Must rural Americans pay the price of urban progress and modern lifestyles? How will the increased pressures of the 1980s affect those who live and work in rural communities? In addressing these overriding questions the authors of this book take a serious look at such issues as who will operate our farms and how those farms will meet rising demands for food, how higher energy costs will change life in rural areas, the current and future needs of rural families and their communities, who in fact lives in these communities, and what can be done about escalating rural crime and recent social changes that have disrupted the traditional patterns of rural society. Because the United States is an interdependent system of rural and urban, of providers and consumers, these issues are vitally important to all-scholars, policy makers, and citizens alike. The contributors bring us up to date on the contemporary rural scene and offer suggestions for research essential to intelligent decision making about the challenges and problems the 1980s hold in store for rural America.

This thought-provoking monograph analyzes the longstanding political and economic structures underlying entrenched health inequities in rural areas worldwide. Bypassing familiar data on the subject, it critiques existing approaches to why core social determinants of health are underrepresented in rural communities, and synthesizes knowledge from health behaviors to spatial politics to make creative, equitable suggestions for intervention. The author reviews classic economic and current sociopolitical theory to pinpoint governments’ decision-making processes behind resource allocation as they translate into poor service access, service quality, and health outcomes. In reply, corrective policy measures are recommended to address these conditions at the root-cause level, in keeping with global goals of improved health for all. Included in the coverage: · Rural health disparities: the political economy. · Rural health disparities: the economic argument. · Social disorganization in rural communities. · Rural health disparities and social disorder: public policy responses. · The political economy: an era of institutional cynicism? With its forceful argument for dealing with a growing but often invisible crisis, Application of the Political Economy to Rural Health Disparities makes a significant text for graduate and undergraduate programs in public and international affairs, planning and public policy, public health, public administration, and economics. Public health and advocacy organizations will also benefit from the book’s vision.

While most researchers see the urban setting as being the only laboratory for studying crime problems throughout the United States, Crime and Policing in Rural and Small-Town America directly challenges this notion with an authoritative look at crime and the criminal justice system in rural America today. The assumption that rural crime is rare and comparable across various communities has led to incompatible theories and irrelevant practices. In order to transform this misconstruction, the Third Edition offers a clear outline of the definition of rural and provides a vital argument for why rural and small-town crime should be studied more than it is. The book also explores the individual nature of issues that emerge in these communities, including illegal drug production, domestic violence, agricultural crimes, rural poverty, and gangs, in addition to the training needs of rural police, probation in rural areas, and rural jails and prisons. Responding to rural crime requires an awareness of its context and how justice is carried out, as well as an appreciation of how features vary across rural areas. Understanding the relationships among crime, geography, and culture in the rural setting can reveal useful ideas and implications for crime and justice in communities across the United States.