Getting Jumped in Vacationland: The Complicated Rhetoric and Realities of Assault in a Small Town

Abstract

Crime research often fails to recognize the context of small-town crime as meaningfully different from both urban and rural crime contexts. When distinctions are made, small towns remain an idealized counterpoint to problematized urban spaces. Even now, research fails to provide the detail and nuance needed to explain how complex local perceptions of small-town crime disprove the monolithic assumption of idyllic small towns. This study interrogates the disconnections between the realities of assault in a small town and the rhetorical constructions of perceived offenders. We analyze available police report data and local social media commentary to identify and explain gaps between what is known about assault in the town of Sandusky, Ohio, and related perceptions and discourses employed by Sandusky locals. We find that area residents construct their town as violent, crime-ridden, and beyond hope. Discourse surrounding fighting reinforces cynicism, seeks to levy blame, and relies on race, youth, and poverty tropes. This study constitutes a dramatic divergence from previous crime literature that considers small towns as generally less prone to violent crime than big cities and treats public perception of small towns as positive overall. We also contribute important axes for comparison between institutional and locally constructed rhetorical spaces and use theories of anomie to offer a different perspective on small-town crime.