THE COUNTIES SELECTED FOR STUDY WERE ATHENS, HOCKING, PERRY, CLARK, FAYETTE, MADISON, ASHLAND, MEDINA, AND WAYNE COUNTIES, ALL CONSIDERED REPRESENTATIVE OF OHIO'S RURAL POPULATION. DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM THREE SOURCES: 899 FIELD INTERVIEWS ON VICTIMIZATION CONDUCTED IN THE SUMMER OF 1974; CENSUS DATA OBTAINED FROM 1970 CENSUS STATISTICS; AND UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS COMPILED BY THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION. THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEVELOPED FROM AN ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF THE PERTINENT LITERATURE INCLUDED: DEMOGRAPHIC AND ATTITUDINAL ASPECTS OF THE COMMUNITY; PHYSICAL ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS (DEFENSIBLE SPACE) OF THE BUILDING LOCATION; BUILDING CONFIGURATION AND CONDITION; SIZE AND TYPE OF FARMING OPERATION; LAND TOPOGRAPHY; DEGREE OF NEIGHBORLINESS; AND SECURITY MEASURES. THE RURAL CRIME RATE WAS DEVELOPED FROM THE NUMBER OF CRIMES COMMITTED PER ACTUAL NUMBER OF RURAL INHABITANTS REPORTED FROM THE RESULTS OF THE FIELD INTERVIEWS. TWO MAJOR AIMS OF THE STUDY WERE TO EXAMINE THE CONCEPT OF 'DEFENSIBLE SPACE' IN A RURAL SETTING IN AN ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE ITS USEFULNESS AS A MODEL TO PREDICT CERTAIN ASPECTS OF POSSIBLE CAUSES FOR RURAL CRIME AND TO DETERMINE THE USEFULNESS OF THE CONCEPT OF 'DEFENSIBLE SPACE' IN RURAL AREAS AS A MEANS OF REDUCING CRIME THROUGH THE IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS WHICH ARE THOUGHT TO BE CAUSALLY RELATED TO A LOWER CRIME RATE. THE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THE ECOLOGICAL FACTORS AS INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ACCOUNT FOR ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE VARIANCE BETWEEN THE COUNTIES OF LOW AND OF HIGH CRIME INDEX. INTERPRETATIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS ARE DISCUSSED. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND, STUDY METHODOLOGY, AND DATA ANALYSIS ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. TABULAR STATISTICS AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED, AND APPENDIXES PRESENT THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT AND A MAP OF THE TEST AREA.