Essay about Social Disorginization theory - 1296 Words

Shaw and McKay (1942) focused their research on the rapidly expanding city of Chicago Illinois in the early 1900’s. Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that the population of Chicago expanded from 1 million people in 1890 to double that size within 20 years. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) it was in this era of rapid expansion that researches begin to think differently about crime. Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that the researchers began to think that the understanding of crime may not be found in the studying of an individual criminal traits but the study of the traits of the environment in which a criminal lives and interacts. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) this led to a question in which researchers thought a possible solution of†¦show more content†¦Park, Ezra, Burgess, and McKenzie (1967) labeled this area the â€Å"zone of transition†. In was in this â€Å"area of transition† that Shaw and McKay’s theory of social disorganization took was formed. The main arguments of the social disorganization theory of crime according to Shaw and McKay (1942) are that crime can be attributed to the absence of community unifying institutions. Social disorganization theory links the cause of crime to these specific neighborhood characteristics. Sampson and Groves (1989) stated that residential mobility, low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, and family disruption are characteristics that lead to the social disorganization of a community thus, leading to an increase in crime and inherently causing a criminal subculture. Shaw and McKay (1942) focused their research in the â€Å"areas of transition† that had primarily all of the characteristics that led to social disorganization. According to Feldymeyer (lecture, 2/26/2014) the absence of institutions such as: extended family, good school, churches and local neighborhood organizations that cooperative with each other and work together for the betterment of the community as a whole, led to social disorganization. According to Sampson and Groves (1989) because of these neighborhood characteristics and the lack of social institutions of