Social Disorganization

Social Disorganization

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Social Disorganization Theory

Introduction

Crime and our reaction to it have been studied now for over 200 years Utilitarian philosophers Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham suggested that individuals think rationally about crime and punishment and weigh the pros and cons before acting . These ideas came to be known as "classical criminology (Cullen and Agnew , 1999 ) Many theories exist today and all anyone has to do is pick up an introductory criminology text and you can read about individual /psychological reasons sociological

causes of crime and delinquency , and genetic /developmental explanations of deviant behavior . One of the most profound findings in criminology that have stood the test of time and the scrutiny of replication studies is Shaw and McKay 's social disorganization theory (1942 . It shares a powerful understanding that , should we be capable of identifying the social forces behind it , would allow us to dramatically reduce or prevent future crime

Social Disorganization

The concept of social disorganization is largely associated with an ecological theory that was developed by researchers of the University of Chicago , such as Park , Burgess , and McKenzie (Reid , 1994 . The Chicago School has studied humans in their natural environments , and has tried to thread the connections of city expansion and social disorganization with crime and delinquency (Cullen and Agnew , 1999 . Park et al (1925 examined the community characteristics to find some apparent explanations for variation in rates of delinquency in the Chicago area They developed a five-concentric-zone model that portrayed the city as a series of circles . At the center of the concentric zone model was a zone referred to as the central business district with its businesses and factories but fewer residences . Zone two , referred to as the zone of transition because businesses and factories were encroaching on this area . This zone contained railroad yards and slum housing . Immigrants usually settled into this zone because it was not expensive and near the factories where they could find job . As they could afford to move , they move to the zone of workingmen 's homes (third zone . This zone was where the working class families lived

The fourth zone was called the zone of better residences . It was essentially a middle-class residential area and it consisted of good quality apartment buildings , some residential hotels , and expensive houses owned or occupied primarily by the middle class . Called the communter zone . This zone contained the suburbs functioned as residential areas for upper middle class and upper class workers (Shannon , 1989 . Each zone had its own structure and organization characteristics , and inhabitants . Park et al (1925 ) found that Zone two was primarily an urban area characterized by low-income individuals and social problems such as crime and juvenile delinquency . The most obvious characteristic of this zone was its constant change because of the influx of immigrants who moved into the area

Shaw and McKay (1942 /1969 ) used the Burgess ' concentric zone model to investigate the relationship between crime rates and the various zones of the city...