DRUG-RELATED OFFENSES AND THE STRUCTURE OF COMMUNITIES IN RURAL AUSTRALIA

Abstract

This article examines the relationship of drug use with the social and economic characteristics of rural communities in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Data is derived from the 1996 Australian Census of Population and Housing, and data on drug-related offenses from the NSW police between 1995 and 1999. Arrest rates for breaking and entering, assault, and vandalism showed statistically significant associations across types of rural communities, but drug-related arrests varied considerably less. The widespread, relatively-even distribution of drug arrests in rural NSW suggests that the underlying causes of drug-related violations are unique when compared to other types of crime. [Translations are provided in the International Abstracts Section of this issue.]

• Drug arrests
• Rural
• Social disorganization theory
• Australia
• Crime
• Community indicators
• Harm minimization

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joseph F. Donnermeyer

Joseph F. Donnermeyer, Ph.D., is a professor of Rural Sociology in the Department of Human and Community Resource Development at The Ohio State University. He currently serves as Program Area Leader for Rural Sociology and Director of Graduate Studies. The Rural Sociology program consists of 8 full-time and 5 adjunct faculty, and offers an undergraduate minor and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the graduate level. Dr. Donnermeyer received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology from the University of Kentucky. First employed in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, he has been at The Ohio State University since 1979. He has been a visiting professor with the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University on several occasions, the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Institute for Rural Futures of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Donnermeyer's major field of study is criminology, with a special focus on rural crime. He has conducted research on levels of victimization and attitudes toward crime among rural people, and the extent and pattern of offending (including substance use and misuse) by rural populations, especially youth. He is the author (co-author) of over 70 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books on issues related to rural crime and rural societies.

Elaine M. Barclay

Elaine Barclay, B.S., has a degree in social science and postgraduate qualifications in psychology. Prior to joining the Institute for Rural Futures at the University of New England in 1995, she was a partner in a family farming operation near Moree, in northern New South Wales. Elaine has undertaken a range of applied research and consultancy projects in areas such as farm succession and inheritance, information technology, welfare services for farm families, and crime in rural communities. She is currently undertaking research for a Ph.D. in crime on farms in Australia.

Patrick C. Jobes

Patrick Jobes, Ph.D., has written extensively on rural communities, social change, and social problems in the United States, Romania, and Pakistan. Dr. Jobes has attempted to incorporate classical sociological theory and method into substantive research with practical applications. Much of his research has been directed toward analyzing and resolving social problems associated with rapid development and migration in rural areas. His primary theoretical concern is with how community structure leads to both causes and solutions of social problems. Dr. Jobes has received numerous awards for teaching, research, and service from the universities where he has taught, the professional organizations to which he has belonged, and the service organizations he has assisted. He was a founding member of the Environmental Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association, and chair of the Natural Resources Research Group. He has held numerous regional and national appointments related to research and professional service. He was Treasurer of the Rural Sociological Association from 1987 until 1995. Dr. Jobes received his B.A. (Psychology) and M.A. (Corrections) degrees at the University of Colorado Boulder. His Ph.D. (Sociology) was conferred by the University of Washington. Before joining the faculty at the University of New England in 1995, he was a member of the sociology faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder and Montana State University, where he was a professor from 1982 until 1994. He has held adjunct professorships at the University of New Mexico, the University of Oregon and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, and as a Senior Fulbright Fellow at the University of Bucharest.