Code Of The Street Criminological Theories

Inner-city black America is often characterized as a place composed of violence and delinquency. In his novel, "Code of the Street", author Elijah Anderson discusses the true cause of crime in these urban areas through a variety of different observations and experiences. In a major Philadelphia artery known as, "Germantown Avenue", many criminological theories can be interpreted as the cause of many misdemeanors in which the community suffers. These theories consist of social disorganization theory, labeling theory, and the general theory of crime.

In the late 1920s, Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay analyzed the abundance of juvenile delinquency in urban communities, blaming the cause of crime to be the detrimental effects of city life. This

theory came to develop as "Social Disorganization Theory". In this theory it is stated that the areas which are physically deteriorated and socially disorganized have an increased likelihood for crime to occur (Huff-Corzine, 2014). In every city, according to this theory, there are different zones, each of which having a different likelihood for crime to occur.

It was assumed that these areas are expanded from their center in a pattern known as concentric circles, moving outward, each circle consisting of a different zone. There are five zones. The first zone is said to be the central business zone. Outside of this area is zone two, also known as the transition zone. This is the area with the highest potential for delinquency, consisting of the poorest and least educated citizens. Expanding outward from this zone is zone three, which is where the majority of the working-class lives. And following this is zone four and five which are more prosperous areas, expanding into the suburbs. This theory was proved true across major cities including, Seattle, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Little Rock, and many others. The low-level crimes or disorganization in which characterized these cities and ultimately caused the delinquency could be anywhere from unemployment to prostitution (Huff-Corzine, 2014). These undesirable characteristics of a society gives rise to increased criminal activity as well as allowing it further deterioration. This movement traveling from the outskirts of the city towards its center displays a drastic change in juvenile crime rate, the highest rates being concentrated in a cities center (or zone

two) (Moore, 2015, p.48). Aside from just the individual crimes which were committed in these neighborhoods, the three main factors that, according to Shaw and McKay labeled these areas as a “Delinquency Area” were physical status, economic status, and population composition. In terms of physical status, the zone with the highest delinquency was near or adjacent to a place consisting of heavy industry or commerce. High rates of delinquency also coincided with low economic status and a high-concentration of the foreign-born and African American presence.
In the novel “Code of the Street”, this theory of social disorganization is present within the urban communities residing in Philadelphia.

The first area of Germantown Avenue that is talked about in the reading is Chestnut Hill. Chestnut Hill represents to the reader an example of exactly what zone five looks like. Chestnut Hill appears to be the most affluent area and is the first place you reach when heading northwest into Philadelphia. This is your typical “white-picket fence” and relaxed suburban area, consisting of an educated white population which is neither racially nor ethically diverse. When going further into town you are met with a slightly more diverse population of old and young, white and black, and working-class and middle-class families. It is surrounded with upscale businesses, shops and restaurants and everyone in this society feels safe and comfortable. This is an example of an “organized society”, one in which the rate of delinquency is low and there isn’t a great deal of concern for one’s security. Even the stores in this area don’t appear to have very high levels of protection. Although this is an upscale middle-class neighborhood crime does occasionally occur, one of which being a bank robbery turned into a shoot-out, by a black male who lives further down the hill in the poorer area of Germantown

Avenue.
Down the hill is a neighborhood boundary, with an area known as Mount Airy. Mount Airy is an example of, at first, a zone three society. When first arriving in Mount Airy it is composed of a mix of both black and white working-class families and is much more economically and racially diverse than the other areas of Germantown Avenue. This is a friendly environment, offering many goods and services to the citizens living there. However, once you travel down the avenue a slight bit more, the scene rapidly changes. Here, shops are boarded up with bars and riot gates show up on the doors. This is an example of a zone two area. Here all of the businesses are state ran and the population is made up of working-class and poorer blacks. There is a major lack of security here and people are often, “unable to distinguish between who is law-abiding and who is not” (Anderson, 2000, p.20). Buildings here are covered in graffiti and look as though they receive no maintenance. There are even some locations in this area which are simply just weed-covered lots. Officers are always on high alert and are aware of the surroundings regardless of where they go. On top of this, some people even do drive-up drug sales with their children in the back seat.
According the social disorganization theory of crime, it is clear that the circumstances in which a child from Chestnut Hill experiences compared to what a child in Mount Airy experiences will cause an extremely different outcome for that child’s future. The child who was in the backseat as their mother or father did a drug deal in the front seat is now exposed to that criminal lifestyle, whereas the child from Chestnut Hill has not been. This low-level crime has now created an increased likelihood for delinquency. Being that the three levels of control for a person living in these environments are personal control, patriarchal control, and public control, a child growing up under this influence has already lost two of those controls. Social disorganization theory has proven to be a common cause from crime amongst the youth population in urban areas and in recent years has even expanded to rural communities. According to Moore (2015), in other countries social disorganization has been explicitly tested and showed that factors associated with the theory such as, poverty, high population density, and diversity contributed to juvenile delinquency (p.49).
Another Theory of crime which has a major of impact on the people living in this Philadelphia artery, is labeling theory. Labeling theory is the theory that being labeled as a deviant, whether it be in your youth or during adulthood will ultimately cause you to become a deviant. A deviant label can either be placed a upon a person through members of society, family, or by government officials. This label will cause a person to have a new self-image of themselves and in turn believe that they truly are nothing more than a criminal. In today’s society many make efforts to retain from labeling people in any way, however it is still prominent. Even the current youth juvenile detention facilities; their main goal is to rehabilitate and treat youth delinquency, but with that being said, most of the children going through these services have an increased likelihood to continue their malicious behavior (and commit crimes of even higher offenses). According to Kroska (2017), “this unintended outcome stems from two interrelated processes that unfold after a delinquency label is officially applied” (p.73). The first of these factors is that the person is restrained from being able to pursue the routes necessary to achieving social and economic success. The second is that a deviant label penetrates deeply within their self-meaning and self-worth. Being labeled as a criminal or as a deviant will cause a person to believe they are no better than the label itself, and that there is nothing else they could ever be (Kroska, 2017, p.74). This theory is also seen in low-income societies when the entirety of a neighborhood is labeled as “criminal”.
In the book labeling theory has a very negative impact on the black community living in Philadelphia as seen through the crimes which occur in Chestnut Hill. In this town the one prominent crime which occurred was a hold-up in a bank, followed by a shoot-out on the sidewalk. The perpetrators were two black males, who has also recently robbed an shot up a tavern nearby. This incident “give(s) the residents here a simplistic yet persistent view that blacks commit crime and white people do not” (Anderson, 2000, p.17). This is an example of labeling theories and is labeling all black people as “criminals”. Aside from this being primarily a racial issue it is also an issue of class. Being that Chestnut Hill is a primarily white middle-class suburban area, it is unheard of for the residents to believe a criminal would come out of that neighborhood. Due to this, they instead assume all criminals are from the poorer black neighborhood down the road, Mount Airy. Not only does this area already have an increased chance of delinquency due to the disorganized environment in which they are raised, but on top of that they are also being labeled by society as already deemed criminals.
Both social disorganization theory and the labeling theory have been very influential theories in explaining why crime is committed, as well as allowing for the development of ways to prevent crime. Although it is difficult to get a nation, as a whole, to put an end to labeling one another, there are many things that can be done on the social disorganization aspect of crime. An increased police patrol in neighborhoods as well as an increased priority in schools and extracurricular activities could help to create a safer feeling in these urban areas. This would help to decrease they levels of delinquency in these areas, by giving youth a comfortable environment with positive influencers surrounding them.

References

Anderson, E. (2000). Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city. New York, NY: Norton.

Huff-Corzine, L. (2014). Social disorganization theory. In C. J. Forsyth, & H. Copes (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social deviance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://sacredheart.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sagesdeviane/social_disorganization_theory/0?institutionId=4247

Kroska, A., Lee, J. D., & Carr, N. T. (2017). Juvenile Delinquency and Self-Sentiments: Exploring a Labeling Theory Proposition. Social Science Quarterly, 98(1), 73-88.

Moore, M. D., & Sween, M. (2015). Rural Youth Crime: A Reexamination of Social Disorganization Theory's Applicability to Rural Areas. Journal Of Juvenile Justice, 4(1), 47-63.