A Tale of Two Towns: Social Structure, Integration and Crime in Rural New South Wales

Abstract

This paper examines social factors that are associated with crime in two rural Australian communities with high proportions of Aboriginal people. It draws upon the theoretical contributions of Braithwaite (1989) to explain how levels of community integration and cohesion affect the presence of crime. Data for the case studies are derived from secondary statistics, surveys, observation and in-depth interviews. Existing literature on crime in Australia emphasises the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal people within the criminal justice system. Yet, by comparing and contrasting the two communities, the analysis demonstrated that social structural and perceptual characteristics, rather than Indigenous status, account for high levels of crime in one community and low levels in the other. The analyses demonstrate that communities with high levels of social cohesion can ameliorate the affects of social disorganisation, division, and disadvantage in communities with high Aboriginal populations. It further demonstrates that rural crime is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon.