Abstract
Agriculture is big business, especially in market-oriented countries like Australia, Great Britain and the United States. Yet, little is known about crime and security issues related to agriculture. This article reviews the literature on agricultural crime and reports on results from a farm victimization and security survey in New South Wales, Australia, using place-based theories to guide the research. Incidents of burglary and the theft of fuel, equipment and machinery were inversely related to the visibility of farm buildings to the farm residence; stock theft was directly related to the distance of a farm to a town and to farms with a hilly terrain; malicious damage and illegal trespassing occurred more often on farms near highways or close to towns; and illegal dumping of trash was inversely associated with unoccupied properties and those closer to town. The implications for security on agricultural operations and for future research on agricultural crime and security are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, K.M. and McCall, M. (2005) Farm Crime in Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Armstrong, N. (2005) The impact of crime in rural Fermanagh. M.S. thesis. Belfast: Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2008) Year Book Australia, Publication 1301.0. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Barclay, E. and Donnermeyer, J.F. (2002) Property crime and crime prevention on farms in Australia. Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal 4 (2): 47–61.
Barclay, E., Donnermeyer, J.F., Doyle, B.P. and Talary, D. (2001) Property Crime Victimisation and Crime Prevention on Farms. Armidale, New South Wales: Institute for Rural Futures, University of New England.
Barclay, E., Donnermeyer, J.F., Scott, J. and Hogg, R.M. (eds.) (2007) Crime in Rural Australia. Sydney: Federation Press.
Block, R.L. and Block, C.R. (1995) Space, place and crime: Hot Spot Areas and Hot Places of Liquor related crime. In: J.E. Eck and D. Weisburd (eds.) Crime and Place, Crime Prevention Studies, Vol. 4. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press, pp. 145–183.
Brantingham, P.L. and Brantingham, P.J. (1981) Introduction: The Dimensions of Crime. In: P.L. Brantingham and P.J. Brantingham (eds.) Environmental Criminology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Brantingham, P.L. and Brantingham, P.J. (1993) Environment, routine, and situation: Toward a pattern theory of crime. In: R.V. Clarke and M. Felson (eds.) Routine Activity and Rational Choice, Vol. 5. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Clarke, R.V. (1992) Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies. Albany, NY: Harrow and Heston.
Cleland, C.L. (1990) Crime and Vandalism on Farms in Tennessee. Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Institute of Agriculture. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee.
Clifford, M. (1998) Environmental Crime: Enforcement, Policy and Social Responsibility. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers.
Cohen, L. and Felson, M. (1979) Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review 44 (4): 588–608.
Deeds, J., Frese, W., Hitchner, M. and Solomon, M. (1992) Farm Crime in Mississippi. Report to the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Mississippi State, MI: Mississippi State University. Bulletin 987.
Donnermeyer, J.F. (1987) Crime Against Farm Operations. Report of the National Rural Crime Prevention Center. Columbus, OH: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, The Ohio State University.
Donnermeyer, J.F. (2007) Locating crime: The role of theory. In: E. Barclay, J.F. Donnermeyer, J. Scott and R.M. Hogg (eds.) Crime in Rural Australia. Sydney, NSW: Federation Press.
Donnermeyer, J.F. and Barclay, E. (2005) The policing of farm crime. Police Practice and Research 6 (1): 3–17.
Donnermeyer, J.F. and DeKeseredy, W. (2008) Toward a rural critical criminology. Southern Rural Sociology 23 (2): 4–28.
Donnermeyer, J.F. and Tunnell, K. (2007) In Our Own Backyard: Methamphetamine Manufacturing, Trafficking and Abuse in Rural America, Rural Realities Series. Vol. 2, Issue 2. Columbus, MO: Rural Sociological Society.
Donnermeyer, J.F., Barclay, E.M. and Mears, D. (forthcoming) Policing and Agricultural Crime. In: R. Yarwood and R. Mawby (eds.) Countryside Constable: Policing, Governance and Rurality. Aldershot, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing, in press.
Dunkelberger, J.E., Clayton, J.M., Myrick, R.S. and Lyles, G.J. (1992) Crime and Alabama Farms: Victimization, Subjective Assessment, and Protective Action. Report to the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. Auburn, AL: Auburn University. Bulletin 616.
Eck, J.E. and Weisburd, D. (1995) Crime places in crime theory. In: J.E. Eck and D. Weisburd (eds.) Crime and Place, Crime Prevention Studies, Vol. 4. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.
Farmer, F.L. and Voth, D.E. (1989) Ecological Characteristics of Farm Victimization in Arkansas. Report to the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Fayetteville, AK: University of Arkansas. Bulletin 917.
Felson, M. (1998) Crime and Everyday Life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
George Street Research. (1999) Crime and the Farming Community: The Scottish Farm Crime Survey, 1998. Edinburgh: The Scottish Office, Central Research Unit.
Jeffrey, C.R. (1971) Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage.
Jobes, P.C., Donnermeyer, J.F. and Barclay, E. (2005) A tale of two towns: Social structure, integration, and crime in rural New South Wales. Sociologia Ruralis 45 (3): 224–244.
Lobao, L. and Meyer, K. (2001) The great agricultural transition: Crisis, change, and social consequences of twentieth century U.S. farming. Annual Review of Sociology 27: 103–124.
Marsh, J.A. and Moohan, J.A.J. (2003) Small firms in rural areas: Experiences of victimisation. Security Journal 16 (1): 39–49.
Mawby, R.I. (2006) Crime, Place and Explaining Rural Hotspots, Paper presented at the Crime in Rural Communities International Conference. Armidale, New South Wales: Centre for Rural Crime, University of New England. November 30.
Mazerolle, L. (2000) Mapping with Purpose: Using Theory to Guide Crime Mapping, Paper presented at the Conference on Crime Mapping. Adelaide: The Australian Institute of Criminology and the Key Centre for Social Applications of GIS, Adelaide University.
Mears, D.P., Scott, M.L. and Bhati, A.S. (2007) Opportunity theory and agricultural crime victimization. Rural Sociology 72 (2): 151–184.
Miethe, T.D. and Meier, R.F. (1994) Crime and Its Social Context: Toward an Integrated Theory of Offenders, Victims, and Situations. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Moats, J.B. (2007) Agroterrorism. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.
National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2005) Hawaii Agricultural Theft and Vandalism. Honolulu: NASS, Hawaii Field Office, www.nass.usda.gov/hi/speccrop/agtheft.htm.
Newman, O. (1972) Defensible Space: Crime Prevention through Urban Design. New York: Macmillan.
Osgood, D.W. and Chambers, J.M. (2000) Social disorganization outside the metropolis: An analysis of rural youth violence. Criminology 38 (1): 81–115.
Peale, K.O. (1990) Crime and Vandalism on Farms in Kentucky. Frankfort: Kentucky State University. Community Research Service.
Reiss Jr., A.J. (1986) Why Are communities important in understanding crime? In: A.J. Reiss and M. Tonry (eds.) Communities and Crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rosenbaum, D.P. and Lavrakas, P.J. (1995) Self-reports about place: The application of survey and interview methods to the study of small areas. In: J.E. Eck and D. Weisburg (eds.) Crime and Place, Crime Prevention Studies, Vol. 4. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press, pp. 285–314.
Saltiel, J., Gilchrist, J. and Harvie, R. (1992) Concern about crime among Montana farmers and Ranchers. Rural Sociology 57 (4): 535–545.
Sherman, L.W., Gartin, P.R. and Buerger, M.E. (1989) Hot spots of predatory crime: Routine activities and the criminology of place. Criminology 27 (1): 27–55.
Sudgen, G. (1998) In defence of farms: An Agrarian Crime Prevention Audit in Rutland. In: M. Gill (ed.) Crime at Work, Vol. 2. Increasing the Risk for the Offender, Lesicerter: Perpetuity Press.
Sudgen, G. (1999) Farm crime: Out of sight, out of mind – A study of crime on farms in the county of Rutland. Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal 3 (1): 29–36.
Swanson, C.R., Chamelin, N.C. and Territo, L. (2000) Criminal Investigation. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Tunnell, K.D. (2006) Socially disorganized rural communities. Crime, Media and Culture 2 (3): 332–337.
Weisheit, R.A. and Donnermeyer, J.F. (2000) Change and continuity in crime in rural America. In: G. LaFree, J.F. Short, R.J. Bursik Sr. and R. Taylor (eds.) Criminal Justice 2000, Vol. 1. The Nature of Crime: Continuity and Change. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
Wells, L.E. and Weisheit, R.A. (2004) Patterns of rural and urban crime: A county-level comparison. Criminal Justice Review 29 (1): 1–22.
Acknowledgements
The research that forms the subject of this paper was supported by a grant from the New South Wales Attorney General's Crime Prevention Division, and from support of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barclay, E., Donnermeyer, J. Crime and security on agricultural operations. Secur J 24, 1–18 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2008.23
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2008.23