Thinking Critically About Rural Crime: The Influence of William J. Chambliss

William J. Chambliss (Bill) is well-known for his path-breaking theories of lawmaking and for his innovative research on state-organized crime. However, the fact that his study of the original vagrancy laws marked the birth of rural critical criminology has gone unrecognized by criminologists. The main objective of this article is twofold: (1) to show how Bill helped shape contemporary rural critical criminology and (2) to provide suggestions for further critical theoretical and empirical work on rural crime and social control.