Skip to main content

Social Disorganization in Rural Communities

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Application of the Political Economy to Rural Health Disparities

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Public Health ((BRIEFSPUBLIC))

  • 497 Accesses

Abstract

Social disorganization theory (SDT) utilized in this chapter to demonstrate the behavioral backlash of rural populations as a result of economic choices. Social disorganization theory links the association of high crime and violence rates to ecological structures in the environment. Widely used in urban settings, the behaviors of rural community members is of central importance to this chapter and the utility of SDT. In communities where social disorganization is evident, there is a lack of capacity in its members to solve problems jointly in their shared environment due to ethnic diversity or residential instability. As this theory is explored, other social issues are examined, including urban and rural crime, and the capitalism effect in the criminal justice system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alexander, M. (2012). The new jim crow: Mass incarcerations in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binswanger, I. A., Krueger, P. M., & Steiner, J. F. (2009). Prevalence of chronic medical conditions among jail and prison inmates in the USA compared with the general population. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 63(11), 912–919.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binswanger, I. A., Redmond, N., Steiner, J. F., & Hicks, L. S. (2012). Health disparities and the criminal justice system: An agenda for further research and action. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 89(1), 98–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9614-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binswanger, I. A., Blatchford, P. J., Forsyth, S. J., Stern, M. F., & Kinner, S. A. (2016). Epidemiology of infectious disease–related death after release from prison, Washington State, United States, and Queensland, Australia: A Cohort Study. Public Health Reports, 131(4), 574–582.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D., & Schafft, K. (2011). Rural people and communities in the 21st century. Malden: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Can, S. (2014). Collective efficacy. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118517383.wbeccj285. Retrieved from: file://www.home/chronos/u-19866ab2fee2dfd5adc206fdc21bf2c2ae18bd2a/Downloads/Collective%20Efficacy,d285.pdf

  • Congressional Research Service. (2010). Economic impacts of prison growth. Retrieved from: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41177.pdf

  • Covin, L. (2012). Homelessness, poverty, and incarceration: The criminalization of despair. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 12(5), 439–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deller, S. C., & Deller, M. A. (2010). Rural crime and social capital. Growth and Change, 41(2), 221–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donnermeyer, J. (2007). Rural crime: Roots and restoration. International Journal of Rural Crime, 1, 2–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eason, J. M. (2012). Extending the Hyperghetto: Toward a theory of punishment, race, and rural disadvantage. Journal of Poverty, 16(3), 274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, M., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford: Stanford UP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harbeck, K. M. (2015). Social disorganization theory. Research starters: Sociology (Online Edition).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, C. (2014). Two conceptions of justice as reciprocity. Social Theory and Practice, 40(3), 409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. (2012). Looking beyond the ‘rural idyll’: Some recent trends in rural crime. Criminal Justice Matters, 89(1), 8–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang-Brown, J, & Subramanian, R. (2017). Out of sight: The growth of jails in rural America. New York: Vera Institute of Justice. Retrieved from: http://www.safetyandjusticechallenge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Out_of_sight_report.pdf

  • Kaylen, M. T., & Pridemore, W. A. (2013). Social disorganization and crime in rural communities: A first direct test of the systemic model. The. British Journal of Criminology, 53, 905–923.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kearney, M. Harris, B. Jacome, E., & Parker, L. (2014). The Hamilton project: Ten economic facts about crime and incarceration in the United States. Retrieved from: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/v8_THP_10CrimeFacts.pdf

  • Lee, M., & Ousey, G. (2001). Size matters: Examining the link between small manufacturing, socioeconomic deprivation, and crime rates in nonmetropolitan communities. Sociological Quarterly, 42(4), 581.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lichtenstein, A. (1997). Twice the work of free labor: The political economy of convict labor in the New South. New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lichter, D., & Brown, D. (2011). Rural America in an urban society: Changing spatial and social boundaries. Annual Review of Sociology, 37, 565–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lofstrom, M., & Raphael, S. (2016). Crime, the criminal justice system, and socioeconomic inequality. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(2), 103–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCaghy, C., Capron, T., Jamieson, J., Harley, S., & Carey, H. (2016). Deviant behavior: Crime, conflict, and interest groups (8th ed.). New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGranahan, D. (1986). Crime and the countryside. Rural development perspectives. Retrieved from: https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/AGE86927751/PDF

  • Merton, R. K. (1957). Social theory and social structure, revised and enlarged edition. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, S. (1976). The political economy of social problems: From the sixties to the seventies. Social Problems, 24(1), 131–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, M., & Sween, M. (2015). Rural youth crime: A reexamination of social disorganization theory’s applicability to rural areas. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 4(1), 47–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nkansah-Amankra, S., Kwami Agbanu, S., & Miller, R. (2013). Disparities in health, poverty, incarceration, and social justice among racial groups in the United States: A critical review of evidence of close links with neoliberalism. International Journal of Health Services, 43(2), 217–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichert, C., Cromartie, J., & Arthun, R. (2014). Reasons for returning and not returning to rural U.S. communities. The Professional Geographer, 66(1), 58–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, D. L., Schoenbach, V. J., & Wohl, D. A. (2008). All-cause and cause-specific mortality among men released from state prison, 1980–2005. American Journal of Public Health, 98(12), 2278–2284.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, C. R., & McKay, H. D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shihadeh, E. S., & Barranco, R. E. (2010). Latino employment and non-Latino homicide in rural areas: The implications of U.S. immigration policy. Deviant Behavior, 31(5), 411–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soukhanov, A. (Ed.). (2004). Ecology. Encarta Webster's dictionary of the English language (2nd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • The National Center for Victims on Crime. (2017). Urban and rural victimization. Retrieved from: https://victimconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2017NCVRW_UrbanRural_Final.pdf

  • Thomas, W. I., & Znaniecki, F. W. ([1918–1920] 1996). The polish peasant in Europe and America: Monograph of an Immigrant Group. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252064844

  • Thompson, H. (2012). The prison industrial complex: A growth industry in a shrinking economy. New Labor Forum, 21(3), 39–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisheit, R., Falcone, D., & Wells, L. (2006). Crime and policing in rural and small-town America. Long Grove: Waveland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, L. E., & Weisheit, R. A. (2004). Patterns of rural and urban crime: A county-level comparison. Criminal Justice Review, 29(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Western, B., Rosenfeld, J, & Kleykamp, M. (2004). Economic inequality and the rise in U.S. imprisonment. Retrieved from: https://www.russellsage.org/sites/all/files/u4/Western,%20Kleykamp,%20%26%20Rosenfeld_Economic%20Inequality%20and%20the%20Rise%20in%20US%20Imprisonment.pdf

  • Wilper, A. P., Woolhandler, S., Boyd, J. W., et al. (2009). The health and health care of US prisoners: Results of a nationwide survey. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 666–672.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Taylor, M.M. (2018). Social Disorganization in Rural Communities. In: Application of the Political Economy to Rural Health Disparities. SpringerBriefs in Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73537-5_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73537-5_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73536-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73537-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics