Locality

Question 1

what is locality in criminology?

Answer 1

it refers to the specific geographic area/community where crime occurs and how local factors influence criminal behaviour.

Question 2

a functionalist perspective on locality

Answer 2

referrers back to the concept of anomie -durkheim claims that urbanisation comes about due to the breakdown of community relationships. in urban areas, people don’t share the social norms, values and beliefs, the concept of collective consciousness has gone.

Question 3

what is the zone of transition?

Answer 3

shaw and mckay (1931, 1942) - states that the zone of transition has the highest amounts of crime - they saw how the crime rate declines the further one moves away from the centre.

Question 4

what factors in the zone of transition lead to high levels of crime?

Answer 4

(all of these factors lead to high levels of crime which stem from social disorganisation) highly populated, large turnover in immigrant population, immigrants become successful and move onto wealthier places and a new wave of immigrants arrive. the lack of community spirit and close relationships with neighbours i.e., no sense of duty - more likely to commit crime within own neighbourhood

Question 5

what are the strengths and weaknesses?

Answer 5

strengths - offers alternative route of blame, instead of blaming the individual, the blame is laid on the environmental setting. a relationship has been created between crime and the rural area.
weaknesses - emphasis of disorganisation goes against the idea of organised crime. often argues that in urban areas there is greater opportunity for people to commit crime (felson and clarke 1998 - higher level of opportunity are the ‘root cause’ of crime)

Question 6

can you tell me about the 1957 morris croydon study?

Answer 6

It was found that high crime wasn’t necessarily linked to a specific zone but rather to certain pockets of high-crime areas, especially council estates. Morris argued that these council estates were not socially disorganised but were actually tightly-knit communities where people had strong connections with neighbors, and there was little population turnover. however, middle-class areas were more socially disorganised with fewer interactions.

Question 7

can you tell me about the baldwin and bottoms 1976 sheffield study?

Answer 7

1. Categorised the city into three main areas; owner occupied accommodation, council tenants, and rented accommodation.
2. Found significant differences between the three areas, with the latter two have the highest crime rates.
3. The degree of social disorganisation was a factor but it was not found to be significant on council estates – does not support Shaw and McKay.