Social Disorganization Theory

The Feel of a Place• You are riding the subway alone in a major city

that you have never been to before. After three or four stops, you realize that you are on the wrong train and are lost. You decide to get off at the next stop to ask someone for help, but only if it looks like you are in a good neighborhood – otherwise you are getting back on the train.

• What cues would you use to determine whether you were in a good or bad neighborhood? What would each cue tell you about the neighborhood?

Understanding the Spatial Distribution of Crime

• Why do crime rates differ across neighborhoods within a city?

• Is neighborhood crime due solely to the kinds of people who live there, or is there something about the neighborhood environment that fosters crime?

Chicago School

• Social ecology of Park and Burgess– Inspired by plant and animal ecology

• Based on competition for space

• Studied Chicago, early-mid 20th century– Rapid growth due to immigration, urbanization,

and industrialization– Interested in the moral effects of these changes

Chicago School ModelConcentric zone model

I. CBDII. Zone of TransitionIII. Working Class ZoneIV. Residential ZoneV. Commuter ZoneI

II

IIIIVV

Cities expand radially outwardas people compete for good space

The Study of Crime in ChicagoShaw and McKay

• Mapped addresses of delinquents 1920-50

• Findings– Crime was highest in zone of transition (Zone

2), lowest in commuter zone– High crime persisted in Zone 2 regardless of

which ethnic group lived there– Groups that left Zone 2 committed less crime,

groups that entered committed more crime– Same pattern for other social problems

Shaw and McKay’s Conclusion

• Place matters!

• Crime was NOT to due to inferior biology or ethnic pathology

• The causes of crime were in the place

Why the Zone of Transition?• Poverty• Ethnic heterogeneity (foreign born)• Residential mobility (to other zones)• Disorder, incivilities• Competing ways of life – subcultures

• Led to social disorganization, which led to crime

The Social DisorganizationModel

Poverty

Residential Mobility

Ethnic Heterogeneity

SocialDisorganization

Crime

Criminal Subculture

What exactly is social disorganization?

• Social disorganization:– Sparse local networks, weak social ties– Low organizational participation– Lack of cohesion and trust among neighbors

• Result: – Inability to solve problems and pursue goals– Parents less able to socialize and control youth– Breakdown in surveillance

Socialization & Social Control

• The goal of socialization is to get youth to learn, accept, and live by conventional norms

• In what ways do “good” neighborhoods enhance the socialization of youth?

• In what ways do “bad” neighborhoods undermine the socialization of youth?

Policy Implications?

Chicago Area Project• Crime prevention and treatment

– Try to get residents to join together to improve their own neighborhoods, solve local problems, and create social organization

• Clean up disorder• Recreation programs for youth• Increase influence over politicians

• Mixed results – difficult to create social organization

Recent Developments• Systemic model of crime control

– Private controls – friends, family, and neighbors – avoid disapproval

– Parochial controls – schools, churches, and voluntary associations – extends the reach of neighbors’ awareness, also surveillance

– Public controls – ability to leverage government resources (get more police, change policing methods)

Criminal Justice Policy• Disorganized communities are the largest

contributors to the prison population– Mostly due to tough drug laws

• Are there downsides to incarceration policies that focus on drug crime?

• Can removing criminals from a community be bad for the community?

Incarceration andPoor, Minority Communities

• At least 10% of African Americans are under some kind of criminal justice control

• 5-10% of African American men ages 20 to 50 are currently in jail or prison

• In a single year, around 5% of African American men ages 16 to 34 go to prison

• “Some communities have experienced war-level casualties in parenting-age men”

Rose and Clear, 1998

The Downsides of Drug Incarcerations for Poor Areas

• Increases residential mobility– Disrupts neighborhood social networks

• Removes “breadwinners” from families– Opens space for new recruits

• Criminal record limits employment– Increases poverty, lure of drug trade

• Street code reinforced in prison– Increase fear, lack of cohesion