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Related theories to social disorganisation theory
Strengths of social disorganization theory
Strengths of social disorganization theory
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This paper is designed to provide an in depth analysis on why youth join gangs through the comparison of different criminological theories. In this paper, I argue that social disorganization theory can explain poorly structured education and low socioeconomic status, while labeling theory can explain poorly structured education and low socioeconomic status as reasons why youth join gangs. This paper compares the relative strengths and weaknesses of social disorganization theory and labeling theory and I argue that social disorganization theory offers the most compelling theoretical perspective to account for how these factors influence youth to join gangs. I also argue that unlike the other two theories, a Marxist approach deals with the issue …show more content…
However, social disorganization theory best explains low socioeconomic status because it best demonstrates why youths from low social position on the basis of income and occupation are more likely to join gangs. Social disorganization theory posits that Poor families from different ethnic backgrounds are more likely to reside in disorganized neighborhoods with high rates of unemployment, and that the economic condition of a community plays an active role in crime involvements (Lilly et al. 2015). Studies suggest that lack of finances and inadequate welfare services influences youth to engage in illegal activities to provide for their families (Alleyne and Wood 2014; Young et al. 2014). Youth engagement in gang activity could be as a result of a family’s inability to meet economic needs in the community (Alleyne and Wood 2014). Yiu and Gottfredson (2014) found that there was an increased proportion of gang involvement among youths who were living below the 1.25 poverty level and families who were without a job. Furthermore, as a result of economic deprivation in poor communities, regulations of youths are weakened as social institutions are strained (Lilly et al. 2015). This is mainly because with youths providing funds for the family, parents as well as other conventional institutions lose the power to supervise their activities in …show more content…
However, social disorganization theory best explains poorly structured schools because it analyzes the link between school resources and teachers and the effect it has on the supervision and educational attainment of youths. Research finds that poorly operated schools lack adequate resources needed to employ highly skilled teachers and supervise the actions of youths, which often results in a hindrance of student accomplishments, low educational aspirations, lack of discipline and lack of security in schools (Alleyne and Wood 2014; Yiu and Gottfredson 2014; Young et al. 2014). Studies further show that a greater percentage of youths who join gangs attend poorly operated schools with high victimization of teachers and students (Alleyne and Wood 2014). As a result of victimization, youth become involved with gangs to achieve a feeling of safety in an unsupervised environment. Social disorganization theory argues that residing in disorganized communities with large populations from high concentrations of poverty leads to difficulty in providing youths the support and supervision they need for academic achievement. As a result, youths are left with inadequate supervision and weakened social control, which leaves them predisposed to deviant peer groups in their schools (Lilly et al. 2015). This understanding of disorganized
The broken windows theory argues that if one broken window is not repaired, then a domino effect will follow and gradually more windows will be broken. This theory is argued by Wilson and Kelling, and they say that if a window is left broken, then no one really cares about the community, so more and more windows will continuously break without punishment. The main argument of this theory is that if a community is fully of crime, and they do not do anything about it, then crime will continuously happen. Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization can be connected to the broken windows theory. The main argument of the social disorganization theory is that a poor sense of community and weak social controls cause crime. So if you live in a bad neighborhood
Morch, S., & Andersen, H. (2012). Becoming a Gang Member: Youth Life and Gang Youth. Online Submission
Alex Kotowits’ book, There Are No Children Here, follows two young boys over a course of two years. The environment that the children are raised in is a lower income area that is surrounded by violence, gangs, and crime. The best theory to explain this novel would be strain theory, followed by social disorganization theory. Being raised in poverty generates many issues, which then makes children rebel later in life. Many families experience different types of strain such as experience strain, vicarious strain, and anticipated strain. This not only affects the person who is experiencing strain, but also affects other people who are around them. The novel presents a good example of both general strain theory and early social disorganization theory
Shaw and McKay (1942) focused their research on the rapidly expanding city of Chicago Illinois in the early 1900’s. Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that the population of Chicago expanded from 1 million people in 1890 to double that size within 20 years. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) it was in this era of rapid expansion that researches begin to think differently about crime. Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that the researchers began to think that the understanding of crime may not be found in the studying of an individual criminal traits but the study of the traits of the environment in which a criminal lives and interacts. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) this led to a question in which researchers thought a possible solution of controlling and explain crime would be found in changing environments and neighborhoods rather than changing people.
Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization theory had a profound impact on the study of the effects of urbanization, industrialization and immigration in Chicago neighborhood on crime and delinquency rates. However, Shaw and McKay faced much criticism when they first released their findings. One criticism of the social disorganization theory had to do with researcher’s ability to accurately test the social disorganization theory. Although Shaw and McKay collected data on characteristics of areas and delinquency rates for Chicago communities and were able to visually demonstrate a relationship between by using maps and other visuals, their research did not have an actually test that went along with it (Kurbin, 2010). Kurbin (2010) states that “the
This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.
Many theories, at both the macro and micro level, have been proposed to explain juvenile crime. Some prominent theories include Social Disorganization theory, Differential Social Organization theory, Social Control theory, and Differential Association theory. When determining which theories are more valid, the question must be explored whether people deviate because of what they learn or from how they are controlled? Mercer L. Sullivan’s book, “Getting Paid” Youth Crime and Work in the Inner City clearly suggests that the learning theories both at the macro level, Differential social organization, and micro level, Differential association theory, are the more accurate of the two types of theory.
In result of the growing criticism and the consistent use of official data to empirically evaluate the theory, social disorganization theory, in result, began to decline. Recent theoretical and empirical work however, has led to important refinements of social disorganization theory and an expansion to include constructions beyond the original macro level components that were first specified by Shaw and McKay. Through the work of Robert Bursik, Robert Sampson, and others who have critiqued the theory, social disorganization theory resurged when scholars refined the propositions associated with the theory and clearly defined what social disorganization was.
“Live by the streets, die by the streets.” This is a gangster’s code of conduct. Gang members are murdered or savagely beaten for not following this code of conduct. So, what choice does a gang member have: end up in jail or end up dead? Of course, not everyone who goes to jail is a gang member. But, the majority of those in jail grew up suffering the same hardships. So, what type of hardships normally breed criminals? According to the Bureau of Census, the majority of jail inmates are one or more of the following: male, Caucasian or African American, under 35 years old, and/or lower class (Clear, 2015, p. 165-166). This mix of socioeconomic status, environment, and race are usually found within certain neighborhoods across the United States. These neighborhoods suffer from social disorganization. Social disorganization is when members of a neighborhood, or community, find it impossible to solve the community problems at hand (Chambers, 2000). Factors within these communities become a cycle that becomes increasingly more difficult to break. Factors, such as low socioeconomic status, residential mobility, and heterogeneity, in addition to the social disorganization, produce criminals.
Therefore, the community has informal social control, or the connection between social organization and crime. Some of the helpful factors to a community can be informal surveillance, movement-governing rules, and direct intervention. They also contain unity, structure, and integration. All of these qualities are proven to improve crime rate. Socially disorganized communities lack those qualities. According to our lecture, “characteristics such as poverty, residential mobility, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity contribute to social disorganization.” A major example would be when a community has weak social ties. This can be caused from a lack of resources needed to help others, such as single-parent families or poor families. These weak social ties cause social disorganization, which then leads higher levels of crime. According to Seigel, Social disorganization theory concentrates on the circumstances in the inner city that affect crimes. These circumstances include the deterioration of the neighborhoods, the lack of social control, gangs and other groups who violate the law, and the opposing social values within these neighborhoods (Siegel,
Social disorganization theory links crime rates neighborhood ecological characteristics perspective that explains ecological differences in levels of crime based on structural and cultural factors shaping the nature of the social order across communities, but where the fabric of social life because frayed and torn are unable to provide essential services to their residents, education health to care, because of the absence of self-regulatory mechanisms, which in turn are due to the impact of structural factors on social interactions or the presence of delinquent subcultures. Social control common to most neighborhoods the family, school, business, but the communities the crime has generally been inspired by
In 1997, Sampson, Stephen Raudenbush, Felton Earls conducted a study to measure how collective efficacy within a given community can have an impact of delinquency. They explained that a neighborhood that lacks strong collective efficacy can cause social disorganization. Sampson et al. (1997) explained that social disorganization theory focuses on an individual’s environment instead of his or her biological, psychological, and genetic makeup to determine their likelihood of committing a crime. They explain the four antecedent causes have been discovered that lead to a disorganized neighborhood. The first characteristic of a disorganized neighborhood is poverty. Extreme poverty often influences individuals to participate in illegal acts because of the lack of job opportunity that exists in poor neighborhoods. The second factor that has been associated with social disorganization theory is rapid population growth. An increase of residents in a particular area will increase the probability of crime and poverty (Sampson et al.,
In urban settings children on the streets are more likely to be exploited and become involved with gangs (Vandivere, Tout, Zaslow, & Calkins, 2003). Out on the streets the children are more likely to engage in gangs due to the cared for feelings associated with being part of a group with members looking after each other in a family like manner. The danger of being abused by adults, engaging in acts of violence and high-risk activities is often higher for latchkey
One of the reasons young people join street gangs is because of neighborhood disadvantages. A theory that can contribute to why young people might join street gangs is Social Disorganization Theory. Social Disorganization theory assumes that “delinquency emerges in neighborhoods where neighborhood relation and social institutions have broken down and can no longer maintain effective social controls (Bell, 2007).” Social Disorganization contributes to residential instability and poverty, which affects interpersonal relationships within the community and opens opportunities for crimes to be committed. The break down of neighborhood relation and social institutions create a higher likely hood that young people will affiliate with deviant peers and get involved in gangs. When there is lack of social controls within a neighborhood the opportunity to commit deviance increases and the exposure to deviant groups such as street gangs increase. Which causes an increase in the chances of young people joining street gangs. If social controls are strong remain strong within a neighborhood and/or community the chances of young people committing crime and joining gangs decreases.
“If gangs are dealing drugs or selling stolen merchandise, gang members can become wealthy. When teens sees this behavior they want in on the money”. “Gang members who do drugs themselves and caused other neighborhoods teens to do drugs”. “If a juveniles lives in a neighborhood controlled by gangs, they may look up to gangs for their power and wealth”. Gangs can caused fear in the neighborhood and terrorize others. “This activities can cause harm or land juveniles in prison or detention centers.”(hirby).Teens can learn additional bad behavior from those around them. friendship will probably form and be introduced to other troubled teens and make bad choices. “Youth who a little parental oversight can be easily influenced by gang membership and glamorized violence in popular culture.” That growing number of offender appear to be younger and their crimes are more violent and that law in some states provide tough penalties on juveniles offenders. “ Increasing violence among teenagers and other youth appears to have contributed to a nationwide crime”.peer delinquency is one of the strongest predictors of delinquency that researchers have identified. “A particular issue of concern in the realm of juvenile ...