social disorganization theory

Question 1

what year was chicago school established?

Answer 1

1892

Question 2

what was the chicago schools object of analysis?

Answer 2

-sociology at Chicago meant urban sociology: the study of social life and human interaction in the modern city

-Chicago sociologists were concerned about the consequences of modernization on patterns of social organization in metropolitan areas. 

-Chicago became the “laboratory” in which they studied customs, beliefs, social practice and general conceptions of life among urban peoples.

Question 3

who were the major players of chicago school

Answer 3

Edwin Sutherland,
Erving Goffman,
Howard Becker,
Clifford Shaw,
Robert Park.

Question 4

why was chicago chosen as a lab?

Answer 4

-growth in size and population
-(from 200 people in 1833 to 3.3 million in 1930)
-industrialization
-(key manufacturing center and transportation hub)
-urbanization and immigration
-(huge waves and migrants from small towns, Europe, and the south)
-(in 1900, half of the city’s population was foreign-born)

Question 5

what is the concentric zone model?

Answer 5

urban model of growth that suggests that a city evolves through a series of concentric circles, each developing into a distinctive zone of social and cultural life that resembles the character and qualities of its inhabitants.

Question 6

what are the 5 zones?

Answer 6

-zone 1: central business district
-zone 2: zone in transition
-zone 3: working class homes
-zone 4: residential zone
-zone 5: commuter zone

Question 7

what are the structural factors leading to social disorganization?

Answer 7

-1) low socioeconomic status
-2) residential instability
-3) ethnic heterogeneity

Question 8

what did shaw and mckay do?

Answer 8

-considered the spatial location of juvenile delinquency in the context of the CZM

Question 9

method of shaw and mckay

Answer 9

mapping, by hand, the location of the homes of all the delinquents boys and girls in their sample

Question 10

findings of shaw and mckay?

Answer 10

-1) spatial distribution of crime and delinquency was uneven but patterned
(-uneven: concentrated in zone 2)
(-patterned: rates decreased proportionately with distance from CBD)
-2) spatial distribution of crime and delinquency was stable over time despite population turnover.

Question 11

what are informal social controls?

Answer 11

-Reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms

-Informal sanctions: shame, ridicule, sarcasm. Disapproval, exclusion

-informal rewards: praise, compliments

-major agents: family, school. Church, work

Question 12

what is cultural transmission?

Answer 12

-young boys in socially disorganized areas learn to value delinquent lifestyles through routine exposure to adult criminal role models

Question 13

limitations of shaw and mckay?

Answer 13

-use of official data
-ecological model
-neglect of middle- and upper- class crimes
-over-predicts crime in socially disorganized areas
-inattention to power and social stratification

Question 14

important features of shaw and mckay?

Answer 14

-overcomes individualistic bias of biological positivists on crime
-criminal behaviour is seen as a normal response to living in socially disorganized areas
-draws attention to the importance of space and location in explaining crime
-paved the way for control theories, learning theories, and subcultural theories of crime