Social Disorganization Theory: The City Of Chicago

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.

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.

The assumption with this theory is that those neighborhoods that are disorganized and messy will have higher crime rates than neighborhoods that are clean and orderly. In neighborhoods that are messy and disorganized, it starts to become the norm, and there starts to become less control that leads to disorder and crime.

To prevent crime, it is imperative that the law enforcement agencies and scholars examine why people commit crime. A number of theories have emerged and many still continue to be explored in exclusion and in combination to seek the best solutions that can ultimately reduce the types and the levels of crime. One such theory that is still being explored is social disorganization theory. According to this theory people's tendency to take part in criminal activities is largely determined by the neighborhood where they are brought up in especially if conditions favorable to crime and delinquency prevail in such places. When communities becomes incapable of realizing common goals and solve problems that its residents face, there is a high likelihood that its residents will engage in criminal activities (Sampson & Grove, 1989). Some of the problems that are likely to increase incidences of crime in neighborhoods when communities fail to address them are poverty, residential mobility, ethnic heterogeneity, and weak social networks. They decrease a neighborhood's capacity to control the behavior of people in public.

“Overall, the broken windows theory did not support the theory that disorder directly causes crime. First of all, it is true that where violence was high, the levels of disorder detected and the relationship was not strong. Second, the level of disorder varied strongly with neighborhood structural characteristics, poverty being among them. Once these characteristics and collective efficacy were taken into account, the connection between disorder and crime vanished in most instances. Homicide, arguably one of the best measures of violence, was among the offenses for which there was no direct relationship with disorder.” (Sampson and Raudenbush, pg. 8)

Social disorganization theory explains the ecological difference in levels of crime, simply based on cultural and structural factors that influence the social order in a given community. Social disorganization is triggered by poverty, social stability, ethnic heterogeneity, and a few key elements. Although Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay (1942), were known for social disorganization theory, in 1947 Edwin Sutherland introduced the notion of a ecological differences in crime that is the result of differential social organization. Despite similar arguments on social organization, Shaw and Mckay argued that the cultural integration explained the ecological variation in crime rates as a result of the negative impact on the community. Also elaborating on structural socioeconomic factors shaping informal control like poverty, heterogeneity, and residential mobility. Later Robert Sampson and Byron Groves (1989), refined the work of Shaw and Mckay by highlighting on the importance of social ties and new measures of social disorganization.

It focuses on the environment that causes people to most likely to engage in criminal activity. It does not focus on biological factors so much which rules out theories that deal with biological factors. It does not focus on white-collar crime because the communities are rampant with poverty. (Kubrin, 2003)

The two theories I chose are The Social Disorganization Theory and The Strain Theory. Social Disorganization theory was created by Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. McKay. They wanted to know why certain areas in certain communities were continuously high in crime year after year. They found that the change or high turnover disrupted the community and caused the communities to be unstable. Social Disorganization Theory has two main sections, the three causes of neighborhood deterioration and the zones model.

In 1942, Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay produced Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas, which aimed to explain crime in urban communities using social disorganization theory. Elliot and Merrill (1934) define social disorganization as “a breakdown in the equilibrium of forces, a decay in the social structure, so that old habits and forms of social control no longer function effectively” (p.20). Using this definition and the ecological approach, Shaw and McKay argue that low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility led to the disruption of community social organization (Shaw and McKay 1942). This disruption is what essentially leads to delinquency and further crime. Numerous empirical studies and tests were conducted in order to determine the validity of the theory. Studies done in the United States and in other countries have also shown support for the theory. In addition, the theory has been extended and revised by multiple scholars and applied to nonmetropolitan areas. The numerous studies and tests of social disorganization theory will prove whether the theory is applicable to other metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas and whether the theory is still applicable to the modern era.

School of Thoughts Compared The Chicago School Theory focuses on the social and economic factors, and the crime rate in neighborhoods compared to their well-established neighborhoods. The theory focuses on damaging social and economic factors such as poverty, heterogeneity, schools, and other external factors that lead an increase in crime rate. One of the studies mentioned above is an example of how unemployment, poverty, and high crime rate obstruct health. The other study mentioned above is an example of how youth neighborhood organizations were used to determine how beneficial they were to deter crime in youths.

This supported the idea that the environment people live in most likely has a big impact on crime rates (Beirne & Messerschmidt, 2000). Shaw and McKay developed a theory which became known as the ‘Disorganisational Theory’. The theory directly links crime rates to neighbourhood environmental characteristics. A core principle of The Disorganisational Theory is that place matters (Heathcote, 1981). Comparing the maps, Shaw and McKay also recognized that the pattern of delinquency rates resembled the ‘natural urban areas’ from Park and Burgess' Concentric Zone Model. Shaw and McKay found that crime wasn’t the consequence of criminals moving to the same area purposely, but instead was the outcome of disadvantaged living conditions, which often generated obstructions for people living in the community. Following this, more people would try to find ways of escaping these poor living conditions, which would often be illegal (Shaw & McKay, 1942). These people would frequently provide others living in the same communities with incentives for criminal behaviour. Sutherland (Hagan, 2007) backed up this point by stating that criminal behaviour is learned, and if people see others thriving on behalf of crime, then they are likely to copy. As Sutherland (1947) stated, people often believe it is acceptable to commit crime if they have justifications behind doing so. Research from Sutherland has shown that many people who commit crimes from poorer communities use their lack of money as a justification for doing

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.

The Social Disorganization theory is an intriguing theory that can be seen in our society today. This theory states that “disorganized communities cause crime because informal social controls break down and criminal cultures emerge” (Cullen 6). The city of Chicago was the predominate focus upon the construction of this theory. The reasoning for this was because Chicago was the fastest growing population in the 19th century, a population starting at 5,000 in 1800 and growing to 2 million in 1900, nearly doubling every decade. At this point in time, the city was composed of citizens who did not speak a common language nor shared the same cultural values. Due to this social divide, these community members were unable to organize themselves in

The two theorist that developed the social disorganization theory were Clifford Shaw and Henry D. Mckay according to their book "Juvenile Delinquency in Urban Areas" they created this theory throughout research they were doing. The two theorists of the social disorganization theory were criminology researchers from the "Chicago School". Social disorganization theory is at the macro level. It looks among different communities and neighborhoods. And it studies many people in the neighborhoods not just one single individual. This theory is the most valid at the macro level because crime rates are explained better in this theory than any other. How Shaw and Mckay created