About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

15 Criminology, Crim. Just. L & Soc'y 3 (2014)
Drilling down: An Examination of the Boom-Crime Relationship in Resource-Based Boom Countries

handle is hein.journals/wescrim15 and id is 6 raw text is: Ruddell et al./ Western Criminology Review 15(1), 3-17 (2014) Online citation: Ruddell, Rick, Dheeshana S. Jayasundara, Roni Mayzer, and Thomasine Heitkamp. 2014. Drilling Down: An Examination of the Boom-Crime Relationship in Resource Based Boom Counties Western Criminology Review 15(1):3-17 (http://wcr. sonoma.edu/vl5nl/Riddell._df). h Up :11wcsonoamaed Drilling Down: An Examination of the Boom-Crime Relationship in Resource-Based Boom Counties Rick Ruddell University of Regina Dheeshana S. Jayasundara University of North Dakota Roni Mayzer University of North Dakota Thomasine Heitkamp University of North Dakota Abstract: The expansion in natural resource development in rural communities has led to a number of social problems in these places. The media, community stakeholders, as well as law enforcement and human service personnel have reported that the rapid growth in these communities leads to increased crime and other social ills. In order to better understand the boom-crime relationship, index crimes in oil and natural gas producing counties in Montana and North Dakota were examined. Comparison of 2012 crime rates in a matched sample of counties revealed that crime rates were higher in oil- impacted counties. A pre-post analysis found that violent crime in boom counties increased 18.5% between 2006 and 2012 while decreasing 25.6% in a matched sample of counties that had no oil or gas production. Inconsistent with the media portrayal of these communities as a new wild west we did not find a significant association between oil or natural gas production and property or violent crime in a series of OLS regression models. Missing crime data was a significant limitation in this study and precludes us from making any broad generalizations about the boom-crime relationship. Implications for further research are described. Keywords: boomtowns, resource-based booms, rural crime, boomtown effects INTRODUCTION The rapid population and economic growth associated with resource-based exploration and extraction has contributed to a number of social ills which have been called boomtown effects (Government of New Brunswick 2012). Unlike normal population growth, resource-based booms have resulted in the influx of young male newcomers who earn large salaries and have little stake in these communities (Ruddell and Thomas 2012). In some cases these workers drive-in and drive-out (DIDO) or fly- in and fly-out (FIFO) to their worksites and live in temporary housing or man camps that may house a thousand or more workers (White 2012). As a result of these demographic changes, there has been an imbalanced population sex ratio, a disruption in normal patterns of interaction (e.g., less informal social control or density of acquaintance - see Freudenburg 1984; 1986) and damage to the social fabric that may be criminogenic in small communities (Lee and Thomas 2010). Prior research has shown that the rapid population growth linked with resource-based booms contributes to increased levels of antisocial behavior and crime in rural WESTER CRIMINOINNY IM

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most