This book explores the relationship between crime and community in rural areas and addresses the notion of safety as part of the community dynamics in such areas. Based on a wealth of original research, Ceccato combines spatial methods with qualitative analysis to examine, in detail, farm and wildlife crime, youth related crimes and gendered violence in rural settings.

Part 1: Introduction 1. Aim, scope and book structure 2. Crime and safety in rural areas 3. Definitions, theory, and research making Part 2: Trends and patterns of crime 4. Rural-urban crime trends in an international perspective 5. The geography of property and violent crime in Sweden Part 3: Perceived safety in rural areas 6. The nature of perceived safety in rural areas 7. Perceived safety in Swedish rural areas Part 4: Crime in a rural context 8. Farm crimes and environmental and wildlife offences 9. Youth in rural areas 10. Violence against women in rural communities Part 5: Policing and crime prevention in rural Sweden 11. Police, rural policing and community safety 12. Prevention of farm crimes and crimes against nature 13. Crime prevention in rural areas: Youth-related challenges 14. Challenges to preventing women abuse in rural communities Part 6: The difference that rural makes 15. Lessons from rural Sweden and looking ahead.

‘This book is a vital part of an ever-growing movement in criminology to bring a scholarly and multidisciplinary focus to crime in a rural context. Dr. Ceccato’s book adds a significant new chapter to the rural literature because it explores crime in a region of the world where rural crime scholarship has never gone before – Sweden. Yet, the book is international in its reach because she brings to her analysis her own background, having grown up in rural Brazil, and a comparative perspective based on her own extensive knowledge of the rural crime literature from around the world.’ - Joseph F. Donnermeyer, Professor Emeritus, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, USA‘What a book! This is one of the most comprehensive texts on the topic of crime in rural areas that has ever been written. An amazing and important book about a neglected topic. With impressive engagement and skill, Vania Ceccato challenges a number of stereotypes and prejudices about crime and security in rural areas. With the use of a huge data set, the author presents us with a rich amount of evidence for a more qualified understanding of crime in rural areas.’ - Gunnel Forsberg, Professor in Human Geography, Stockholm University, Sweden ‘Rural crime and safety is an under-researched area and Vania Ceccato's book is a welcome addition to the emerging literature in the field. Its detailed case studies from Sweden provide a strong empirical foundation, whilst its analysis and arguments will be of interest to criminologists, geographers and sociologists everywhere.’ - Michael Woods, Professor of Human Geography, Aberystwyth University, UK‘Rural Crime and Community Safety is an important and timely addition to the growing literature on rural criminology. This thorough examination of contemporary issues in farm crime, environmental and wildlife crime, gendered violence, youth problems and crime prevention in rural Sweden is compared and contrasted with research from other countries. The book provides further evidence that rural communities are not always the safe, crime-free places they are often perceived to be and that rural criminology is a vitally important area for enquiry for students, researchers, policymakers, police and other criminal justice practitioners.’ - Elaine Barclay, Associate Professor, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Australia