social disorganization theory Flashcards
Describe social disorganization theory
Developed by shaw and mckay (criminologists and sociologists) in the 1940s to describe patterns of delinquency in chicago
Saw how low socioeconomic status, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility led to disruption of informal social organization which led to high deliquency
Showed these relationships persisted over time despite changes in the racial/ethnic population
Robert sampson and william wilson further by applying to racial differences in community gun violence
How has it changed/been modernized since first created. (define and talk racial seg)
Specifying/modernizing constructs to include structural factors.
Residential seg: spatial separation of tow or more social groups within a specific geographic area
Codified by 1930s with Homeowner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) provided maps of graded appraisals of neighborhoods based on the “threat of infiltration of undesirable populations” to indicate areas desirable for government backed mortgage lending and economic development.
Known as “redlining,” based on the coloration of the maps, this process denied loans and created and maintained racial and economic disparities and concentrated disadvantage among Black city residents. Prevented home ownership and transfer on intergenerational wealth
Firearm injury highest in historical redlined neighborhoods, mudias thesis looked at intersection of redlining and index of concentration at the extremes- found dose response
Direct residential seg and residential seg through concentrated disadvantage
Further theorizing about the role of formal social control (police) on informal social control
Strengths and limitations of the theory
Strength: concentrated disad available census data, but assumes census tract is the correct spatial unit to measures concentrated dis and collective efficacy- violence is more concentrated than that
Chicago: 40% homicides less than 4% of neighborhoods population
“community” may be a social structure, not a spatial structure. Formed through schools or workplaces, maybe should be measured at the network level
Define concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy. Give examples
Concentrated disad: defined using census data on the proportion of households below the poverty line, on public assistance, female headed, and/or employed
Collective efficacy: social cohesion among neighbors and their willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good
Measured individual level w five item likert scale.. “if there was a fight in front of your house and someone was being beaten..how likely is it that neighbors would break it up?”
Talk about the two mechanisms connecting concentrated disadvantage to collective efficacy?
Mechanisms: concentrated disadvantage fosters community level beliefs that crime is inevitable reducing collective efficacy. Concentrated disadvantage results in spatial and social isolation which facilitates violence social networks and norms and decreases collective efficacy
Define over policing and under policing
Over policing: excessive policing via maintain a large police presence or responding aggressively to minor offenses
Under policing: slow police response times and lack of empathy for victims.
Overpolice–> mass incarceration–>weaken community cohesion for collective efficacy
Under–> disincentivize to intervene due to fears that the police will not respond.
over policing relationship to concentrated disadvantage: over policing more likely in neighborhoods with high concentrated disadvantage
