Defining organized crime in a rural context

The consideration of the influence of ‘rural organized crime’ and, indeed, ‘organized crime in the rural’ within the rubric of criminology is polarized and in its infancy. This is not a case of mere semantics but lies at the core of the issue one of the main issues underpinning organized crime in a rural context.

Apart from the dearth of literature, there is no clear definition of what constitutes rural organized crime. There are numerous definitions of what constitutes organized crime per se which link the concept to our understanding of organized criminality to mainly urban-based ‘mafias’ and ‘organized crime groups’ (OCGs). Additionally, there is at present no working definition because it is a conflation of two related phenomenon of ‘organized crime’ and ‘rural crime’ (see relevant chapters in Donnermeyer, 2016). Again, this is not mere semantics but underpins the topic.

As well as being located in the criminological and policing literatures, contemporary research on the topic has been conducted by geographers, sociologists, supply chain theorists and business school scholars. The literatures on food fraud and food crime are also related to organized crime in the rural.

When considering organized crime, there is an inclination to think of mafia-like organizations and shadowy ‘Mr Big’ figures connected to traditional OCGs. Indeed, the established and traditional view of organized crime in rural settings is guided by the ‘urban marauder thesis’ whereby OCGs from urban settings target rural homes and businesses. Although statistically these marauders do commit the majority of acquisitive crime in rural settings, they are only one side of the problem of organized rural criminality.

However, little consideration is given to either the existence of a rural criminal class or the involvement of rural criminals and industry insiders. The sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies in defining the difference between urban and rural living (Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft) stressed that urban areas are portrayed as visibly criminal and the rural as less criminal posited the existence of a smaller rural criminal class. This fits in well with a ‘rural idyll’ thesis and with the criminological ‘alien conspiracy’ thesis, whereby it is easier to blame outsiders for our problems than consider that our neighbours may be involved in criminality.