Chapter 5: Social Ecology Flashcards
Final Exam
The central focus of the social ecology of crime theories
place as a cause of crime; de-emphasis on individual/group and instead setting
Anomie
strain or stress
Social disorganization theory attempts to explain why some ____ have ____ ____ than others
communities, higher, crime rates
Social D.T. assume that ___ ____ enables a community to ____
social organization, deal with crime
Social D.t. assumes crime is due to ___
organizations that have failed; no defective people
Two principles of interest to social d.t.:
1) people compete for resources
2) people exist in a world of mutual dependence
Who first developed a connection between social disorganization and crime
Shaw and McKay
Where did Shaw and McKay study?
Chicago during 1930-1940
Shaw and McKay discovered that crime commonly occurs where
slum areas, towards the center of city
Zone 1 is known as
inner city; central business district
Zone 2 is known as
transitional zone (high crime)
Zone 3 is known as
working-class zone
Zone 4 is known as
residential zone
Zone 5 is known as
commuter zone (suburbs)
The most crime occurs in which zone? (most important zone)
2
Shaw and McKay’s 3 factors that create natural conditions for disorganization
1) Residential Instability- turnover, no stable population
2) Racial/Ethnic Heterogenity- more groups higher crime rate, disagreements of values
3) Poverty- weakened tax base, focus on survival
______ is endemic in Zone 2
Social disorganization
Who discovered the “code of the street”
Elijah Anderson
Code of the Street definition
system of rules that people living in poor areas follow
Collective efficacy definition
-Who coined term?
idea that residents band together to protect the community
- Sampson et al.
Social capital
based on idea that informal networks in community prevent crime
- trash cleanup, flower boxes, neighborhood groups
Demise of Social Org. Theory
crime was seen as a byproduct of culture and not explicitly the domain of poor communities
Three observations of Hawley (1950)
1) Rhythm to life
2) Follows a consistent tempo
3) Events that occur depend on the co-occurrence of other events (timing)
Cohen and Felson (1979) requirements for crime (3)
1) Motivated offender
2) Suitable target
3) Guardianship
