Fear of crime, cultural threat and the countryside

Summary This paper argues that the study of crime and the fear of crime in rural areas reveals much about the geography of crime, policing and rural society. Drawing upon a crime and safety survey conducted with residents of a rural parish in Worcestershire it establishes a link between fear of crime and ‘cultural threats’ to residents' dominant constructions of rurality. It concludes by considering the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act and its implications for rural policing and society.