Chicago School Of Urbanization Essay

Based upon significant transformation that occurred throughout the United States during the twentieth century, theorist began to question early ideas that linked the causes of crime to individual conditions. As a response to rapid population growth, greater diversity, and deteriorating urban cities in Chicago, the Chicago school of thought emerged during the 1930’s, viewing crime as a social condition (Lilly, Cullen & Bell, 2015). Deprived circumstances in overpopulated urban cities sparked interest among scholars in understanding how growing up in such locations influenced an individual’s tendency to engage in crime (Lilly et al., 2015). Essentially, theorists within the Chicago school provided that the social organization within a society

Most significantly is the recent transition in urbanization that has occurred. According to Kille (2013), roughly 50% of the U.S population resides in urban cities. While urban populations were higher than rural populations during the emergence of the Chicago school, the difference lies in the social construct of recent urban cities. Conditions within some of these areas have improved in terms of adequate employment with competitive wages and economic growth. Unfortunately, recent improvements in urban areas have resulted in increased poverty throughout rural and suburban areas (Kille, 2013). Although this was not the trend in the 1900’s, Chicago theories still maintain relevance in explaining recent urbanization. Urbanization tends to create weak attachments that contribute to social disorganization within a community, which potentially leads to crime (Lilly et al., 2015). Another relevant point about urbanization as it relates to Chicago theories is the idea that the poor are typically driven by their environment, thus, when applying this perspective, crime should be more prevalent throughout rural and suburban areas based upon the above