Psychology; Social Scier.'e Research; *Social Theories

Crime problems in rapidly growing communities have bean viewed from a number of different theoretical perspectives. This paper offers a structural analysis that focuses on the density of acquaintanceship. When a small and stable rural community suddenly experiences rapid growth, one of the expected consequences can be a significant decline in the community's density of acquaintanceship, i.e., the proportion of community members who are personally acquainted with one another. Variables that affect density of acquaintanceship include community population, length of residence, anticipated length of residence, diversity, and segregation. From the structural perspective, evidence of disruption should be visible in three areas of social futctioning: socialization of the young, caring for a community's weaker members, and the control of deviance. Examination of existing studies shows that in 20 of 22 comparison