NCJ Number
59607
Date Published
1933
Length
315 pages
Annotation
THIS ANALYSIS OF RURAL CRIME CONTROL IN THE UNITED STATES AS OF 1933 FOCUSES ON THE HISTORY AND STATUS OF TRADITIONAL AND EMERGING RURAL JUSTICE AGENTS.
Abstract
THE ANALYSIS WAS UNDERTAKEN AT A TIME WHEN CRIME WAS BECOMING AN INCREASINGLY ACUTE PROBLEM IN RURAL AREAS. IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION, THE DECLINE OF AGRICULTURE, THE RISE OF NEW INDUSTRIES IN SMALL TOWNS AND HAMLETS, AND THE FLUX OF A HETEROGENEOUS POPULATION DRAWN FROM THE CITIES TO THE LAND MEANT THAT, WITHOUT ACTUALLY BECOMING CITIES, RURAL AREAS WERE ACQUIRING SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING INCREASES IN CERTAIN TYPES OF CRIME. THE TRADITIONAL RURAL JUSTICE MACHINE--SHERIFFS, CONSTABLES, CORONERS, JUSTICES OF THE PEACE--WAS PROVING INADEQUATE TO THE CRIME-CONTROL TASK. NEWER CRIMINAL JUSTICE INSTRUMENTALITIES (COUNTY CONSTABULARIES AND STATE POLICE FORCES), OFTEN SUPERIMPOSED ON THE TRADITIONAL RURAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, WERE CHARACTERIZED BY UNNECESSARY COMPLEXITY, DUPLICATION OF FUNCTION, WASTE, AND INEFFECTIVENESS. BASED ON OBSERVATIONS AND STUDIES OF RURAL JUSTICE IN THE UNITED STATES AND ABROAD, THE ANALYSIS TRACES THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRADITIONAL RURAL JUSTICE AGENTS AND EXAMINES IN DETAIL THEIR STATUS AS OF 1933. EXTENSIVE REFERENCE TO PRACTICES IN ENGLAND, WHERE ALL TRADITIONAL RURAL JUSTICE AGENTS HAVE THEIR ROOTS, IS INCLUDED. THE MORE RECENT CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENTS ARE ANALYZED AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY AND PRACTICAL OPERATION, WITH EMPHASIS ON THEIR FAULTS AND VIRTUES AND ON THEIR PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE. ALTERNATIVES FOR REORGANIZING RURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE CONSIDERED, AS IS THE NEED TO ABANDON, OR AT LEAST TO REVAMP, TRADITIONAL AGENTS OF RURAL JUSTICE. TWO MAJOR OBSTACLES TO CHANGE ARE IDENTIFIED: (1) TRADITION, WHICH SURROUNDS AND PROTECTS LONGSTANDING PUBLIC AGENCIES AND ATTACHES ARTIFICIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO LOCAL BOUNDARIES; AND (2) STATE CONSTITUTIONS, WHICH CONSTRUCT IMPREGNABLE LEGAL FORTIFICATIONS AROUND ANCIENT OFFICES AND JURISDICTIONS. AN INDEX IS PROVIDED.