Community Correlates of Rural Youth Violence

Social disorganization is the primary theory by which criminologists account for crime rates. Current versions of social disorganization theory assume that strong networks of social relationship prevent crime and delinquency. A community's capacity to develop and maintain strong systems of social relationship is influenced by residential instability, ethnic diversity, family disruption, economic status, population size or density, and proximity to urban areas. A study examined whether the relationships between community characteristics and rates of crime and delinquency are the same in urban and nonurban settings. Data from Uniform Crime Reports were used to measure delinquency rates in 264 nonmetropolitan counties in Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, and South Carolina. Findings indicate that the principles of social disorganization theory can be applied to rural communities. In the counties studied, per capita rates of juvenile arrest for violent offenses were significantly and consistently associated with residential instability, ethnic diversity, and family disruption. Family disruption appeared to be a critical element of nonmetro social disorganization. No association was found between poverty and delinquency or between proximity to urban areas and delinquency. For counties with more than 4,000 juveniles, population size made little difference in the rate of juvenile violence. Findings were consistent across the set of violent offenses. (TD)