MCJA Student Paper Award Winner: SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION AND VIOLENT CRIME IN RURAL APPALACHIA

ABSTRACT

The following is an analysis of the relationship between structural antecedents of social disorganization and violent crime in rural Appalachia. Findings are supportive of the generalizability of social disorganization theory to these rural counties, but not through the same causal mechanisms found in urban environments. Specifically, residential instability and ethnic heterogeneity are not predictive of violent crime in rural Appalachia. Poverty, population density, and the proportion of renter-occupied housing are, however, strong and consistent predictors of violent crime across models. In addition, poverty was found to be inversely related to rape. Reasons for such findings, along with recommendations for future studies, are discussed.