Chicago School Essay

455 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social deprivation and crime

The Theory of the Chicago School was the first major study of crime in the United States that attempted to “identify environmental factors associated with crime” (Bohm & Vogel, 2011, p. 71). This study that is often referred to as the Chicago School of Human Ecology was based on the ecology theory, which is the study of plants and animals in their natural environments (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). This theory showed how plant and animal life in their environments are similar to human life in society. Chicago was chosen for this study due to the fact that it was the second largest city in the United States and had shown continuous growth as a result of the Industrial Revolution as well as the immigrants coming to America to be part of the revolution. …show more content…

Shaw and Henry D. McKay who set out to figure out why normal human beings become delinquent by creating three maps of Chicago (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). By doing this, Shaw and McKay attempted to determine the reasons why human beings who are considered to be normal acted in delinquent ways. Spot maps were used to find where the youth’s resided based off of their police and court records, rate maps showed the percentage of the total juvenile population in Chicago that had police or court records, and zone maps showed the rates of male juveniles that were delinquents within Chicago’s zones (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). As a result of the study in Chicago, they determined that delinquents were not much different from non-delinquents in regards to physical and personal traits. They did determine that cities such as Chicago and other big cities suffered from social disorganization because the “usual controls over delinquents are largely absent, delinquent behavior is often approved of by parents and neighbors, many opportunities are available for delinquent behavior, and little encouragement, training, or opportunity exists for legitimate employment” (Bohm & Vogel, 2011, p.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Sociological Theories in David J. Harding's Living the Drama

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shaw, C. R., & McKay, H. D. (1969). Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas (Revised ed.). University of Chicago Press.

    Read More

  • Criminality Of The Other Wes Moore Summary

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    He is a decorated veteran, scholar and successful business leader upon graduating. In comparison to the other Wes Moore who never seemed to escape his childhood and ended up in prison. The theory that best explains the authors’ noninvolvement in a life of crime vs. the criminality of the other Wes Moore is the social disorganization theory. Shaw and McKay, the founders of this theory, believed that “juvenile delinquency could be understood only by considering the social context in which youths lived. A context that itself was a product of major societal transformations wrought by rapid urbanization, unbridled industrialization, and massive population shifts” (Lilly, Cullen & Ball, 2015). The theory is centered around transitional zones and competition determined how people were distributed spatially among these zones (Lilly et al., 2015). This model founded by Ernest Burgess showed that high priced residential areas were in the outer zones and the inner zones consisted of poverty (Lilly et al.,

    Read More

  • Theories Explaining Juvenile Crime

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    Two major sociological theories explain youth crime at the macro level. The first is Social Disorganization theory, created in 1969 by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay. The theory resulted from a study of juvenile delinquency in Chicago using information from 1900 to 1940, which attempts to answer the question of how aspects of the structure of a community contribute to social control. The study found that a community that is unable to achieve common values has a high rate of delinquency. Shaw and McKay looked at the physical appearance of the neighborhoods, the average income of the population, the ethnicity of the neighborhood, the percent of renters versus owners, and how fast the population of the area changed. These factors all contribute to neighborhood delinquency.

    Read More

  • Age-Graded Informal Social Controls

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Laub, John and Robert J. Sampson. 2003. Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives: Delinquent Boys to Age 70. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Read More

  • A Description of Chicago

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the United States there are many highly populated, big cities that exist. They not only serve as purpose for business and industry, but also serve as homes for many people. Chicago, the third highest populated city in the United States, can be defined in several different ways. Carl Sandburg a fan and native of Chicago describes the city. Sandburg describes the city in different ways with his poems “Chicago” and “Skyscraper.” Both poems portray the city as lively and dominant, but the poem "Skyscraper" acknowledges drawbacks of the city.

    Read More

  • Central Park 5 Essay

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender and Race play the most prominent role in the criminal justice system. As seen in the movie Central Park 5, five African American boys were charged with the rape of the a white women. In class decision we’ve discussed how the media explodes when it reports cross-racial crimes. The Central Park 5 were known everywhere and even terms were being made up during the process such as wilding. Also, during one of the class discussions it was brought up that victims of crime are of the same race of the perpetrator. However, the media likes to sensationalize crime of the victim being of a different race, because it makes for a good story. By doing this, the media does create more of a division of race. As seen in the video Donald Trump was trying

    Read More

  • Chicago River Essay

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    An epidemic of water born diseases in Chicago was rampant in the early 1880s. In order to stop the spread the diseases, Chicago exercised their right to reverse the flow of the once stagnant river, thus saving the lives of Chicago residents.

    Read More

  • Laub and Sampson’s Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    Laub, John H., and Robert J. Sampson 2003. Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives: Delinquent Boys to Age 70. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

    Read More

  • Delinquency in the White Middle-Class Youth of America

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    Across the wide body of studies delving into delinquency in America, it is easy to locate research on and analysis of minorities, underprivileged socioeconomic urban centers, and turbulent family structures. However, this leaves a significant section of the delinquent population largely neglected: white middle-class youth. Contrary to the factors shown to affect delinquency in others and the applications of theory applied to them, the issues plaguing this particular portion of adolescents are in many cases entirely unique, suggesting the necessity of a more nuanced approach from angles that have up until fairly recently remained unexplored.

    Read More

  • Essay 2: Serious Issues Plaguing Chicago

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every morning on my way to school I often pick up the Red Eye newspaper and read the latest news happening in Chicago. As I skim the pages I often see a section that shows the homicide tracker in the city of Chicago. This section of the newspaper shows numerous of deaths occurred in a month in a specific area. Consequently, similar to this homicide tracker on the newspaper the following articles have about the same homicide stories that have occurred in the city of Chicago years ago. In the book The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson illustrates the dreadful events about crime, violence, and illness all leading to death; The Coldest Case: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre by Jonathan Eig describes a tragic murder of six men by the mob making Chicago seen as a gangland murder capital; The Untouchables by Eliot Ness tells the conflict Eliot Ness experienced trying to put the gangster Al Capone out of business, and For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago by Simon Baatz retells the case of judge Clarence Darrow which was to defend two boys of receiving the death penalty. The combination of these three stories shows serious issues such as crime, corruption and violence that are plaguing Chicago.

    Read More

  • Shaw And Mckay's Social Disorganization Theory

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization theory had a profound impact on the study of the effects of urbanization, industrialization and immigration in Chicago neighborhood on crime and delinquency rates. However, Shaw and McKay faced much criticism when they first released their findings. One criticism of the social disorganization theory had to do with researcher’s ability to accurately test the social disorganization theory. Although Shaw and McKay collected data on characteristics of areas and delinquency rates for Chicago communities and were able to visually demonstrate a relationship between by using maps and other visuals, their research did not have an actually test that went along with it (Kurbin, 2010). Kurbin (2010) states that “the

    Read More

  • The Cause Of Juvenile Delinquency

    1306 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many in the juvenile justice field have tried to understand the cause of juvenile delinquency. There are many different theories describe the cause and effect of variables and how they react. However, through much research, we have concluded there is not just one single path or journey that determines the fate of the juvenile. There are many different risk factors that build in order to increase a youth's chance of becoming an offender. This is kind of like a domino effect. Risk factors are described as the characteristics that present themselves to determine if the individual or youth will become a delinquent. These factors may include; home life, income status, gender, and social. It can either be one or all that play a part in the way the

    Read More

  • There Are No Children Here Essay

    2455 Words  | 5 Pages

    Juvenile delinquency is a conduct by a juvenile or a person below the legal age that is above parental control thus dealt with by the law. Crime in this case cannot be punishable by death or life imprisonment. There are many cases of juvenile delinquency in recent times that have raised many issues in the United State’s legal systems. There are many ways of explaining juvenile delinquency and crime when it comes to; cause, results, and legal actions pertaining to crimes. Alex Kotlowitz in his book, “There Are No Children Here” focuses on crime and juvenile delinquency through life experiences. This story is about the life of two boys who the author researched for a few years. The two boys were from Chicago, grew up in a poor family, surrounded by poverty, gangs, and violence as do many of us who come from low income, minority filled areas. The two boys unfortunately, sad to say end up in juvenile hall which clearly depicts the whole concept of crime and juvenile delinquency that arises from more issues than simply meets the eye . Issues relating to the social disorganization theory of poverty, disorganization, and low community control. This paper will analyze the story using themes that relate to juvenile delinquency and further discuss causes and ways to control juvenile delinquency

    Read More

  • My Neighborhood Essay

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are various influences on everyone’s lives while growing up. I believe the greatest of these influences is the neighborhood you grew up in. I grew up in a quite large, welcoming neighborhood. While living in this neighborhood, I was outgoing and remarkably talkative. Making friends became second nature to me. Playing outdoors from sunrise to sundown playing sports or exploring the outdoors with my friends became a daily routine for me. I was outgoing, talkative, and active. I believe this is the result of the neighborhood I grew up in.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Delinquency: Is there a solution?

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bridges, K. M. Banham . "Factors Contributing to Juvenile Delinquency." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 17.4 (1927): 531-76. scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

More about Chicago School Essay

Open Document