Introduction: Rural crime prevention in theory and context

This chapter introduces some of the issues of rural crime and its prevention by defining concepts, examining international trends and summarising current rural crime issues. It integrates the contributions of each chapter of the book, weaving them into these narratives where appropriate to allow readers to understand both the current state of rural crime prevention and how each chapter supports pushing these conversations forward. Rural crime has long been overlooked in the field of crime prevention: sustained academic interrogation is necessary, therefore, to reduce the extensive economic and social costs of rural crime as well as to uncover some of the myths and challenges regarding the prevention of rural crime. Developing effective tactics and techniques to prevent, reduce, control and working to eliminate non-urban crime requires that a solid knowledge basis be built in this field.