The Dark Side of Gemeinschaft: Criminality within Rural Communities

Abstract

Two studies of agricultural crime in Australia found that rural communities have informal social norms for tolerating certain types of crime and for proscribing the reporting of such crimes. Many victims of crime suffered in silence. Some were pressured to conform, keep the peace, and not accuse someone in the community of theft, under threat of exclusion from the community. Some victims were judged to be deserving of their victimisation. The extent to which these attitudes and behaviours prevail in rural communities was investigated through mail surveys and interviews with farmers. While the studies focused on agricultural crimes, it is suggested that these same cultural practices and social judgements are likely to be extended to several other crimes, including alcohol-related violations and sexual assault, and to other situations where the Gemeinschaft-type qualities within rural communities encourage crime.