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SUSTAINABILITY AND SAFETY IN RURAL AREAS: AN ANALYSIS OF CRIME DYNAMICS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Igor Scutaru, Maria Magdalena Turek Rahoveanu

Abstract

We are currently witnessing a period in which the issues of crime and safety in rural areas are gaining increasing relevance in the context of socio-economic transformations and pressures on agricultural systems and rural communities. Accordingly, the dynamics of this phenomenon are closely linked to factors such as the structure of the labour market, social capital, public policies, the level of economic development, and access to resources and infrastructure. At the same time, the interaction between agriculture, sustainability and rural well-being highlights the need for integrated approaches in which community safety and rural development are interdependent. Rural crime has a pronounced socio-economic dimension, and research in this field reflects both geographical and temporal diversity. The analysis of the literature highlights the predominance of studies from developed countries, especially from Europe (Sweden, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom), North America and Australia, but also relevant contributions from emerging economies such as Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and Tanzania. From a temporal perspective, most research is concentrated in the period 2000-2024, with a visible intensification after 2015, against the background of growing interest in sustainability, food security and rural development. The keyword analysis reveals a thematic structure around recurrent concepts such as rural crime, agricultural victimization, social capital, routine activities, situational prevention, as well as emerging terms such as social innovation, sustainability, food security and rural entrepreneurship, including illicit entrepreneurship. The analysis highlighted four main clusters: (i) quantitative econometric studies, (ii) qualitative exploratory research, (iii) systematic reviews and bibliometric analyses, and (iv) conceptual and public policy contributions. The results obtained contribute to a better understanding of the structure and evolution of the field and highlight the need to develop integrated approaches and more robust databases. They also suggest that future research directions should focus on strengthening mixed methods, expanding the geographical scope of studies and increasing the relevance of research for informing public policies in rural areas.

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