Acquisitive Crime Trends: Unpacking the Unemployment-Crime Relationship in a Rural Context

Tests of criminological theory are conducted almost exclusively about urban spaces. In urban areas, rates of property and acquisitive crime are often tied to economic structural health through institutional anomie and market society theories. Examinations of the connection between economic structures and acquisitive crime in rural spaces are lacking in the literature. This study uses United States’ NCVS data from 1993-2005 examine trends in acquisitive crime over time from a macro level economic theoretical perspective in rural United States counties. Implications for additional rural theory tests will be addressed.