Economic Conditions and Crime 10 10 2011 Positivism Biological and Psychological Positivism o Focus on individual Sociological Positivism o Focus is on environmental factors o Earliest theories focused on economic differences Economic Structure and Crime Social Stratification Social Class o Classification of people into groups based on social class o Group of people who share similar economic situations values Economic Conditions Poverty Unemployment Economic Inequality Poverty Trends in the US Number of people in poverty is at all time high Poverty rate is relatively stable Children are most likely to be impoverished Elderly most likely not to be impoverished social security Medicare etc Historical Background 1827 France First social statistics published Crime stats were astonishingly regular Regularity suggested crime influenced by societal factors and not entirely due to free will Changing these social factors may reduce crime The Moral Statisticians o Andre Michel Guerry o Adolphe Quetelet Ecological School o Scientific measurement of external factors o Transition from philosophical to scientific Historical Background Cont Andre Michel Guerry First work in scientific criminology o Wealth and crime Higher property crime in wealthy areas o Education and Crime Higher violent crime in most educated areas Ecological maps Adolphe Quetelet Observed regularity in in o Crimes across time o Crime and age gender social class education o Crime and economic conditions o Social mechanics Historical Background Quetelet Possible explanations o Wealthy cities provide opportunities o Wealth inequality provokes passions Increased education did not reduce crime Moral defectiveness o Propensity to engage in crime reflects moral character Crime is an inevitable feature of social organization Enhance moral education and improve social conditions Came to believe moral defectiveness due to biological factors Research on Crime and Poverty Relationship studied for 200 years Crime and Business Cycle o Economic Booms and Busts Research is mixed Economic Expansion in the US o 1960s 70s Increasing crime rates o 1990s Dropping crime rates There are still poor people during economic booms Alternative measures o Percent of people living below poverty line o Structural poverty o Concentrated disadvantage poverty Research is inconsistent and contradictory Unemployment Common belief that unemployment crime Business cycle unemployment poverty crime Unemployment and Juvenile Delinquency Adult unemployment and juvenile delinquency o Inverse o Direct Youth unemployment and juvenile delinquency o Inverse or direct Research is mixed Economic Inequality Evidence of a direct relationship o Crime in developing nations Rapid population growth inequality crime o The USA 1980s increase in wealth inequality violent crime 1990s increase in wealth stable inequality crime drop Difficulties Interpreting the Econ Crime Relationship Poverty is always partly a subjective condition There are two possible relationships o Bad economy more crime o Good economy more crime Instant or lagged effects o At what point do economic conditions affect crime position is a primary cause of crime What should be the unit of analysis o Neighborhoods cities states etc o Economic conditions felt more at NH level High crime areas experience multiple problems o Multicollinearity Poverty vs Economic Inequality o Absolute vs relative Social Structure Theories Disadvantaged economic class Three branches o Social disorganization o Anomie Strain o Cultural Deviance Neighborhood conditions and crime Social disorganization o Unemployment poor housing broken families etc NH institutions unable to exert social control o Families schools etc Anomie and Strain Theories Disjuncture between goals and means Most people in society share the same goals o Material wealth power etc Not everyone has the same means available o Limited opportunities for some lower class This goals means discrepancy causes strain o Anger frustration resentment etc This strain forces us to adapt respond Crime is an alternate means to achieve our goals Neighborhoods and Crime 10 10 2011 The Theory of Human Ecology University of Chicago sociologists in the 1920s Urbanization brought social problems o Why are there more problems in certain areas Human Ecology o Study of humans and their community environment The Chicago School of Human Ecology Robert Park Two key concepts o Natural areas areas when similar people naturally flock together ex Little Italy Chinatown o Invasion Dominance Succession ex Europeans invading USA and giving Native Americans diseases Park Burgess Concentric Zone Theory The Concentric Zone Model o 1 Central Business District o 2 Transitional Zone Recent Immigrant Groups Deteriorated housing factories abandoned buildings o 3 Working Class Zone Single family tenements o 4 Residential Zone Single family homes yards garages o 5 Commuter Zone Suburbs The Origins of Social Disorganization 1920s concern with crime and delinquency Clifford Shaw o Delinquency due to detachment from conventional groups NOT individual pathology Research Strategy o Ecological study Life Histories Shaw and McKay 1942 Juvenile Delinquency in Urban Areas Highest crime rates in zones in transition o Did not matter who lived there High crime rates due to Social disorganization What is Social Disorganization Inability of a community to realize common values or solve community problems Characterized by o Sparse local networks weak social ties o Low organizational participation Translates into reduced informal social control o Breakdown in surveillance socialization and control of youth Causes of Social Disorganization Poverty Population Mobility constant turnover of people living in neighborhoods Ethnic Heterogeneity people of many different cultures and races are together in one community and have trouble uniting Poverty Mobility Social Disorder Informal social crime Heterogeneity control weakened The Origins of Social Disorganization Life Histories o NH provides many opportunities for delinquency o Delinquent activities begin at an early age as play o Delinquency often seen as appropriate o Cultural transmission of delinquency Shaw and McKay s Conclusions and Recommendations Place matters Crime not due to inferior biology or ethnic pathology Changes must come from within the NH o Necessary to develop social organization The Chicago Area Project o www chicagoproject org Criticisms of Social Disorder
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