Social And Social Structure Theory

On December 6th, 2012, the state of Washington legalized the use and possession of marijuana by adults over the age of 21. There were already laws in place to provide for the medical use of marijuana before this date, therefore this new initiative (Initiative 502) pertained mainly to recreational marijuana users. According to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office the day prior to the law going into effect, “The Department of Justice is reviewing the legalization initiatives recently passed in Colorado and Washington State. The Department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged.

Films Media Group (2007). Lockdown: Tent City [Video file]. Retrieved from Films on Demand website: http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=7967&xtid=40796

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.

And on the other hand how “Code of the Streets” shows links to the Differential Association and Social Learning theories of crime. The Differential Association (closely related to Social Disorganization theory), developed by Edwin Sutherland, and Social Learning theory, developed by Ronald Akers, both theories of crime are theories that try to explain, at a micro-level, why individuals rather than groups of individuals commit crime (Feldmeyer, Differential Association and Social Learning, 2015).

Social disorganization is a macro-level theory which focuses on the ecological differences of crime and how structural and cultural factors shape the involvement of crime. A person’s residential location is a factor that has the ability to shape the likelihood of involvement in illegal activities. The social disorganization theory looks at how socioeconomic status and the environment affects individuals and motivates them to become a part of a gang. Shaw and McKay link area delinquency to three attributes of the social disorganization theory; economic deprivation, residential instability and race and

In regards to recent motives and outcomes of crimes, the social disorganization theory presents a new outlook into why individuals from poor neighborhoods can begin to dissociate from social normality and become issues within society. Individually, we have the choices and the ethics to lead our lives. Entering social dilemmas is probable, but with the right choices, anyone can be presently normal. Society demands everyone to be competent, willing to produce content as a job, and withhold from being an issue. Being able to analyze by using the social disorganization theory is needed so that we can start to assist those in the “bad” neighborhoods to prevent any more come ups of people growing into difficult or criminal members of society. As this theory suggests, groups of people within various backgrounds can cause many of these issues, however, with probable resolutions, these issues can digress rapidly and improve all actions of society if the proper motives, authority, and action is taken. This was very present in my hometown with the north side versus the south side of town. I got to grow up on both the good and bad sides of town, making this an advantage for me with

The social disorganization theory is directed towards social conditions. This theory argues that crime is due to social conflicts, change, and lack of consensus in the group.

This paper takes a closer look at the social learning’s of society’s subculture that displays delinquent behavior. Using differential association I explain the learned behavior through the social environment such as role models, peer influence, and poverty stricken families. Delinquency is not biologically nor psychologically but is learned just as a person learns to obey the law. The study design is to help further the notion that criminal behavior is learned and not inherited due to genetic structure.

Frank Schmalleger explains the theory of social disorganization as one that depicts both social change as well as conflict, and lack of any agreement as the origin of its cause for both criminal behavior as well as nonconformity to society and closed associated with the ecological school of criminology (Schmalleger, 2012, p. 152). The philosophy behind the organization and structure of a society and how that contributes to criminal behavior within society is by stressing poverty, economic conditions, lack of education, lack of skills, are not sought-after in the work place, and divergent cultural values. Criminal behavior is the result of the person’s assignment of location within the structure of society.

This perspective originated with Émile Durkheim, a French sociologist, social psychologist, and philosopher, and the one who formally established and is considered the father of sociology, as the social sciences was not considered an independent field of study separate from philosophy at the time of his writings. Durkheim was interested in how social order and society as a whole remains stable, and used a scientific approach to study society. As Kenneth Allan quotes from Émile Durkheim (2005), “…if, in addition, society lacks the unity based upon the commitment of men’s wills to a common objective, then it is no more than a pile of sand that the least jolt or the slightest puff will suffice to scatter” (p. 136). Using this view of society as a creation of a collective group of individuals that work toward a common objective, functionalism looks at the institutions of society and how they contribute to the society’s stability. These institutions include the government, family, education, medicine, the justice system, the military, mass media, and other similar formal organizations. Each of these institutions are organized to fulfill the different needs of society and are all interdependent. Functionalism focuses on the order and social stability of a society, and credits disorganization and a lack of adaptation to new and changing times as the causes of social

Social control/bond theory was developed by Travis Hirschi in1969. The social control approach is one of the three major sociological perspectives in understanding crime in our contemporary criminology. The theory holds that individuals will break the law as a result of the breakdown of the social bonds (Akers & Sellers, 2004, p. 16). Control theorists believe that an individual conformity to societal social values and rules produced by socialization and maintained through social ties to the people and institutions. The social bond may include family attachment, an individual commitment to social norms or institutions like school, employment, churches and mosques. The key elements of the social bonds theory are an attachment to other individuals in the society and the desire to remain committed to following rules. In addition, an individual involvement in typical social behaviours as well as one 's belief or the value systems a person ascribes. According to the theory, crime and delinquency will result when a person bond to society is weak or lose (Demuth & Brown, 2004, p.65). Moreover, as social bonds increase in strength, individual costs of crime increases as well and this ultimately act as a barrier for committing a crime.

There are several theories created by many thinkers of our time that believes that societal, financial, and social arrangements and/or structures as the main cause of criminal behavior. In society, depending on where you are, there are usually some unwritten norms that are expected to be followed. It can be in a business corporation, out in the streets, at home. Usually there will be two sets of norms that is expected to be followed that causes an individual to feel torn. However, the feeling of being torn is the inner battle of doing the right thing, conscience or keeping yourself alive.

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.

In this paper I will examine the social structure theory, along with its definition and how the different types of theories make up the social structure theory. I will also attempt to discuss the strain, culture conflict, and social disorganization theory all of which make up the social conflict theory. I also wish to discuss the video “Tent City, Arizona” and answer the following questions, “How does the video you selected support a social structure theory? What is the primary subject or content of the video? What social issues are raised in the video? What major principles of sociological theory are addressed in the video? What might be some possible ramifications for social policy change?”

This theory has a different focus than typical theories; in this theory, conformity is emphasized, specifically, with the focus being on the reasoning behind why people conform and obey society’s rules, instead of why people deviate from norms. This theory operates under the basic assumption that delinquent behavior occurs because of a person’s bond or tie to society being weak or non-existent. There are four elements that make up this bond: attachment to others, commitment, involvement, and belief. Thus, the stronger the bond’s element, the less likely a person is going to engage in crime; likewise, the weaker the element of the bond is, the more likely a person is going to commit crime. Also, all four identified elements are said to be connected and interdependent, so a weakness in one element will more than likely lead to weaknesses in the other elements. In other words, these elements control a person’s level of conformity; crime control stems from one’s ties to conventional society. This theory also assumes that people are born naturally selfish; however, this is not a born tendency or trait. Rather, this means that the motivation for crime in society is evenly spread out since everyone has the same inclination for crime. Similarly, under this theory, the way people are controlled by society through these bonds is