Chapter 6 Social Structure and Crime

1. Chapter 6Social Structure and Crime Lee Ayers-Schlosser, Southern Oregon University

2. Understand the meaning of “structural” explanation of crime. Recognize the contributions of Emile Durkheim and how his work connects to modern criminological theory. Know the central themes captured by the Chicago School and social disorganization theory. Chapter Objectives (1 of 2)

3. Understand the anomie/strain tradition, including the work of Robert K. Merton and subsequent revisions of his theory. Grasp the different subcultural explanations of delinquency and connect them to broader theoretical traditions. Connect the theories within this chapter to their respective policy implications. Chapter Objectives (2 of 2)

4. The Demolition of Cabrini-Green Housing development Urban Revitalization Demonstration Program Demolishing the severely decayed housing projects Designing mixed-use, mixed-income projects Primary goal: lessen the concentration of poverty within small geographical areas You Are the Criminologist (1 of 2)

5. The demolition of Cabrini-Green housing projects Is the demolition of inner-city high-rise housing projects a good idea? Will it reduce crime? What problems might a “mixed” (subsidized with owned) housing area create? You Are the Criminologist (2 of 2)

6. Introduction (1 of 2) • What role does society play in promoting or impeding criminal behavior? • What social factors lead individuals to commit crime? • What features of society relate to the crime rates of particular geographical areas?

7. Introduction (2 of 2) • Early history of criminology—cause of crime within individuals • Shift from individual to social responsibility for criminal behavior • Biological and psychological approaches still part of modern criminology • New premise—criminality rooted in the structure of society itself

8. Influence of Emile Durkheim (1 of 6) • Father of French sociology • Studied the relationship between social structure and social problems • Foundation for most current sociological theories of crime • Defined crime as behavior that shocks the sentiments and healthy conscience of civilized society

9. Influence of Emile Durkheim (2 of 6) • Regarded crime as a natural part of society • Crime serves several functions • Criminals are agents for social change. • Crime calls attention to social ills. • Crime identifies those who violate social norms.

10. Influence of Emile Durkheim (3 of 6) • Two types of criminals • Altruistic criminal • Offended by the rules of society • Wants to change those rules for the better • Common criminal • Rejects all laws and discipline • Purposely violates the law

11. Influence of Emile Durkheim (4 of 6) • Key ideas • Humans inherently selfish and greedy • Focus on social integration of members of society • Norms and values as a society’s “collective conscience” • Strong norms and values essential to a stable society • Anomie—norms and values of society weaken and are no longer able to control behaviors

12. Influence of Emile Durkheim (5 of 6) • Social change • Mechanical solidarity • Homogeneity • Laws seek to enforce uniformity • High levels of social integration • Strong group norms • Organic solidarity (industrial societies) • Specialization • Low social integration • Weakening of norms

13. Influence of Emile Durkheim (6 of 6) • Social change • When monetary wealth is the goal (instead of self-sufficiency), human tendencies toward insatiable desires are enhanced. • Norms weaken in a society that places an emphasis on industrial prosperity.

14. Social Ecology • The study of how human relationships are affected by a particular environment.

15. Social Ecology 1. Concentric zone theory 2. Social disorganization theory 3. Race, place, and poverty—the underclass 4. Stark’s deviant places theory 5. Hot spots of criminal behavior 6. Policy implications of social ecology

16. Concentric Zone Theory (1 of 3) • Robert E. Park • City as crime laboratory • Ernest Burgess • Cities grow in a systematic way (concentric zones) • Concentric zones structure city according to these types of characteristics: • Residential • Occupational • Class

17. Concentric Zone Theory (2 of 3)

18. Concentric Zone Theory (3 of 3) • Zone in transition major concern • Patterns of growth create social disorganization • Weakening of social ties cause social problems • Disease • Infant death • Delinquency

19. Social Disorganization Theory (1 of 8) • Chicago School • Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay • Macro (neighborhood) level theory • Confirmed that crime is highest in the zone in transition • Transitional population • Fewer neighbors know and trust each other • Less neighborly intervention

20. Social Disorganization Theory (2 of 8) • Stable, high crime rates in areas with: • Population homogeneity • High poverty rates • High population mobility • Physical decay • These features impede social organization and collective efficacy (cohesion and informal control) of delinquency.

21. Social Disorganization Theory (3 of 8) • Once crime is prevalent, delinquent norms and values are culturally transmitted and compete with normative values.

22. Social Disorganization Theory (4 of 8) • Criticism • Ethnocentric • Relied on official arrest statistics, which could reflect police practices more than actual delinquency levels • No empirical support

23. Social Disorganization Theory (5 of 8) • Modern revival • Focus on informal social controls

24. Social Disorganization Theory (6 of 8) • British Crime Survey • Ecological characteristics of British neighborhoods (family disruption, poverty, residential mobility) influence • Informal social control (supervision of street-corner youth) • Neighborhood cohesion (friendship networks, membership in community organizations) • Measures of social control and cohesion predicted crime victimization

25. Social Disorganization Theory (7 of 8) • Policy implications • Target for changing those ecological factors that relate to collective efficacy • Promote neighborhood cohesion and informal social controls

26. Social Disorganization Theory (8 of 8)

27. Race, Place, and Poverty:The Underclass • Inner-city residents less able to accumulate wealth and move to desirable areas • Vicious cycle of poverty and crime • Racial minorities affected most

28. Concentrated Disadvantage (1 of 4) • William Julius Wilson • Social forces • Racism • Residential segregation • Loss of manufacturing jobs • Failure of civil rights policies

29. Concentrated Disadvantage (2 of 4) • Incarceration rate • Interferes with social organization • Fosters joblessness • Reduces marriage prospects • Reduces youth supervision

30. Concentrated Disadvantage (3 of 4) • Implications • Locations inhibit social controls (underclass live in criminogenic neighborhoods) • Isolation from mainstream society and existence in high-crime areas influences cognitive landscape of youth

31. Concentrated Disadvantage (4 of 4) • Conclusions • Moral poverty is the primary cause of crime. • Social structure and public policy shape the context of moral values. • Structural forces outside of a person’s control shape available choices.

32. Stark’s Deviant Places Theory (1 of 3) • Developed by Rodney Stark • Combines social disorganization with routine activities approach Q: How can neighborhoods remain the site of high-crime rates despite a complete turnover in their population? A: Something unique about certain places that sustain crime

33. Stark’s Deviant Places Theory (2 of 3) • Variables that affect the crime rate • Density • Poverty • Mixed use • Transience • Dilapidation

34. Stark’s Deviant Places Theory (3 of 3) • Additional variables • Moral cynicism among residents • Increased opportunities for crime and deviance • Increased motivation to deviate • Diminished mechanisms of social control

35. Hot Spots of Criminal Behavior • Developed by Lawrence Sherman, William Spelman, Barbara Warner, and Glenn Pierce • Some neighborhoods more prone to crime than others • Ecological variables related to crime • Poverty • Racial heterogeneity • Family disruption • Structural density

36. Social Ecology Policy Implications (1 of 5) • Target • Ecological factors • Social cohesion • Informal social controls

37. Social Ecology Policy Implications (2 of 5) • Chicago Area Projects (CAP) • Mobilize local informal social organization and social control—creating “community committees” • Overcome influence of delinquent peers and criminal adults • Assign detached local adults to neighborhood gangs • Recreational programs designed to provide youth with associations with conventional peers and adults • Improve sanitation, traffic control, and physical decay • Produced mixed results

38. Social Ecology Policy Implications (3 of 5) • Neighborhood watch programs • Only successfully implemented in neighborhoods that are cohesive • Moving to Opportunity program • Moving everyone out of poverty-stricken neighborhoods not realistic • Urban-renewal projects • Poor residents pushed out into adjacent areas

39. Social Ecology Policy Implications (4 of 5) • Implications for criminal justice system • Community policing • Active role working with neighborhood residents to identify and solve community problems • Reduces fear of crime • Little evidence of reduction in criminal behavior • Incarceration • High levels of incarceration within a neighborhood might contribute to social disorganization • Potentially increases crime

40. Social Ecology Policy Implications (5 of 5) • Weed-and-seed strategy • Federal initiative • Target chronic violent offenders for incapacitation • Bring human services to the area • Promote economic and physical revitalization • Produced mixed findings

41. Anomie/Strain Theoretical Tradition 1. Anomie/strain theory 2. General strain theory 3. Institutional anomie theory

42. Anomie/Strain Theory • Robert Merton • Most people recognize culturally approved goals and means to achieve them. • Pressure to succeed and lack of means to do so causes strain (anomie). • Crime results when individuals are unable to achieve their goals through legitimate means.

43. Anomie/Strain Theory (1 of 6) • Adaptations to anomie 1. Innovation 2. Ritualism 3. Retreatism 4. Rebellion 5. Conformity

44. Anomie/Strain Theory (2 of 6) 1. Innovation • Accepts culturally approved goals • Pursues goals through unacceptable means • Mostly likely to lead to criminal behavior 2. Ritualism • Abandons goals of financial success • Plays it safe • Seeks to make it through each day

45. Anomie/Strain Theory (3 of 6) 3. Retreatism • Social dropout • Will not resort to illegitimate means • Withdraws from society 4. Rebellion • Opposes cultural goals and means • Seeks to establish new social order • Embraces different cultural goals • Hippies, terrorists, street gangs

46. Anomie/Strain Theory (4 of 6) 5. Conformity • No gap between cultural goal and means • Normative behavior

47. Anomie/Strain Theory (5 of 6) • Criticism • Utilitarian • Narrow scope • Monetary, lower-class crimes • Fails to explain why people react to strain differently • Lack of empirical support • Adolescent aspirations not linked with strain • Poverty and unemployment do not fluctuate with crime rates in a meaningful or consistent way

48. Anomie/Strain Theory (6 of 6) • Policy implications • Reduce poverty • Increase legitimate (educational and economic) opportunities for the lower classes • Delinquency Prevention and Crime Act of 1961 • President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty”

49. General Strain Theory (1 of 4) • Robert Agnew • Focuses more on psychological stress than broad social structure and cultural goals • Sources of strain • Failure to achieve a goal • Removal of positively valued stimuli • Presence of a noxious stimulus

50. General Strain Theory (2 of 4) • Strain produces negative emotional states (anger, depression). • Without adequate coping skills, these emotional states are conducive to delinquency. • Individuals lacking coping skills are more likely to have a delinquent response.