scholarly journals Community stakeholders' perceptions of crime and victimization: A mixed-methods approach to understanding collective efficacy and social cohesion in the rural heartland

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-115
Author(s):  
Ashley Lockwood ◽  
April Terry

Previous criminological literature has mostly neglected rural communities, often treating these places as smaller pieces of urban culture. Literature suggests rural communities operate differently than urban neighborhoods, with distinctive values, norms, and community cohesion. For example, concepts surrounding collective efficacy may work counterproductively in rural areas—further exploiting outed community members within "close-knit" environments. The current study sought to compare perceptions of collective efficacy and social cohesion, crime, and victimization between rural and urban counties across one Midwestern rural state. Using a mixed-methods approach, community stakeholders from a variety of professions were surveyed. Quantitative results suggest similar perceptions of collective efficacy and social cohesion in rural and urban communities while qualitative responses paint a much different picture—an image of rural communities "minding their own business" and both formally and informally intervening only in the most extreme and personalized scenarios.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Boateng ◽  
Prince Amoako ◽  
Divine Odame Appiah ◽  
Adjoa Afriyie Poku ◽  
Emmanuel Kofi Garsonu

The comparative analysis of solid waste management between rural and urban Ghana is largely lacking. This study investigated the solid waste situation and the organisation of solid waste management in both urban and rural settings from the perspective of households. The study employed cross-sectional survey covering both rural and urban districts in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana. The study systematically sampled houses from which 400 households and respondents were randomly selected. Pearson’s Chi square test was used to compare demographic and socioeconomic variables in rural and urban areas. Multivariate Test, Tests of Between-Subjects Effects, and Pair-Wise Comparisons were performed through one-way MANOVA to determine whether or not solid waste situations in rural and urban areas are significantly different. The results revealed that location significantly affects solid waste management in Ghana. Urban communities had lower mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in homes. However, urban communities had higher mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in principal streets and dumping sites. The study recommends that the local government authorities implement very comprehensive policies (sanitary inspection, infrastructure development, and community participation) that will take into consideration the specific solid waste management needs of both urban and rural areas.


Author(s):  
Remus Runcan

According to Romania’s National Rural Development Programme, the socio-economic situation of the rural environment has a large number of weaknesses – among which low access to financial resources for small entrepreneurs and new business initiatives in rural areas and poorly developed entrepreneurial culture, characterized by a lack of basic managerial knowledge – but also a large number of opportunities – among which access of the rural population to lifelong learning and entrepreneurial skills development programmes and entrepreneurs’ access to financial instruments. The population in rural areas depends mainly on agricultural activities which give them subsistence living conditions. The gap between rural and urban areas is due to low income levels and employment rates, hence the need to obtain additional income for the population employed in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming, especially in the context of the depopulation trend. At the same time, the need to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural areas is high and is at a resonance with the need to increase the potential of rural communities from the perspective of landscape, culture, traditional activities and local resources. A solution could be to turn vegetal and / or animal farms into social farms – farms on which people with disabilities (but also adolescents and young people with anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and alexithymia issues) might find a “foster” family, bed and meals in a natural, healthy environment, and share the farm’s activities with the farmer and the farmer’s family: “committing to a regular day / days and times for a mutually agreed period involves complying with any required health and safety practices (including use of protective clothing and equipment), engaging socially with the farm family members and other people working on and around the farm, and taking on tasks which would include working on the land, taking care of animals, or helping out with maintenance and other physical work”


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Graham

Human services literature from a variety of disciplines demonstrates that rural and urban communities pose different challenges and opportunities for service delivery; however, little research specifically explores early learning and care service delivery in rural communities. This qualitative study draws on a critical ecological systems perspective to examine the experiences of rural parents accessing services through a specific service delivery strategy, Best Start networks. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data gathered from two rural communities as part of a larger study examining parent experiences with Best Start in three communities across Ontario (Underwood, Killoran, & Webster, 2010). Three themes emerged that related specifically to the rural experience: (a) Opportunities for Social Interaction; (b) Accessibility of Services; and, (c) Impact of Personal Relationships. Results indicate that certain factors related to rural life and location affected parents' experiences with Best Start services. Drawing on the broadly defined concept of accessibility, implications for rural service delivery are discussed and recommendations for practice and future research are presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-165
Author(s):  
Francesco Francioni

Cities, as spaces of socio-cultural organization and economic interaction among people, have always played a dominant role in the development and implementation of international law. Today, a new strand of legal scholarship focuses on cities and local communities as competitors and partners with the nation State in a new project of modernization and democratization of international law. This paper looks at this new trend against the background of the historical narrative of cities in the development of international law. At the same time, it calls attention to the fact that half of humanity still lives and works in rural areas, in the vast countryside of the world. Rural communities have been the servants of the city since the beginning of time. Today, their dignity and rights are beginning to be recognized by acts of the United Nations such as the 2007 Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the 2018 Declaration on the Rights of Peasants. Yet, these people remain a disadvantaged and vulnerable class. A true modernization and democratization of international law requires that we keep a balanced approach to the legal recognition of the voices and rights of urban communities and those of the people who work and live in the countryside of the world.


2012 ◽  
pp. 769-785
Author(s):  
K. P. Joo

The rural communities in South Korea have faced serious challenges as the country has gradually opened the agricultural market and extended the conclusion of Free Trade Agreement with more and more countries. Moreover, due to the national socio-economic and political structures, South Korea has been undergoing the technological imbalance between rural and urban areas. In order to cope with these vital social challenges, the South Korean government has exerted considerable investment and effort in establishing ICT knowledge and skills as well as infrastructure in rural areas. Thus, conceptualizing ICT in the context of adult education, this chapter addresses three ICT-supported adult education programs oriented toward developing ICT skills and competencies of people in agricultural areas of South Korea. The South Korean cases of agricultural ICT education represent the vast and concentrated national efforts in integrating ICT across rural areas in this fast changing global situation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 618-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca U. Thorpe

I examine the political consequences of prison development in the United States. I theorize that the prison apparatus not only upholds a system of racial hierarchy and class stratification, but also links the economic stability of lower-class, rural whites to the continued penal confinement of poor, urban minorities. Analysis of an original dataset suggests that local reliance on existing prison infrastructure throughout many economically-depressed rural communities strengthens political support for harsh criminal punishments and militates against reform efforts. Political representatives have powerful interests in protecting rural prison investments, regardless of their actual economic impact in host communities. The evidence indicates that rural prison development contributes to the perceived economic viability and political power of rural areas, while reinforcing forms of punishment that destabilize poor urban neighborhoods and harm politically marginalized populations.


2020 ◽  
pp. 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy E. Strowd ◽  
Lauren Strauss ◽  
Rachel Graham ◽  
Kristen Dodenhoff ◽  
Allysen Schreiber ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTObjective:To describe rapid implementation of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic and assess for disparities in video visit implementation in the Appalachian region of the United States.Methods:A retrospective cohort of consecutive patients seen in the first four weeks of telehealth implementation was identified from the Neurology Ambulatory Practice at a large academic medical center. Telehealth visits defaulted to video and when unable phone-only visits were scheduled. Patients were divided into two groups based on the telehealth visit type: video or phone-only. Clinical variables were collected from the electronic medical record including age, sex, race, insurance status, indication for visit, and rural-urban status. Barriers to scheduling video visits were collected at the time of scheduling. Patient satisfaction was obtained by structured post-visit telephone call.Results:Of 1011 telehealth patient-visits, 44% were video and 56% phone-only. Patients who completed a video visit were younger (39.7 vs 48.4 years, p<0.001), more likely to be female (63% vs 55%, p<0.007), be White or Caucasian (p=0.024), and not have Medicare or Medicaid insurance (p<0.001). The most common barrier to scheduling video visits was technology limitations (46%). While patients from rural and urban communities were equally likely to be scheduled for video visits, patients from rural communities were more likely to consider future telehealth visits (55% vs 42%, p=0.05).Conclusion:Rapid implementation of ambulatory telemedicine defaulting to video visits successfully expanded video telehealth. Emerging disparities were revealed, as older, male, black patients with Medicare or Medicaid insurance were less likely to adopt video visits.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Zavratnik ◽  
Andrej Kos ◽  
Emilija Stojmenova Duh

Over recent decades, people’s (rural and urban) communities are facing numerous social and economic changes and challenges. Some of those challenges have been increasingly addressed through the lenses of technological developments and digitalization. In this paper, we have made a review of already existing practices while focusing on the existing implementations of the Smart Village concept and the importance of digital transformation for rural areas. We give special attention to EU policies that we are using as an already existing framework for understanding our own forthcoming examples. We have shown the parallels between the findings and insights from different regions and made an evaluation of presented practices. Our main argument stems from our own previous experiences and experiences of other research approaches, and is grounded on the argument that rural areas are not uniform, and that smart rural development has to be applied in combination with place-based approach. We present the cases of Slovenian pilot practices and support our argument by proposing the FabVillage concept.


Author(s):  
Veronika Zavratnik ◽  
Andrej Kos ◽  
Emilija Stojmenova Duh

Over the recent decades people&rsquo;s (rural and urban) communities are facing numerous social and economic changes and challenges. Some of those challenges have been increasingly addressed through the lenses of technological developments and digitalization. In this paper we have made a review of already existing practices while focusing on the existing implementations of the smart village concept and the importance of digital transformation for rural areas. We give special attention to EU policies which we are using as an already existing framework for understanding our own forthcoming examples. We have shown the parallels between the findings and insights from different regions and made an evaluation of presented practices. Our main argument stems from our own previous experiences and experiences of other research approaches, and is grounded on the argument that rural areas are not uniform, and that smart rural development has to be applied in combination with place-based approach. We present the cases of Slovenian pilot practices and support our argument by proposing the FabVillage concept.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-23
Author(s):  
Gopal Chandra Saha

This study endeavors to test the effect of promoting of rural tourism in Bangladesh. Rural tourism can offer assistance in forming our society. It can have both positive and negative impacts on rural as well as urban communities. There's a scope of rural tourism in Bangladesh. The government ought to empower private enterprises to advance tourism in rural areas. For creating the rural tourism we ought to get it the rural environment, demography, socio-culture, financial and political foundation of that put. How we will include the country individuals to improve their socio-economic condition. To create a key promoting arranges for rural tourism we ought to get it the target customer, their needs and how to coordinate it with our rural framework. Rural tourism can create a win-win circumstance for both the rural and urban communities.


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