The victimisation of farms in Ireland: fear of crime, social isolation and crime prevention

Crime Prevention and Community Safety https://doi.org/10.1057/s41300-022-00153-1 ORIGINAL PAPER The victimisation of farms in Ireland: fear of crime, social isolation and crime prevention Margueriete O’Brien1 · James Windle1 Accepted: 13 June 2022 © The Author(s) 2022 Abstract This paper explores farmer’s experiences of crime and their attitudes towards crime prevention in one rural hinterland. Farmer’s attitudes about safety and crime present a dichotomy: fear of victimisation was relatively high, yet few participants reported having been victimised, and there was a perception that agricultural crime was high in Ireland but low in their locality. Feelings of insecurity were partly influenced by the closure of rural Garda stations and uneven distribution of information technology. Participants were most concerned with theft of small machinery, violent coercion connected to fraudulent work, illegal dumping and trespassing, rather than thefts of expensive machinery and livestock. Participants reported being unable to afford some crime prevention measures and/or having insufficient time to implement them. The paper concludes by highlighting the relevance of Farrell and Tilley’s (2020) concept of elegant security to farm crime and discussing the role of community policing. Keywords Elegant security · Farm crime · Fear of crime · Ireland · Routine activity theory Introduction The literature on agricultural crime in Ireland runs to three studies: a theoretical paper (Windle 2022), a qualitative case study (Bowden and Pytlarz 2020; Pytlarz and Bowden 2019) and a larger survey (Walsh and Walsh 2017). While criminological research is relatively new in Ireland (Lynch et al. 2020; Windle et al. 2022) this lack of academic attention remains surprising: there were approximately 137,500 * James Windle Margueriete O’Brien 1 Department of Sociology and Criminology, University College Cork, Askive, Donovan’s Road, Cork, Ireland Vol.:(0123456789) M. O’Brien, J. Windle farms operating in Ireland in 2016, with around 10% of the working population employed in the agri-food sector (Teagasc 2020). Furthermore, the media, including specialist farming publications, commonly report that theft is increasing and becoming more violent (see Bowden and Pytlarz 2020; Windle 2022). Theft from, and damage to, farms not only present significant economic costs,1 which can be passed down to consumers, but fear of crime can impact quality of life. Research in the UK and USA show how farm crime can place farmers under stress, prevent families from taking vacations and motivate some to change career (Mears et al. 2007; NRCN 2018; Smith 2020). In Ireland, journalists and politicians have reported that fear of victimisation has reduced community cohesion (Hamilton, 2019) and some farmers have suffered depression after repeated incidence of burglary and theft (Danaher 2019; see Windle 2022). As the literature on farm crime in Ireland is scarce, this article presents an exploratory case study of one rural hinterland, consisting of seven semi-structured interviews with farmers, designed to explore farmer’s perceptions and experiences of victimisation and crime prevention. While a much larger sample is needed to generalise the findings to the wider Irish population, the study represents a first step towards understanding offences committed against Irish farms and the security measures farmers take to prevent victimisation. The current study is designed to inform a larger study which will give a voice to the social reality of farming in Ireland. Review of farm victimisations studies This literature review focuses on the level and scope of farm crime and reported crime prevention measures. As just one farm victimisation survey has been conducted in Ireland (Walsh and Walsh 2017), the review also draws from studies conducted in other countries. While these international studies offer important insights and benchmarks for the current study, Irish farms tend to differ from these jurisdictions in terms of size, management structure and terrain. As such, their relevance for Ireland is limited and further research in an Irish context is needed (Windle 2022). Extent of victimisation Previous farm crime surveys, across a number of different countries, have found relatively high rates of past-year victimisation. These have ranged from: 30% in a Swedish study (Ceccato 2016); 50 and 62% in an American study (Mears et al. 2007); 50 (Morris et al. 2020), 62 (Smith and Byrne 2017) and 82.5% (Sugden 1999) in three British studies; and 87% in an Australian study (Barclay and Donnermeyer 2002). Another American study found that 33.4% of farms had been the victim of theft (McIntyre et al. 2017). 1 An estimated €1.4 million worth of goods was reported to the Gardaí as stolen from farms in 2017 (Gallagher 2018a, b). The victimisation of farms in Ireland: fear of crime, social… In the Australian and Swedish studies, the most frequently reported crimes were theft of fuel, livestock, tools and equipment (Barclay and Donnermeyer 2002, 2011; Ceccato 2016). The theft of small tools where the most common offences in an American study followed by chemical/fuel theft, breaking and entering, and large equipment theft. The offences that most concerned farmers were, however, machinery theft, illegal dumping, burglary of farm buildings and vandalism. The theft of large plant was reported as rare but carried significant economic consequences (Mears et al. 2007). In a recent British study, theft of farm machinery and livestock were the most reported crimes (Morris et al. 2020). A survey by the British National Rural Crime Network, however, found the most commonly occurring crimes against ‘specific rural businesses’ (mainly but not limited to farms) were fly-tipping, wildlife crime and theft of agricultural machinery/equipment (NRCN 2018). In a farm victimisation survey conducted in Ireland, by Walsh and Walsh (2017:4), 75% of the 861 participants reported having been victimised, of which 41% had experienced more than one incident. The most common offences reported were: theft, vandalism, criminal damage and trespass, assault and fraud. The items most often stolen were: fuels and oil, followed by tools and machinery and equipment. Other items stolen, reported by less than 10% of participants, were: livestock, vehicles, building materials, crops and fodder and chemicals. Only 3% of thefts involved the threat or use of violence. Routine activity theory and farm crime Farms can make attractive targets. They often consist of large areas of land situated in remote locations, shielded by natural barriers from would-be guardians. Many goods found within farms are attractive to potential offenders, ranging from portable tools which can be quickly sold to very profitable machinery (Donnermeyer and Barclay 2005). Almost all studies which have explored why farms are victimised have been influenced by, or exhibit elements of, routine activity theor (...truncated)