Social Disorganization Theory Of Crime In Neighbourhoods

In this research study, we will be examining The Social Disorganization Theory derived from The Chicago School of criminology. The purpose of this study is to better understand the social and ecological characteristics of those whom reside within this community and the environmental influences that may have contributed to the increased crime rate; which has significantly lead to mass incarceration within the urban community. This research will examine how many environmental characteristics impact the community and the particular disadvantages which lead to the increase in crimes? We will also assess the different legislative factors that theoretically contribute to the growing rate in poverty, which ultimately leads to an increase in the incarceration rates? Lastly, we will further explain the correlation between poverty and crime, and how it contributes to greater disparities within the community. These questions will be answered by focusing on impoverished communities consisting of primarily African Americans and Latinos.

For years, gang crime has been loathed by society, as society has perceived it to threaten the well-being of its members. In addition to the fear of gang violence, concerns have been raised of gangs polluting youth; hence, policing strategies have emerged more increasingly in an attempt to put an end to the delinquency. Nevertheless, for society the causation of gang crime has been discussed to a lesser extent; thus, the objective of this essay will be to depict a viable explanation of gang crime through the use of two criminological theories. To accomplish the task at hand; I shall, define gang crime, provide a description of social disorganization theory, illustrate how the application of social disorganization theory provides an explanation of gang crime, describe differential opportunity theory, demonstrate how differential opportunity theory can explain gang crime, and exemplify as to which theory provides a superior explanation of gang crime. In the end, it will be clear that social disorganization theory is a superior explanation of gang crime in comparison to differential opportunity theory, due to its ability to deliver a more enhanced explanation than the one that is provided by differential opportunity theory.

In this article, as the title suggests, it explains the use of social class differences to explain racial differences in crime. Among earlier arguments are the subculture of violence and subculture of poverty theories, which argue that African Americans tend to have pro-crime norms and values. The article's author, Robert D. Crutchfield, goes in depth with recent and more advanced theories to explain the link between poverty, crime, and race, while criticizing the subcultural theories. These new theories tell a different view from that of the subcultural theories with evidence showing that economic disadvantage and the way how society is structured accounts for the link between poverty, crime, and race. From these evidence, ethnographers conclude

This breakdown of organization and culture within a community leads to a lack of informal social control which in turn leads to higher crime rates especially in the juvenile population (Simons, Simons, Burt, Brody, & Cutrona, 2005). Social disorganization theory asserts that strong levels of connection within a community along with a sense of civic pride motivate individuals to take a more active role in the community therefore acting as a deterrent to crime.

There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz, tells a story about the family of LaJoe and Paul Rivers. The book focuses on Lafayette and Pharaoh, two of the younger children in the family, and their interactions with each other, the neighborhood, their family, their friends, and the police. Following the family over three years shows the importance of neighborhood factors when it comes to crime. According to Sampson and Groves (1989), social disorganization refers to “the inability of a community structure to realize the common values of its residents and maintain effective social controls”. Many aspects in the book exemplify how neighborhood factors, social controls, and community factors have impacts on crime. The book exemplifies how neighborhood disadvantage can lead to informal social controls, which in turn produces crime. Due to these factors, social disorganization is the best theory to explain the crime that occurs in There are No Children Here.

Social disorganization theory was established by Shaw and Mckay (1942) in their famous work “Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas”. The main argument of the social disorganization theory is that, the place where people live will influence the individual’s behavior, and this may lead them to crimes. More precisely, certain characteristics of the neighborhood/community will strengthen or weaken the informal social control within the community, and this has mediating effect on crimes.

Violence was also measured. Violence was measured in three ways. The first was asking the residents how often certain situations occur in the neighborhood. Examples include a fight when a person used a weapon or if a violent argument occurred between neighbors. The second way is personal victimization. The

To test the null hypothesis, if the P-Value of the test is less than 0.05 I will reject the null hypothesis.

The theory of “social disorganization explains how the social and physical environments of an individual influence the choice of behavior that individual makes” (Skoll, 2009). For instance, environments with fretting social structures are likely to experience higher rates of crime compared to environments whose social structures are intact. Precisely, environments with frayed social structures may be characterized by high rates of unemployment, schools in those areas are poorly equipped or have weak administration, and the buildings in such environments are either vacant or vandalized or both, among other characteristics.

Crime and criminalization are dependent on social inequality Social inequality there are four major forms of inequality, class gender race and age, all of which influence crime. In looking at social classes and relationship to crime, studies have shown that citizens of the lower class are more likely to commit crimes of property and violence than upper-class citizens: who generally commit political and economic crimes. In 2007 the National Crime Victimization Survey showed that families with an income of $15000 or less had a greater chance of being victimized; recalling that lower classes commit a majority of those crimes. We can conclude that crime generally happens within classes.

The social disorganization theory also emphasises the importance of social relationships and interaction with our neighbors when preventing crime and deviance (Kornhauser 1978, Sampson and Groves 1998). This explains the reason for high crime rates in urban areas, as it is often that they do not have good relations with their neighbors. The social disorganization theory outlines that the cultural diversity in many urban areas means that they fail to be able to work together. This causes them to care less about what their neighbors think and therefore draws them to commit more crime, which highlights how crime can be seen as a social construction as the lack of social relationship has meant that people living in urban areas are condemned to

Violence is one of the biggest problems in the United States, having consequences that affect not only one but multiple individuals at a time. Crimes, such as robberies from a bank, not only affect the bank company being stolen from but the people that kept their savings in these banks. Many ask questions to find out whether or not a person, residing in America, and their economic status interconnect with the number of crimes being committed. When trying to find out whether this is really true, researchers have to take on the perspectives of both teens and adults. Along with these perspectives, researchers have to collect data possible from all sources possible to find the correlations between poverty and crime/violence. Subsequently, the factors

Social Disorganization theory connects crime rates to neighborhood ecological characteristics. Based on the research and according to Osgood and Chambers, social disorganization theory specifies three important variables; residential instability, ethnic Heterogeneity, female-headed households. These three variables are considered to be the most criminogenic.

Although my personal experiences are not involved in gang like activity, or serious deviant behavior, it still resembles the actions children make when they are left unsupervised. These behaviors become so normalized in these inner cities, which people just become accustom to delinquent behavior because it is so embedded within communities. This theories concern is only with how the “characteristics of geographical areas, such as whether they are disorganized, influence crime rates” (Cullen). Although I think that this is an interesting aspect to consider upon looking at crime rates, I do not think it is accurate to study a community without studying the characteristics of those who make up the community as well. Sampson and Wilson argue that social disorganization is linked to racial inequalities rather then it being a natural part of city growth. I think that this is an accurate statement, because racial inequality is what creates such a tremendous divide among communities, and I believe that if racial inequality did not exist, we would not have as much disorganization within communities. It has also been argued that “cultural values emerge that do not

Criminologists have been looking at the correlation between poverty and crime since criminology became a real discipline. They do not think the poor are criminals; this is not the case. It is just that the association between poverty and childhood development leading to crime is too strong to ignore. This is probably why many poor and working-class families desire to live in the suburbs, believing that their children will have better opportunities in education and work and that it would be a way to escape from the threat of urban violence. On the other hand, those who live in the suburbs are hesitant of allowing them to come into their neighborhoods because they think that crime, drugs, blight, bad schools, and higher taxes will inevitably follow. With this in mind, one now asks three questions with the first two being psychological and the last being a result of the answers to the first two: 1) Does one’s neighborhood shape who they are? 2) Would one be a different person if they grew up somewhere else? 3) Should suburbs be mandated to rewrite their zoning laws and allow a “fair share” of affordable housing? This work will attempt to answer these questions.