- Social disorganization and social control theories are both
considered positivist theories of crime. Why do you think this is
so? How are the ideas of these theories different from those of
classical school theorists?
Social disorganization and social control theories are both
considered positivist theories of crime because they are based upon
empirical research of crime and what causes it; whereas Classical
thought is focused on legal frameworks and the prevention of crime.
There is also the issue of free will, as the Social disorganization
and social control theories both seek to assign the cause of an
individual's decision making on environmental conditions while the
Classical school would assign the cause of the decision making to
that individual's rational thought process.
- In their article "Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas,"
Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. McKay hold “too much focus upon the
individual delinquent” as the reason why our large cities have
undiminished queues of juvenile offenders. Do you agree with their
assessment? Why?
I disagree with Shaw and McKay on this point. First of all, they
list five factors which contribute to social disorganization, and
thus crime. These factors are: poverty, cultural heterogeneity,
physical dilapidation, high mobility, and “other” social ills (
such as high rates of disease and high infant mortality). My
objection to certain of these factors causing crime would be that
they share a common factor with the decision to commit crime in of
itself, which is low impulse control. People with low impulse
control make decisions which impact their level of economic
stability, their education, their health...and whether they stay
within the bounds of legal behavior. Secondly, there is no evidence
that policy based on social disorganization theory has any effect on
reducing crime. Despite $628 million in private grants (Perry, 2013,
para 35), a federal building program worth $258 million(Detroit
News, 2013, para 116), and approximately $325 million a year on
social services (Nichols, 2012, para 8), Detroit remains “...plagued
by violent crime, bad schools, abandoned buildings, foreclosures, and
unemployment”. (Perry, 2013, para 11).
There are other criticisms of Shaw and McKay. “First of all,
social disorganization as an explanation of delinquency downplays the
significance of ethnic and cultural factors. ... In addition, the
duplication of Shaw and McKay's work in different countries has
usually supported their argument that delinquent rates are highest in
areas with economic decline and instability. However, such research
has not reproduced the findings of decreasing rates from the center
of the city outward. In fact, in some countries the wealthy are often
near the center of the city, while the poorer zones of the city are
found near its fringes. Not to mention, Shaw and McKay's work does
not address nondelinquency in delinquency areas. The large percentage
of nondelinquents in delinquent areas should be addressed if this
theory is to be considered a major explanation of delinquency. “
(Wong, 2011, para. 7)
- What five environmental stressors most impact crime in a
community and those who inhabit it? Why?
Poverty, cultural heterogeneity, physical dilapidation, high
mobility, and “other” social ills ( such as high rates of disease
and high infant mortality). I disagree with the premise as explained
in the last paragraph.
- Explain how your views surrounding the following have
changed:
- Causes of community decay.
I have had no changes on my views as to the causes of community
decline
- Strategies used in attempting to combat community decay.
I have had no changes on my views as to ways of combating
neighborhood decay.
- Complexities involved in community efforts to reverse cycle
of decay and crime.
There are so many factors that would be involved in such efforts
that it would be easy to jump on one factor as a critical element to
recovery; however, my views have not changed.
- Approaches of macrolevel and microlevel theorists toward
crime.
To be honest, when I first read about symbolic interactionism
theory, it sounded like academic gobbletygook to me, a multisyllabic
version of Bill Clintons' “it depends on what the meaning of the
word 'is'”. However, as I was attempting to explain this theory in
the last paper, I ran across the following statement, “HÜTTERMANN's
(2000) ethnographic study on "street corner police" has
shown this for the police. Interactions between police and male
juveniles of a so called "street-corner gang" are not only
determined by the public assignment to control, but just as much by a
culture of masculinity that is as evident within the police force as
among the young men of the "street corner gang. (Meuser &
Löschper, 2002, Para 15). And I “got it”. Aggressive and
violent youth may not understand police as a symbol of authority of
law, but they can understand the possibility of possible harm to
themselves from conflict with a stronger (or better organized) males.
I can see the attempts of the other schools to explain crime, but
overall, it seems like they explain human behavior within a criminal
framework, not the cause of crime itself. The theory that made the
most sense to me was the culture conflict theory, as this fits in
with my distaste for “crime” as defined and legislated on
mala
prohibita grounds.
References
Meuser, M. & Löschper, G. (2002,
January). Introduction: Qualitative research in criminology.
Forum:Qualitative Social Research: ?Volume 3, No. 1, Art. 12.
Retrieved April 17, 2014 from
http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/876/1906
Nichols, D. (2012, January 12). Funding
at risk for Detroit's social services. Retrieved April 19, 2014 from
http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ContentRecord_id=d19078af-a3ef-4432-a181-3e6b9ac804da&ContentType_id=abb8889a-5962-4adb-abe8-617da340ab8e&Group_id=2b5f5ef9-5929-4863-9c07-277074394357
Perry, S. (2013, October 20). Detroit
tests what foundations can do to rescue troubled cities. The
Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved April 19, 2014 from
https://philanthropy.com/article/Can-Philanthropy-Rescue/142415/
The Detroit News. (2013, October
4). Six decades in Detroit: How abandonment, racial tensions and
financial missteps bankrupted the city. Retrieved April 19, 2014 from
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131004/METRO01/310040001
Wong, C. (2011). Clifford R. Shaw and
Henry D. McKay: The social disorganization theory. Center for
Spacially Integrated Social Science. Retrieved April 19, 2014
from http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/66
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