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This book addresses the causes of rising crime rates resulting from the rapid population growth and industrialization associated with natural resource extraction in rural communities. Ruddell describes the social problems emerging in these boomtowns, including increases in antisocial behavior, as well as property-related and violent crime, industrial mishaps and traffic collisions. Many of the victims of these crimes are already members of vulnerable or marginalized groups, including rural women, Indigenous populations, and young people. The quality of life in boomtowns also decreases due to environmental impacts, including air, water and noise pollution. Law enforcement agencies, courts, and correction facilities in boomtowns are often overwhelmed by the growing demand as these places are seldom able to manage the population growth. The key questions addressed here are: who should pay the costs of managing these booms, and how can we prepare communities to mitigate the worst effects of this growth and development and, ultimately, increase the quality of life for boomtown residents. An in-depth and timely study, this original work will be of great interest to scholars of violent crime, criminal justice, and corporate harm.--

Understanding the use of punishment becomes increasingly important as imprisonment rates in many nations have fluctuated irrespective of crime rates. Controlling for violent crime, inequality, modernization, and economic stress, this research examined three diverse hypotheses about the sources of imprisonment in a sample of 100 nations. Consistent with expectations, nations that retained use of the death penalty had a greater use of imprisonment. More surprising was the finding of a clear and consistent relationship between imprisonment and countries with common law legal systems, as well as newly independent nation-states. Finally, this study reveals a significant – although inconsistent – association between population heterogeneity and imprisonment. While punishment research has often focused upon the relationships between economic variables and imprisonment, these findings suggest that theories of formal social control will remain incomplete until the roles of political, cultural, and structural conditions are fully understood.

Intro -- Table of Contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Mass Imprisonment -- Justice Systems and Punishment -- Theories of Formal Social Control -- Prior Imprisonment Research -- Economic, Social, and Political Trends -- Explaining Imprisonment Trends -- The Future of Mass Imprisonment -- Endnotes -- References -- Index.

Abstract
Several highly publicized incidents have drawn the public's attention to the problem of rural crime in Canada, and this focus is appropriate given that rates of rural crime in most provinces are higher than in urban areas. This study reports the results of an examination of urban and rural residents' perceptions of the police in Saskatchewan, Canada. Controlling for their socio-demographic characteristics, prior victimization, perceptions of crime, and contact with the police, the results of 1,791 phone surveys reveal that rural residents are less likely than their urban counterparts to indicate their police do a good job of enforcing the laws, promptly responding to calls for service, providing them with crime prevention information, ensuring their safety, or cooperating with them to address their concerns. We also found that both urban and rural residents who felt their communities were unsafe or neutral (neither safe nor unsafe) were less likely to indicate the police did a good job in all the seven categories of police performance examined in this research. Implications for rural policing practice and research are identified considering these findings.

Abstract
Thousands of isolated communities across the globe are policed by officers who confront the challenges posed by distinctive geographic and environmental conditions, and many serve in places with a high proportion of economically and politically marginalized peoples in the population. This study reports the results of a survey soliciting the perceptions of 827 Canadian officers working in Indigenous communities; 260 of whom were deployed in isolated locations. Comparison of their responses using t-tests reveal that officers working in isolated communities confront a greater volume and seriousness of crime, and higher levels of social problems contrasted against their counterparts policing non-isolated communities. The results show that officers working in these locations develop a style of policing that is responsive to the characteristics of these places. Considering the perceptions of officers serving in isolated communities is an important step to consider when developing a list of best policing practices that are responsive to the needs of these places, regardless of where in the world they are located.

This state-level study departs from other investigations of unintentional firearms fatalities by examining the relationships between lifestyle choices, legislation, and accidental gun deaths. We find that the source of these deaths is very similar to those for unintentional fatalities from other mechanisms, such as motor vehicle accidents, residential fires, or occupational injuries. Unintentional mortality is consistently associated with state-level indicators of risky behavior, and to a lesser extent, inactivity. Moreover, we also examined the influences of child access prevention (safe storage), overall firearms laws, and background checks on firearms fatalities. Unlike previous research, we found that these legislative initiatives were not significantly associated with reductions in accidental shooting deaths. Our findings suggest that theories about unintentional fatalities will remain incomplete and harm reduction policies, including the public health model endorsed by many scholars, will not be fully effective if the role of risktaking and sensation-seeking behaviors as an important source of these tragedies is neglected.

Expunging a criminal conviction in the United States is a rare event and often limited to persons who committed offenses as juveniles or adult misdemeanants. Criminal convictions in Canada, however, are routinely set aside through pardons after offenders have demonstrated a period of crime-free behavior. Sealing an offender's criminal record, the practice in Canada, is a significant step in his or her reentry into society and official acknowledgment of society's forgiveness. This exploratory study of pardons in Canada has two clear findings: First, despite the relatively easy process, few individuals with criminal records make application for pardons. Second, of those who do apply, few applications are ever denied, and a very small percentage of successful applicants reoffend. Although setting aside criminal convictions seems inconsistent with the increasing use of collateral consequences for U.S. offenders, taking this approach might contribute to increased public safety in the long term by easing offender reintegration.

The key reference guide to rural crime and rural justice, this encyclopedia includes 85 concise and informative entries covering rural crime theories, offences and control. It is divided into five complementary sections: • theories of rural crime; • rural crime studies; • rural criminal justice studies; • rural people and groups; • rural criminological research. With contributions from established and emerging international scholars, this authoritative guide offers state-of-the-art synopses of the key issues in rural crime, criminology, offending and victimisation, and both institutional and informal responses to rural crime