers' mental health and disrupt the cohesiveness of rural communities by undermining trust between neighbors (Barclay 2016;Saltiel et al 1992;.…”