Changing Profile of Crime and Criminals in Rural Communities

One of the least understood topic in the fields of criminology and criminal justice today is that rural crime. The reasons are simples. First, research on rural crime remains sparse. Scholars and researchers have spent most of their efforts trying to understand urban patterns of crime. Second, popularized images of rural and urban areas include stereotypes that contain elements of the truth, yet represent gross exaggerations of reality. The image of rural India today still suggests that small towns, farming communities, and the open country are "crime free." This perception is not accurate; yet, relation to the problems of some large urban communities, rural areas do look like havens of safety.