Structural Theories of Crime

1. Structural Theories of Crime Social Disorganization Theory Merton’s Theory Relative Deprivation Theory

2. Social Structure Theories • Social structure theorists view members of economically disadvantaged groups as being more likely to commit crimes

3. Social Structure Theories • Crime is seen largely as a lower-class phenomenon • Criminality of middle class is generally discounted as less severe, less frequent, and less dangerous

4. Social Disorganization Theory • Social Disorganization theory explains causes of group crime rates rather than why particular individuals commit crimes Crime rate= 2 per 1,000 Crime rate =150 per 1,000

5. Social Disorganization Areas • Social disorganization is defined as an inability of community members to achieve shared values or to solve jointly experienced problems (Bursik, 1988).

6. Social Disorganization Theory • Shaw and McKay (1930s) • They looked at 10 to 16 year-old males who were petitioned to juvenile court (56,000 juvenile court records were used as data from 1900-1933)

8. Delinquent Areas? • The rates of juvenile delinquency had an identical spatial pattern with other indexes of social problems (poverty, residential instability, ethnic heterogeneity) • The spatial pattern of delinquency rates showed significant long-term stability even though the structure of the population in the inner-city areas changed greatly over time

9. CONCENTRIC ZONE THEORY • Cities has five zones (1. Central Business District, 2.transition, 3.workingman, 4.residential, and 5.commuter) • Their "zonal hypothesis" was that delinquency is greatest in the zone of transition

11. Residential Mobility Poverty Racial Heterogeneity Disorganization Crime Shaw and McKay's Model

15. Crime Mapping • http://www.crimemapping.com/

16. Portland • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atys6gKJQY4

17. Sampson and Grove (1989) Residential Mobility Low Economic Status Racial Heterogeneity Family Disruption Population Density/Urbanization Unsupervised teen-age peer groups Low organizational participation Spare local friendship networks Crime

18. Residential mobility • When the population of an area is constantly changing, the residents have fewer opportunities to develop strong, personal ties to one another • Lack of participation in community organizations

19. Ethnic diversity • Effective communication is less likely in the face of ethnic diversity because differences in customs and a lack of shared experiences may breed fear and mistrust (Sampson and Groves, 1989).

20. Family disruption • Unshared parenting strains parents' resources of time, money, and energy, which interferes with their ability to supervise their children and communicate with other adults in the neighborhood

21. Economic status • Areas with the lowest average socioeconomic status will also have the greatest residential instability and ethnic diversity, which in turn will create social disorganization (Bursik and Grasmick, 1993)

22. Population density • High population density creates problems by producing anonymity that interferes with accountability to neighbors

23. Collective efficacy and neighborhood safety • Robert Sampson (1990) • Concept of “collective efficacy” captures “trust” and “cohesion” on one hand and shared expectations for control on the other • Collective efficacy is associated with lower rates of violence

24. Merton’s Anomie • Anomie produces crime • Anomie is a disjunction between the socially-produced and encouraged ends or goals and the means through which they could achieve these desirable ends

25. Strain Theory: R.K.Merton. • American society is structured to ensure that the vast majority of people could never realistically attain these ends through the means that American society provided in legitimate ways - hard work

26. Merton’s theory • Because of this tension anomie occurs

27. Merton’s typology • Merton elaborated five basic responses to the anomic situation which he claimed to see in American society • He classified these types ofconformity and deviance in terms of acceptance and denial of basic ends and means

28. Merton’s typology

29. Merton’s Conformity Conformity applies to the people who accept both socially-produced ends and the socially-legitimated means to achieve them

30. Merton’s Innovation • Innovation is deviant behaviour that uses illegitimate means to achieve socially acceptable goals • Drug crimes, property crimes and some white collar crimes would be examples of innovation

31. Merton’s Ritualism • Ritualism refers to someone who conforms to socially-approved means, but has lost sight of the ends (or has come to accept that they will never achieve them)

32. Merton’s Retreatism An example of retreatism is someone who "drops-out" of mainstream society. The drug addict who retreats into a self-contained world, the alcoholic who is unable to hold-down a steady job

33. Merton’s rebbellion • Political deviance is a good example of the rebellion response, whether this is expressed in terms of working for a revolutionary group or through political terrorism

34. Assessment • Monetary success is the only one motive mentioned by Merton • Some criminals are engaged into deviant activities for no apparent reason (enjoyable) • White collar crime is not explained • If the strains of life really operates as suggested by Merton, why it is most member of society engage in law-abiding activities

35. Relative Deprivation Theory • Messner and Rosenfeld, 1997 • To feel anomie a person should see deprivation • The poorest Americans are far richer in terms of material possessions that the average citizen of many third world nations

36. Relative Deprivation Theory • Relative Deprivation refers to the economic gap that exists between rich and poor who live in close proximity to one another

37. Relative Deprivation Theory • Inner-city inhabitants develop an increased sense of relative deprivation because they can witness well-to-do lifestyle in nearby neighborhoods • People start question their place in the reward structure of society • Sense of injustice is the source of strain that can lead to criminal behavior