Beyond Social Disorganization Theory: the Influence of Multiple Structural Determinants of Crime on an Urban Community
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Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice National Institute of Justice R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f Julie E. Samuels, Acting Director February 2001 Issues and Findings Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods— Discussed in this Brief: The link between disorder and crime; Does It Lead to Crime? specifically, whether manifesta- tions of social and physical disor- By Robert J. Sampson and Stephen W. Raudenbush der, such as public drunkenness, graffiti, and broken windows, According to a now-familiar thesis, social Disorder is indeed related to crime. The lead directly to more serious and physical disorder in urban neighbor- broken windows metaphor is apt insofar as offenses. The study, part of the hoods can, if unchecked, lead to serious it asserts that physical signs of decay sig- long-range Project on Human crime. The reasoning is that even such nal neighbors’ unwillingness to confront Development in Chicago minor public incivilities as drinking in strangers, intervene when a crime is being Neighborhoods, assesses the the street, spray-painting graffiti, and committed, or ask the police to respond. “broken windows” thesis and breaking windows can escalate into preda- Disorder may in fact be more useful than its implications for crime control tory crime because prospective offenders crime for understanding certain troubling policy and practice. assume from these manifestations of dis- urban processes, such as the abandonment Key issues: The assumption that order that area residents are indifferent of many of the Nation’s urban cores. That social and physical disorder can to what happens in their neighborhood.1 is because disorder can be observed, escalate to serious crime has had The “broken windows” thesis has greatly while crime, by contrast, is largely unob- a major influence on law enforce- influenced crime control policy, with served. -
Thomas Theorem and the Matthew Hfed?
The Thomas Theorem and The Matthew Hfed? ROBERT K MERI'ON, Cohmbiu University and Russell Sage Foundation Eponymy in science is the practice of affixing the names of scientists to what they have discovered or are believed to have discovered,’ as with Boyle’s Law, Halley’s comet, Fourier’s transform, Planck’s constant, the Rorschach test, the Gini coefficient, and the Thomas theorem This article can be read from various sociological perspectives? Most specifical- ly, it records an epistolary episode in the sociointellectual history of what has ’ The definition of epw includes the cautionary phrase,“or are belkvedto have discovered,” in order to take due note of “Stigkr’s Law of Eponymy” which in its strongest and “simplest form is this: ‘No scientific discovery is named after its original discovereV (Stigler 1980). Stigler’s study of what is generally known as “the normal distribution” or “the Gaussian distribution” as a case in point of his ixonicaBy self-exemplifyingeponymous law is based in part on its eponymous appearance in 80 textbooks of statistics, from 1816 to 1976. 2 As will become evident, this discursive composite of archival dccuments, biography of a sociological idea, and analysis of social mechanisms involved in the diffusion of that idea departs from the tidy format that has come to be p&bed for the scientific paper. This is by design and with the indulgent consent of the editor of SocialForces. But then, that only speaks for a continuing largeness of spirit of its editorial policy which, back in 1934, allowed the ironic phrase “enlightened Boojum of Positivism” (with its allusion to Lewis Carroll’s immortal The Hunting of the &ark) to appear in my very fist article, published in this journal better than 60 Y- ago. -
Social Theory's Essential Texts
Conference Information Features • Znaniecki Conference in Poland • The Essential Readings in Theory • Miniconference in San Francisco • Where Can a Student Find Theory? THE ASA July 1998 THEORY SECTION NEWSLETTER Perspectives VOLUME 20, NUMBER 3 From the Chair’s Desk Section Officers How Do We Create Theory? CHAIR By Guillermina Jasso Guillermina Jasso s the spring semester draws to a close, and new scholarly energies are every- where visible, I want to briefly take stock of sociological theory and the CHAIR-ELECT Theory Section. It has been a splendid privilege to watch the selflessness Janet Saltzman Chafetz A and devotion with which section members nurture the growth of sociological theory and its chief institutional steward, the Theory Section. I called on many of you to PAST CHAIR help with section matters, and you kindly took on extra burdens, many of them Donald Levine thankless except, sub specie aeternitatis, insofar as they play a part in advancing socio- logical theory. The Theory Prize Committee, the Shils-Coleman Prize Committee, SECRETARY-TREASURER the Nominations Committee, and the Membership Committee have been active; the Peter Kivisto newsletter editor has kept us informed; the session organizers have assembled an impressive array of speakers and topics. And thus, we can look forward to our COUNCIL meeting in August as a time for intellectual consolidation and intellectual progress. Keith Doubt Gary Alan Fine The section program for the August meetings includes one regular open session, one Stephen Kalberg roundtables session, and the three-session miniconference, entitled “The Methods Michele Lamont of Theoretical Sociology.” Because the papers from the miniconference are likely to Emanuel Schegloff become the heart of a book, I will be especially on the lookout for discussion at the miniconference sessions that could form the basis for additional papers or discus- Steven Seidman sion in the volume. -
Predictive POLICING the Role of Crime Forecasting in Law Enforcement Operations
Safety and Justice Program CHILDREN AND FAMILIES The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that EDUCATION AND THE ARTS helps improve policy and decisionmaking through ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT research and analysis. HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE This electronic document was made available from INFRASTRUCTURE AND www.rand.org as a public service of the RAND TRANSPORTATION Corporation. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS LAW AND BUSINESS NATIONAL SECURITY Skip all front matter: Jump to Page 16 POPULATION AND AGING PUBLIC SAFETY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY Support RAND Purchase this document Browse Reports & Bookstore Make a charitable contribution For More Information Visit RAND at www.rand.org Explore the RAND Safety and Justice Program View document details Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND electronic documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND electronic documents are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This report is part of the RAND Corporation research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that ad- dress the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for re- search quality and objectivity. Safety and Justice Program PREDICTIVE POLICING The Role of Crime Forecasting in Law Enforcement Operations Walter L. -
Considerable Research Has Focused on the Impact That Urban Contexts Have on Crime Rates
Investigating the influence of neighborhood context on levels of violence in Medellín and Chicago Magdalena Cerdá, MPH DrPH 1 Jeffrey Morenoff, PhD 2 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Michigan 2Department of Sociology, The University of Michigan 1 Abstract Limited information is available about the ways communities impact violence in developing countries. We tested the association between neighborhood characteristics and violence in Medellín, Colombia, and Chicago, USA, using a household survey of 2494 respondents in 166 neighborhoods in Medellín, and 3094 respondents in 342 neighborhoods in Chicago. In Chicago, poverty and lower collective efficacy are predictive of higher perceptions of violence and rates of homicide. A closer examination by neighborhood poverty however, reveals that levels of perceived violence only differ by levels of collective efficacy in mid-low-poverty neighborhoods. In Medellín, collective efficacy is more pronounced in contexts of high disadvantage, and it is associated, on average, with higher levels of perceived violence and homicide. In both cities, higher levels of collective efficacy in high-poverty neighborhoods are associated with higher homicide. The study questions the notion of “social organization” as a homogeneously beneficial process across cultural and socioeconomic contexts. 2 Introduction Urban sociological research has highlighted the pathways through which the socioeconomic environment can affect the systematic distribution of levels of violence. One of the most promising emerging theories linking community processes and crime is collective efficacy theory. This theory critically builds upon social disorganization theory and calls attention to the role that social trust and norms of reciprocity, along with purposive social control, can play as mediators in the association between material deprivation and crime (Galea et al. -
Collective Efficacy As a Task Specific Process
Collective efficacy as a task specific process: Examining the relationship between social ties, neighborhood cohesion and the capacity to respond to violence, delinquency and civic problems Rebecca Wickes John R. Hipp Elise Sargeant Ross Homel Post-print. Published in American Journal of Community Psychology. 2013. 52(1-2): 115-127. 1 Abstract In the neighborhood effects literature, collective efficacy is viewed as the key explanatory process associated with the spatial distribution of a range of social problems. While many studies usefully focus on the consequences of collective efficacy, in this paper we examine the task specificity of collective efficacy and consider the individual and neighborhood factors that influence residents’ perceptions of neighborhood collective efficacy for specific tasks. Utilizing survey and administrative data from 4,093 residents nested in 148 communities in Australia, we distinguish collective efficacy for particular threats to social order and assess the relative importance of social cohesion and neighborhood social ties to the development of collective efficacy for violence, delinquency and civic/political issues. Our results indicate that a model separating collective efficacy for specific problems from social ties and the more generalized notions of social cohesion is necessary when understanding the regulation potential of neighborhoods. Key words: collective efficacy, social ties, social cohesion, community 2 Introduction Over the last decade, scholars working within the neighborhood effects paradigm have shifted their focus from the role of neighborhood structural features and social ties to the collective processes that protect against a range of neighborhood problems. Central to this shift is the uptake of collective efficacy theory, a theory initially established in psychology to explain group performance (Bandura 1997). -
1 Copyright 2004 by the American Sociological Association Section on the History of Sociology
A BRIEF CENTENNIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESOURCES ON THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY/ASSOCIATION1 Compiled by the Centennial Bibliography Project Committee2 American Sociological Association Section on the History of Sociology ELEBRATING THE CENTENNIAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION provides the ritual occasion and reinforces the intellectual rationale for collectively exploring our Cprofessional and organizational roots. To guide us on our way, we have compiled a brief bibliography of relevant materials and exemplars that explicate the early history of the American Sociological Society and – to some degree – its subsequent evolution (the line separating “history” from “current events” is not always easily drawn). Practicing extreme parsimony, we have intentionally excluded literally thousands of otherwise important and instructive published works that focus primarily on specific departments of sociology, the ideas and accomplishments of individual sociologists, the development of sociological theories, the general intellectual history of the discipline as a whole, and myriad other matters of obvious historical and disciplinary interest. We hasten to add, however, that the structure and practical scope of a much more inclusive bibliography is now under consideration and is soon to be implemented. In the interim, we provide here a small down payment: a narrowly defined set of references for selected articles – and still fewer monographs – that specifically address, in various ways, the founding era and subsequent evolution of the American Sociological Society as a professional organization. To these citations, we add lists of relevant journals, abstracts, indexes and databases, and append the locations of archival deposits for the first ten presidents of the American Sociological Society, with the hope of encouraging ever more scholarship on the early history of the ASS/ASA per se.3 Corrections and suggested additions to this bibliography, focused specifically on the history of the ASS/ASA, are welcomed by the committee. -
Teacher Leadership and Collective Efficacy: Connections and Links
International Journal of Teacher Leadership Volume 4, Number 1, Fall 2013 http://www.csupomona.edu/~education/ijtl/index.shtml ISSN: 1934-9726 Teacher Leadership and Collective Efficacy: Connections and Links Mary Lynne Derrington University of Tennessee, USA Pamela S. Angelle University of Tennessee, USA Teacher leadership studies have identified attributes of teachers who assume leadership roles. This study expands the literature by adding the theoretical frame of collective efficacy. The Teacher Leadership Inventory and the Teacher Efficacy Belief Scale – Collective were administered in two states to 1193 teachers in 50 schools; 719 teachers completed the surveys. Findings indicate a strong relationship between a faculty’s collective efficacy and the extent of teacher leadership in a school. The exception to this relationship is the finding that principal selection of teacher leaders is negatively correlated with teacher leadership. Introduction Collective efficacy is an organizational construct that researchers identify as promoting or increasing school capacity. Regarding student achievement, Bandura (1993) posited that “Faculties’ beliefs in their collective instructional efficacy contribute significantly to their schools’ level of academic achievement” (p. 117). Leadership capacity is evident when a group of teacher leaders believe they can bring about change, desire to work for change, and have the knowledge and skills to do so (DiRanna & Loucks-Horsley, 2001). Research on teacher leadership discusses various Constructs including -
Centennial Bibliography on the History of American Sociology
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Sociology Department, Faculty Publications Sociology, Department of 2005 Centennial Bibliography On The iH story Of American Sociology Michael R. Hill [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/sociologyfacpub Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Social Psychology and Interaction Commons Hill, Michael R., "Centennial Bibliography On The iH story Of American Sociology" (2005). Sociology Department, Faculty Publications. 348. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/sociologyfacpub/348 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Sociology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology Department, Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Hill, Michael R., (Compiler). 2005. Centennial Bibliography of the History of American Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. CENTENNIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIOLOGY Compiled by MICHAEL R. HILL Editor, Sociological Origins In consultation with the Centennial Bibliography Committee of the American Sociological Association Section on the History of Sociology: Brian P. Conway, Michael R. Hill (co-chair), Susan Hoecker-Drysdale (ex-officio), Jack Nusan Porter (co-chair), Pamela A. Roby, Kathleen Slobin, and Roberta Spalter-Roth. © 2005 American Sociological Association Washington, DC TABLE OF CONTENTS Note: Each part is separately paginated, with the number of pages in each part as indicated below in square brackets. The total page count for the entire file is 224 pages. To navigate within the document, please use navigation arrows and the Bookmark feature provided by Adobe Acrobat Reader.® Users may search this document by utilizing the “Find” command (typically located under the “Edit” tab on the Adobe Acrobat toolbar). -
Crime and Victimology 1
© Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION CHAPTER Crime and Victimology 1 by Ann Wolbert Burgess and Albert R. Roberts 44 LEARNING OBJECTIVES 44 KEY TERMS • Describe the victims of violence Costs of victimization • Outline the costs of criminal victimization Criminology • Describe the methods used to measure victimization Forensic victimology • Describe the origin of the crime victims’ movement National Crime Victimization Survey • Illustrate forensic victimology’s contribution to cold case analysis (NCVS) Victimology Introduction The unsettling reality regarding crime in the United States and Can ada today is that it is widespread, very often violent in nature, and it completely disregards all boundaries. There is no home, no com munity, and no region in North America that can consider itself to be safe from the risk of criminal assault. With recent estimates of the number of crime victims in the United States reaching as high as 38 million, it behooves all of us, both individually and collectively, to support emerg ing efforts aimed at two distinct but related areas: crime prevention and crime victim assistance. To be sure, averting criminal behavior altogether is the more preferable of the two. Given the improbability of accomplishing this in the immediate future, however, it becomes all the more urgent to be prepared to assist those who are victimized. Unprecedented numbers of victims are turning to victim assistance programs, mental health centers, domestic violence shelters, and victim compensation programs. Research, as well as experience, has shown that these individuals frequently suffer from significant emotional pain and trauma, physical injuries, and/or financial loss, and “second ary victims”—the relatives and close friends of victims—also endure both mental anguish and economic hardship. -
Understanding Deviance: Connecting Classical and Contemporary Perspectives
Understanding Deviance: Connecting Classical and Contemporary Perspectives Preface Tammy L. Anderson Acknowledgments Part 1: Classic and Contemporary Approaches to Deviance Section 1. Defining Deviance Introduction Tammy L. Anderson. 1. Rules for the Distinction of The Normal and the Pathological Emile Durkheim Durkheim defines deviance from a statistical standpoint, or by the prevalence of deviance in society. He seeks an objective criterion by which social phenomena can be rendered normal, or pathological and deviant. From this perspective, Durkheim claims to measure the condition of society. His approach to deviance is different from the moral and social reaction definitions of deviance included in this section. 2. Notes on the Sociology of Deviance Kai T. Erikson Erickson relies on morals, customs, and traditions that are often tied to religious doctrine to define deviance. His view is that deviance sets boundaries for acceptable behavior and strengthens solidarity among citizens. His approach breaks from Durkheim’s statistical view and is more in tune with Becker’s social reaction approach. 3. Definitions of Deviance and Deviance and the Responses of Others from Outsiders Howard S. Becker Becker’s work is considered a classic social reaction definition where deviance is anything people so label. He argues that deviance is not an objective fact, contrary to Durkheim’s position. Instead, Becker reasons, it is something people define and redefine through social interaction. 4. Defining Deviance Down Daniel Moynihan Moynihan’s article is a newer classic in the field of deviance that cautions against reclassifying unacceptable behaviors as acceptable, or trivializing their significance and impact. By moving away from objective standards for behavior and endorsing a core set of values, as Becker and Erickson propose, Moynihan believes society enters dangerous territory and compromises itself. -
Dept Newsletter Fa05 Copy.Indd
Sociology Outlook I S ISSUE I 2005 Illinois Sociology Znaniecki Conference Draws International Speakers and Participants Florian Znaniecki was a Professor of Sociology at Illinois from 1940 to 1958. Though Professor Znaniecki was quite prolific in his scholarly career, his most famous contribution is his renowned immigration study (co-authored with W. I. Thomas), The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. In order to honor his legacy and to remain mindful of our own departmental history, we hosted The Znaniecki Conference and 6th Annual Transnational Workshop on April 21 and 22 of this year. These two days of panels and discussion were invigorating, lively, and even drew a few visitors from other university communities to our doorstep. Day 1 of the gathering was focused on Professor Znaniecki’s ideas and an extension of those ideas. Day 2 was a Transnational Workshop that remained in tune with the previous day’s proceedings by employing a theme of “Transmigration.” Therefore, we were able to observe some of the effects (direct and indirect) of Professor Znaniecki’s work not only in a historical sense, but in a contemporary one as well. Our keynote speaker on Day 1, Professor Elzbieta Halas of the University of Warsaw, opened up the days’ events with some thoughts on “Culture and Power.” Furthermore, Professor Halas was making a personal reconnection, as she had been a visiting scholar in our department during the 1980s. She remarked on how glad she was not only to be at the conference but also to be back in Urbana-Champaign, strolling on the Quad, and seeing old faces from her time here.