Social Disorganization Theory
Social Disorganization Theory in Criminology is a primary theory of crime in the United States. Two criminology researchers developed the theory from the "Chicago School" of criminology, Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay, conducted in 1942.
This theory was one of the earliest theories to challenge the conventional thinking that psychological factors cause crime. The social disorganization perspective argues that social structures, such as family, education, and employment, are better indicators of crime rates than individual factors.
Suggestion of Theory
It suggests that crime is caused by the inability of society to control its members and that this inability results from the disintegration of social structures such as family, neighborhood, and workplace.
Social disorganization theory is a criminological theory that asserts that crime is partly a consequence of the fact that the social structures and values of communities are disorganized.
In particular, they argued that high crime rates resulted from disruptions within communities by way of poor neighborhoods and broken families.
Assumptions of Delinquent Behavior
In their theory, they identified four (4) specific assumptions that explain delinquent behavior:
1. A person's social deviance depends upon the level of his association with delinquent peers.
2. The social structure of a community is an essential factor in the development of delinquency.
3. The personality of a person is an essential factor in his development of delinquency.
4. A person's residential location is more significant than the person's characteristics when predicting criminal activity.
For example, a high school student living in an area of social disorganization is more likely to commit a crime than a high school student living in an area of social integration.
Location of Person is Significant
Social disorganization theory argues that a person's residential location is more significant than the person's characteristics when predicting criminal activity. In other words, a person's residential location and the social structure within the neighborhood are more important than any individual characteristics.
Social disorganization theory suggests that if a person lives in a disadvantaged urban neighborhood, they will acquire criminality by the approval of the culture within the community. Therefore, location matters when it comes to criminality according to social disorganization.
Future of Social Disorganization Theory
After first being introduced in 1942, the social disorganization theory has received much attention among criminology researchers. Many studies of large U.S. cities have duplicated the findings of Shaw and McKay's original study.
Social disorganization theory studies can help policy-makers identify the general factors that encourage criminal activity. This theory has been used to study community crime because it examines the relationship between social structure and crime.
Social disorganization is a breakdown in social organization and processes within society. Social disorganization theory studies have been used in criminology to explain the connection between crime, community characteristics, and culture.