Environmental approaches to crime
- Created by: charl_w
- Created on: 02-02-16 18:51
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- Environmental approaches: Explaining offenders in terms of their locations
- Shaw and McKay: Chicargo School
- i) The pattern
- 1. Chicago was a fast growing city.
- 2. S&M began plotting the location of the addresses of those who committed crimes in the city.
- 3. They divided the city into 5 concentric zones, in each of the 5 zones they identified it had different levels of offenders.
- 4. Zone 2 nearest the city centre had the highest rate of crime.
- 5. S&M found the population in zone 2 changed regularly.
- 6. This meant there was something about the zones that were linked to crimes rather than the individual that lived there.
- ii) The explanation: Social disorganisation
- 1. S&M suggested that as each wave of immigrants arrived in the city they moved to the cheapest areas.
- 2. Known as the zone of transmission.
- 3. Over time, some were successful and moved to more affluent suburbs, while the least successful stayed.
- 4. The places of those who moved were taken by new immigrants so the process started again.
- 5. This pattern of high population turnover created a state of social disorganisation.
- 1. S&M suggested that as each wave of immigrants arrived in the city they moved to the cheapest areas.
- iii) Cultural Transmission
- 1. S&M altered the meaning of social disorganisation to refer to a set of values that provided an alternative to those of mainstream society.
- 2. This became known as Cultural Transmission theory.
- 3. They argued that amongst the cities most socially disorganised and poorest zones in the city, crime became culturally acceptable.
- 4. Crime was passed from one generation to the next as part of the normal socialisation pattern.
- 5. Successful criminals became role models and showed the normality of criminal behaviour and a criminal career was possible.
- i) The pattern
- Differential association
- 1. Sutherland and Cressey criticised Shaw and Mckay by saying the theory was vague and difficult to prove.
- 2. Because of this, they introduced the concept of differential association.
- 3. This states that a person is likely to become criminal if they interact with others who support lawbreaking, they are likely to do so themselves.
- 4.In order to avoid criticism, Sutherland suggested that these definitions vary.
- Frequency- the number of times it happens. Duration- over what length of time. Priority- what stage in life and intensity.
- Housing policies (Morris)
- 1. Morris argues against Shaw and Mckay- no evidence that people in areas of high delinquency held a coherent set of values that differed from mainstream society.
- 1. S&M altered the meaning of social disorganisation to refer to a set of values that provided an alternative to those of mainstream society.
- 2. Morris suggested that a key factor in the concentration delinquents in a certain area was linked to housing policies.
- 3. In Morris' study of local housing policies in Croydon, the council housed problem families together.
- 4. This meant that these areas became high crime areas.
- The impact of housing decisions was later clarified by Baldwin and Bottom who compared two housing estates.
- Baldwin and Bottom
- 1. One of the estates studied called 'Gardenia' had a 300% higher number of offenders and 350% higher number of offences compared to 'Stonewall" estate.
- 2. This was the result of a process that he named Tipping.
- The process of Tipping:
- Balanced community with low crime. Law abiding majority control minority of anti social families.
- Shift in balance with outflow of successful replaced with anti social groups.
- Unbalanced community. Remaining law abiding citizens are trapped due to poverty/age. Minority of law breakers grow in size.
- This results as reputation as a tough area. Law abiding majority are scared to confront anti social behaviour.
- Unbalanced community. Remaining law abiding citizens are trapped due to poverty/age. Minority of law breakers grow in size.
- Shift in balance with outflow of successful replaced with anti social groups.
- Balanced community with low crime. Law abiding majority control minority of anti social families.
- Disorder
- 2. W.G Skogan suggests social control breaks when a combination of physical combination in local buildings and social disorder in the form of public i.e drinking increases.
- 3. This leads to a situation of disorder which has three consequences:
- It undermines informal social control and undermines bonds between people. It generates neighbourhood safety and causes law abiding people to move out of the area.
- Baldwin and Bottom
- 1. Morris argues against Shaw and Mckay- no evidence that people in areas of high delinquency held a coherent set of values that differed from mainstream society.
- Shaw and McKay: Chicargo School
- 1. Slogan disagrees with the idea of tipping.
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