ABSTRACT

Conducting rural criminological research exposes researchers to concerns such as absence or inadequate official data about crime and superficial rural-urban comparisons, rural isolation and distance from the researchers’ office to the study site, and lack of services or access to justice. This distinct cultural context means that studying rural crime requires creatively adapting existing research methods. Conducting research about or in rural settings requires unique researcher preparation, as everything from defining the space at the conception of a project to collecting and analyzing data differs from urban research.

This book explores the various issues, challenges, and solutions for rural researchers in criminology. Integrating state of the art methodological approaches with practical illustrations, this book serves as an internationally comprehensive compendium of methods for students, scholars, and practitioners. While contributing to the growing field of rural criminology, it will also be of interest to those engaged with the related areas of rural health care, rural social work, and rural poverty.

chapter Chapter 1|14 pages

Defining Rural

chapter Chapter 4|12 pages

Gaining Access to Rural Communities

chapter Chapter 7|12 pages

Researching State Crime in Rural Areas

chapter Chapter 8|12 pages

Crime Talk in the Countryside 1

chapter Chapter 10|12 pages

Focus Groups

The Challenges and Advantages of Creating and Using Focus Groups in Rural Areas? 1

chapter Chapter 12|13 pages

Entering the Relational Space

Using Field-Analytic Methods in Researching Rural Security

chapter Chapter 13|12 pages

Interviewing in Rural Areas

chapter Chapter 14|12 pages

Ethnographic Research

Immersing Oneself in the Rural Environment

chapter Chapter 15|15 pages

Visually Representing Rural

Ethics of Photographing Marginalized People in the Rural South 1

chapter Chapter 16|12 pages

Content Analysis in Rural Criminology

chapter Chapter 17|14 pages

Going Global

The Challenges of Studying Rural Crime Worldwide