The Fine Line

Rural Justice, Public Health and Safety, and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3755949
AutoresJennifer Sherman (Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA), J D Sherman (0000-0003-3956-6709, Washington State University, autor correspondente), Jennifer Schwartz (0000-0002-5091-3137, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA)
Ano2024
Volume68
Fascículo9
Páginas1216-1237
Data de publicação2024-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00027642211003144
OpenAlexW3138601903
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas20

In this article, we provide an early glimpse into how the issues of public health and safety played out in the rural United States during the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on Washington State. We utilize a combination of news articles and press releases, sheriff's department Facebook posts, publicly available jail data, courtroom observations, in-depth interviews with those who have been held in rural jails, and interviews with rural law enforcement staff to explore this theme. As elected officials, rural sheriffs are beholden to populations that include many who are suspicious of science, liberal agendas, and anything that might threaten what they see as individual freedom. At the same time, they expect local law enforcement to employ punitive measures to control perceived criminal activity in their communities. These communities are often tightly knit, cohesive, and isolated, with high levels of social support both for community members and local leaders, including sheriffs and law enforcement. This complex social context often puts rural sheriffs and law enforcement officers in difficult positions. Given the multiple cross-pressures that rural justice systems faced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we explore the circumstances in which they attempted to protect and advocate for the health and safety of both their incarcerated and their nonincarcerated populations. We find that certain characteristics of rural communities both help and hinder local law enforcement in efforts to combat the virus, but these characteristics typically favor informal norms of social control to govern community health. Thus, rural sheriff's departments repeatedly chose strategies that limited their abilities to protect populations from the disease, in favor of appearing tough on crime and supportive of personal liberty

Context (archaeology) · Crime control · Criminal justice · Criminology · Economic Justice · Enforcement · Geography · Law enforcement · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Punitive damages · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Public Administration · Public Health Policies and Education