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Compare and contrast psychological and sociological approaches to understanding juvenile delinquency
Social control theory Eric and Dyian
Criminological research
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Recommended: Compare and contrast psychological and sociological approaches to understanding juvenile delinquency
Vanessa Sheahan
September 29, 2015
Article Summary
Juvenile Delinquency
Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology today: An integrative introduction. (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Schmalleger describes social disorganization theory is focused on crime rates in a given community due to weakened systems of social control. Some sociologists that studied and contributed to this theory are Emile Durkheim, W. I. Thomas, Florin Znaniecki, Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, Clifford Shaw, and Henry McKay. This theory deals with social change in society and how that affects crime rates.
Emile Durkheim can be credited with the idea that crime and deviance are just a natural part of society and that the laws are for social control.
He also studied the function of a given community as a whole. In other words, deviance and crime are defined by the breaking of the laws of those created by society. Schmalleger states that W. I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki also studied communities. In their book, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, they describe the hardships and trials of Polish immigrants dealt with when moving to America in the 1900s. As a result of this, crime rates rose due to the clash of norms and values when the immigrants try to fit in. Two sociologists who studied social disorganization theory are Robert Park and Ernest Burgess. In the early 1900s, they did a study that was focused on the adaptation to resources and other communities and people. Park and Burgess are other sociologists that studied American cities. Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay took Park and Burgess’ idea of concentric circles and applied it to their own study of juvenile delinquency. Social Disorganization theory is said to focus on poor communities and/or those people of the lower class which leads to higher crime rates and criminal activity in a society or given neighborhood. Social disorganization theory has been used to study criminal behavior and why crime happens in a given area.