Abigail A. Ramirez, University of North Texas B.S

University of Texas at Arlington

Social Disorganization and Crime Prevention

According to social disorganization theory, crime is caused by the deteriorated neighborhoods, inadequate social control, law-violating gangs and groups, and conflicting social values. The United States has certain types of gang-intervention programs or neighborhood watch programs, and they are implemented as crime prevention strategies derived from social disorganization theory. These policy implications are related to social disorganization theory because of the deteriorated neighborhoods and lack of social control. This theory would predict that each policy would reduce crime because there are several variables that can influence a community’s capacity to develop and maintain strong systems of social relationships.

Social Disorganization Theory

Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization theory measures three central elements which are poverty, residential mobility, and racial heterogeneity. The variables that are used to measure the elements in the theory are from the subculture of violence, opportunity, and social control are included in this research. Shaw and McKay propose that neighborhoods lack of social capita was inadequate to common values and maintain social control. Due to the lack of social control this is assumed to lead to an inability of getting rid of unwanted social issues which includes increases in crime.

Subculture of Violence

It is no secret that gang violence has been prevalent in low-income neighborhoods and Shaw and McKay make that very clear in their theory. So, what does this kind of violence look like and why exactly does it happen? Gang formation stems can be explained by social disorganization. A gang can be defined as delinquency or crime as law-violating behavior committed by juveniles and adults. These individuals would be in or related to groups that are complex organized groups with leadership and membership rules. The group of individuals also engage in a large range of crime but significantly more violence. The crimes that are committed are often committed for the gang and may often include violence because of values in respect to mutual support, conflict relations with other gang’s colors, signs, and symbols, and many times over territory. Different subcategories to the gang may focus on different crime suck as drug trafficking or sex trafficking.  

The government has been trying to “do something” about gangs for decades now (Lane and Meeker). Data from Lane and Meeker present that the simple community concern view, or the idea that people who are concerned about community decline are more afraid of gangs. More data was representative of females, younger people, and minorities being significantly more fearful, independent of their perceptions of community change. 

The people who were more fearful have every right to feel as such. This gang violence can spread quickly. Even when it has nothing to do with you. It could be as simple as being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Youth often get recruited into it and this can mean being exposed to sex, drugs, and even homicide at a young age. This is not just an issue in the United States, but it is also an issue in many other counties. Latin America is far worse. In less than 5-year time frame, Mexico’s war on drugs has claimed between 50,000 and 120,000 deaths, baring this in mind think about how many deaths went unnoticed (Vilalta and Muggah). 

Gang-Intervention Program.

In the United States there is a longitudinal evaluation of a gang-intervention program targeted on minority students in black and Hispanic inner-city schools (CURRY and SPERGEL). These programs are implemented to intervene any possible violence that could occur. This is one of the reasons why community policing in implemented. This allows for police to be more involved with the community and members begin to be more open to trust the police. Of course, this is not trust that is built over night, but this is a process, but it is a great way of being active in the community and deterring crime at the same time. There are some police departments such as Dallas Police Department that have programs like junior police explorer and the explorers’ programs. These programs teach youth more about their rights as well as allow for a space to feel welcomed. Many gang members join for family, but with programs like the explorers it is easier to engage with a different kind of perspective in their community.

Explorers program teaches physically training, offers mentorship, and practice of different scenarios. The mentorship alone makes up for much of the lack of social control in communities. In fact, it also helps in social disorganization theory because some of the people effected are those that come from single parent homes. These youth can feel more advisement over not only what they practice and teach but also their grades in school.  

Neighborhood Watch Programs.

Neighborhood watch programs were designed to increase citizen engagement in crime reduction. This citizen participation was largely due to law enforcement response to urban crime. Long since the inception of neighborhood watch, system approaches have become the most common means of citizen crime control and prevention at the neighborhood level (Bennett 1989; NCPC 2001; Sherman and Eck 2002). As stated early, one of the key assumptions to social disorganization theory is lack of social control. Of course, the assumption is that with policy implementation, is the prediction of reduced crime because of the influence from the communities participation. This participation at a large capacity can aid in the development and maintenance of strong systems of social relationships.  

Despite their size, scope and intended purpose to combat crime, there have been a few studies that have investigated their effectiveness. These studies have found a weak-to-moderate deterrent effect on crime outcomes, or even crime intensifying effects. Overall, the data on the effectiveness of neighborhood watch as a crime reduction and prevention technique is mixed and inconsistent (Greenberg et al. 1985; Rosenbaum 1987; Sherman and Eck 2002; Bennett et al. 2006; Schneider 2008).

Discussion.

Although social disorganization theory predicts that policy implementations such as gang intervention and neighborhood watch programs should reduce crime. This is not always the case; however, this does not mean that social disorganization is a bad theory.  There are several variables that can influence a community’s capacity to develop and maintain strong systems of social relationships and this is taken into consideration. Although, the data on the effectiveness of neighborhood watch as a crime reduction and prevention technique is mixed and inconsistent, social disorganization is still a valid theory. Social disorganization is a good theory because it is testable, falsifiable, and generalizable. Because social disorganization theory is a good theory it allows room for much more research to continue being conducted so that better policies can be implemented to view an overall better outcome. 

References

Lane, Jodi, and James W. Meeker. “Fear of Gang Crime: A Look at Three Theoretical Models.” Law Society Review, vol. 37, no. 2, June 2003, pp. 425–456, 10.1111/1540-5893.3702008. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

Vilalta, Carlos, and Robert Muggah. “Violent Disorder in Ciudad Juarez: A Spatial Analysis of Homicide.” Trends in Organized Crime, vol. 17, no. 3, 15 Apr. 2014, pp. 161–180, 10.1007/s12117-014-9213-0. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

CURRY, G. DAVID, and IRVING A. SPERGEL. “GANG HOMICIDE, DELINQUENCY, and COMMUNITY*.” Criminology, vol. 26, no. 3, Aug. 1988, pp. 381–406, 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1988.tb00847.x. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.

Louderback, Eric R, and Shouraseni Sen Roy. “Integrating Social Disorganization and Routine Activity Theories and Testing the Effectiveness of Neighbourhood Crime Watch Programs: Case Study of Miami-Dade County, 2007–15.” The British Journal of Criminology, vol. 58, no. 4, 17 Nov. 2017, pp. 968–992, 10.1093/bjc/azx062. Accessed 21 Oct. 2021.