Shaw and Mckay's

Social Disorganization Theory

Neighborhood conditions

1. Poverty

2. Residential Mobility

3. Population Heterogeneity

Social Disorganization  »          "the inability of the local community to realize the common values of its residents or solve commonly experienced problems" (Bursik 1988)

Crime/Delinquency

Merton's Social Structure

and Anomie Theory

Social Structure:

. culturally approved goals (wealth, status)

.Culturally approved means(school, hard work) → . overemphasis on goals +

                                                                                 . Social Stratification =Anomie

                                                                                   ↓

                                                                                       Modes of Adaptation

                                                                                        1. innovation→ crime

"the Immigration paradox"

indivudual Level:    →     Lower Criminal Propensity

Immigrant Status

Macro level:                      →   Less Crime

Immigrant Concentration

Immigrant Revitalization Thesis

(Macro-Level)

• Lee and Martinez (2002)
• Immigrant concentration improves neighborhood social controls, fosters economic growth builds collective effcacy
• Lee and Martinez (2009)
• Immigration-crime link mediated by strong familial bonds, neighborhood institutions, enhanced job opportunities
• Ousey and Kubrin (2009)
• Higher percentage of married households in immigrant communities
  

Self Selection Argument

(micro-level)

Tonry (1997)

• the first generation of immigrants chooses to migrate for improved life chances
• Maintenance of cultures insulates youth from negative influences
  

the "Assimilation Paradox"

• Segmented assimilation thesis (portes and rumbaut 1993)
• Immigrants follow 1 of 3 possible pathways:
• Upward assimilation(middle class, socioeconomic mobility)
• Downward assimilation(poverty, unemployment, crime)
• Path of purposful resistance: maintain cultural attributes (language, customs) but are able to achieve relative stability and prosperity
• What determines the Pathway?
  

the Criminal Career Debate

• proponents of career crominal paradigm
  
• individuals can be broken down into two groups:
• chronic offenders:commit crime over life
• sporadic, non-offenders: offending short lived temporary
• opponents of career criminal paradigm
• everyone follows the basic age crime curve
• no such thing as offender "groups"
  

1. onset
2. duration
3. termination
   
4. the age crime curve
   

1. the initiation of one's criminal career; when and why does it begin
2. length of criminal career; how long does a person offend
3. end of criminal career; why and when does it end
4. crime peaks at teen years and decreases as age goes up
   

Gluecks study of delinquent boys (boston)

studied 500 delinquent and 500 non delinquent boys in boston

boys matched age race/ ethnicity, neighborhood characteristics and intelligence

multi-factor approach to describe delinquency

• phyysique temperment socio culural
• found that delinquent boys committed crime throughout lifetime
  
• at age 31
• 14% of non delinquents arrested as adults
• 81% of delinquents arrested as adults
  

wolfgang et al. (philadelphia)

• longitudinal study
• studied boys in philly
• 6% of boys were responsible for 50% of all delinquency
• 63% of all serious offenses
• ie chronic offenders

• to accurately identify the "high rate" offender
  

1. prior record
2. psychological evaluations/intruments

• identify factors associated with onset duration and termination of criminal career
• determine Lambda=avergage number of offenses commited by offenders
  

the incapacitation model

• we identify and incarcerate "habitual offenders" (chronic offenders)
• ex 3 strikes law mandatory minimum sentences
  

problems with criminal career paradigm

• can career criminals be identified
• instruments have about 50% chance of accuacy rate
  
• not all offenders caught
• is selective incapacitation ethical
• can we look people up based on what they might do in the future
• does selective incamacitation work
  

life course criminology

• what is life course criminology
• the study of within individual change over life course
• 2 major developmental theories
• moffits dual taxonomy
• sampson and laubs 1993 life course theory
  

moffitt's 1994 dual taxonomy

• there are two distinct categories of offenders
• 1Adolescent limited
• most common
• normal kids mimic antisocial behavior
• start deviance in adolescance outgrow diviance once they reach adulthood
• but some may be ensnared
• drug addiction teen pregnancy arrest school drop out etc
  

moffitt's dual taxonomy

2nd category

• life course persistent
  
  • have some sort of neurological/psychological deficit
  • deviance begins in early childhood; persists throughout life course
  divance creates cumulative disadvantage
• drug addiction school failure arrest joblessness homelessness
  

adolescent limited versus life course persistent offenders

• adolescent limited- offending is temporary sporadic stems from normal adolescent experimentation
  
• life course persistent offenders- offending is chronic persistent from underlying defects (neuro psych social)  that emerge in early childhood
  

sampson and laub's life study

• followed Gluecks group until they were 70
• theory is grounded in social control theory
• crime is result of weak bond to society
• source and stength of crime change over life course
• childhood/adolescence- family and peers most important
• adulthood- spouse and job most important
• suggests that crime ebbs and flows over life course
  

continuity and change and turning points

• childhood anti-social behavior (delinquency, tantrums) is linked to adult anti-social behavior (crime, deviance)
• social bonds (family, school, work) infleunce crime over life course despite anti-social background
• turning points- marraige children work military
  

key differences between moffitt and sampson and laub

Moffitt

• 2 unique classes of offenders
• believes in STABILITY in behavior for life course offenders

sampson and laub

• all offfenders follow age crime curve (not two classes)
• there is both STABILITY and CHANGE in crime over life course
  

criteria of "good theory"

• logical consistency
• empherical tesability-theories are not testable if (tautological, concepts are unobservable)
• utility of a theory
• theoratical scope
• parsimony
• interesting
  

goals of theoretical integration

combining two or more theories to make a more comprehensive theory

do it to better explain the cause of crime

existing theories limited by only explaining certain groups and does not acount for risk factors

objectives of theoretical integration

• how do we establish causality in criminological research
  
• 3 conditions
• 2 variables must be statistically coorelated
• X must precede Y temporally (Poverty=crime
• alternate hypothesises must be eliminated
• we judge theories based on strength of explanatory power
  

why integrate

• to increase predictive power
• R²= how much variation in behavior can a theory explain??
• range from 0-1
• example Self control has an average R² of .20
  

types of integration (3 types end to end, up and down, side to side)

• End to end
• theories are combined in sequential model
• dependent varialbe of one becomes indepent variable on another
• dep V=Y=what you are trying to explain (crime)
• Ind V=X causal mechanism (weak bonds)
• X→Y
• Social control + social learning
• Weak bonds + delinquent peers= delinquency
  

1. Up  and down

2.side to side

1. a general theory absorbs a more specific theory (differential association theory absorbs sub cultural theory
2. combines two theories to explain different types of offenders (moffitts theory or Life course theory)
   

problems with combining theoretical models

• issues (incompatibality of theoretical assumptions)
  
• strain (people are good must be pushed into crime)
• social control( people are self serving must me restrained from crime)
• social learning ( deviance is normal no assumptions whether people are goo or bad)
• parsimony (integrated theories overly complicated)
• utility(what sort of policy implications can be developed)
  

Titles control balance theory

• combines control and routine activites theoy
• broadens scope of explanation (explains deviance adnd type of deviance)
• deviance occurs when there is an inbalance in the level of control that one has and the level of control that one is subjected to
  
• too much control= deviance to little contril=deviance
• too little control=defiance curfew violations, vandalism; predation theft homocide rape fraud submission passive obediance allowing ones self to be degraded physically or sexually
• too much control=exploitation indirect predation corporate price fixing negligance plunder corruption white collar crime missapporaption of funds decadance sadistic acts harming kids