CCJS 105: Introduction to Criminology Instructor: Jennifer Gibbs Spring 2011

Notes for Class 14: Social Disorganization and Collective Efficacy

Learning Objectives: By the end of this class, you should be able to: Identify the rationale for introducing sociological explanations of crime Explain and evaluate social disorganization theory and identify the key thinkers Explain and evaluate collective efficacy and identify the key thinkers Social Disorganization In the early 1900s, the dominant theory of crime was Biological. However, another soon-to-be popular view of crime was developing in Chicago at Definition: lack of informal social control Chicago School of crime during the 1920s. It was a Sociological view of crime. Examples Social ecological theories- certain ethnic groups were NOT bad Park & Burgess: Concentric Zones Examined geography of Chicago Divided city into 5 zones Inner = deterioration Outer = prosperous Zone II = zone in transition

Park & Burgess identified 5 concentric zones: Zone I: LOOP (City center) Zone II: transition Zone III: zone of working men homes Zone IV: residential zone Zone V: commuters zone

Social Disorganization Clifford Shaw & Henry McKay Delinquency rates in Chicago: 1900- 1933 56,000 juvenile court records Mapped Chicago o Cartographic school Modeled work after Park & Burgess

Key findings: Delinquency committed in groups City center = high rates of delinquency Moving out = lower delinquency rates o No matter who lived there some areas were characterized by high crime rates (City center) o Stable over time Not necessarily individual factor causing crime Community factors play a role This is important, because it demonstrated that:

Discredited biological theories- not people its places ____________________________________________________

Looking at the concentric zone model, crimes tend to occur in Zone 2.*** Social Disorganization An area can be socially disorganized. Social disorganization consists of three elements: 1. Population instability- transitional neighborhoods 2. Ethnic/racial heterogeneity lack of informal social control (social disorganization is the lack of informal social control) 3. Poverty- Low SES, poor housing, high unemployment Evaluating Social Disorganization Theory [what would Fit Frank say] Does it fit the facts? Crime is disproportionately by: Males, Youth (ages 1525), unmarried people, those living in large cities Is it Tautological? (Tautology= circular reasoning ; tautology is bad) Social disorganization can be argued that it is tautological. It can be counter argued with the three elements. Does it create interesting puzzles? yes Is it testable? yes Does it have empirical support? 2005, Pratt & Cullen did a meta-analysis. Looked at all the studies done in the macro level. They found that social disorganization theory had the highest empirical support. Policy implications? Create more jobs, it reduces poverty and reduces social disorganization. Other criticisms:

Ecological fallacy- macro level info predicted to explain individual behavior. Ex. It is wrong to say because I live in a social disorganized neighborhood, that means I will be bad. Community changeNot all lower class communities lack social organizationAssumes natural housing market- there are government programs to help people move to better places. Ex. Low income housing

Social disorganization faded out in the 1960s and 1970s when individual theories became popular at the same time the programs that had resulted from the work were found to have negligible results. Collective Efficacy In 1997, an article was published in Science by Sampson, Raudenbush & Earls (1997) These scholars examined the rates of violence in 343 neighborhoods. Concentrated disadvantage Poverty Race & age consumption Family disruption

Sampson and colleagues (1997) found: Concentrated disadvantage related to violence! BUT mediated through collective efficacy Concentrated Disadvantage , collective efficacy, violent crime [put in the 3 boxes]

Collective efficacy is: Willingness of residents to exercise informal social control Mutual trust Social Cohesion

Social capital= Communities where residents are close & trust one another

Collective efficacy is not simply the opposite of social disorganization Not as simple as being organized Not simply informal social control Addition of mutual trust & support

Have we met todays learning Objectives? Do you feel you are able to: Identify the rationale for introducing sociological explanations of crime Explain and evaluate social disorganization theory and identify the key thinkers Explain and evaluate collective efficacy and identify the key thinkers Assignments: READ Hagan, Chapter 6 (pages 153-157) Hagan, Chapter 6 (pages 153-157) Outline: Social Process Theories The Chicago School Human Ecology Shaw & McKays Social Disorganization Theory Routine Activities Designing Out Crime