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Crime and socio economic status
The Impact of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Structure in Crime
Socio-economic factors in relation to crime
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Ruth D. Peterson and Lauren J. Krivo are two researchers who used the National Neighborhood Crime Study to observe the racial-spatial dynamic of violence in neighborhood. The two looked at thirty-six cities in the U.S. and discovered that not only do the economic conditions that are present in these neighborhoods have an effect on the violence that happens in the area but also the proximity to more disadvantaged or racially privileged areas can also have an influence on violence formed in varies neighborhoods of color.
In this paper I review the research that was done by Peterson and Krivo on Segregated Spatial Locations, Race-ethnic Composition, and Neighborhood Violent Crime. I begin my paper with a discussion of the main purpose of research. The key points that I focused on in this section were the ideas that internal and nearby neighborhood conditions lead to patterned racial and ethnic differences in violence across areas and on why this research was important and past research done on this topic (Groveland). Next I discuss the theoretical framework of the article and the hypothesis that guided the research. In this section I address the general criminological theory that the researchers used to inform their analysis. (Social disorganization theory) Lastly I end the article critique with a summary of the study design and the findings of the research experiment.
In this study, researchers Ruth D. Peterson and Lauren J. Krivo evaluated racial disparity within various U.S. cities and determined how these conditions lead to racial and ethnic differences in across areas. They examined the racial spatial dynamics of violence of 36 U.S. city neighborhoods. The importance of this study represents how cultural differences may affec...
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...hy this research is important. By researching this it will help us learn and understand more about our communities. It will give us a better understanding of how we can improve our communities and how we can minimize violence regardless of color. I also think that the author did stay faithful to the objectives that I stated early on in the article.
Works Cited
1. Peterson, R. D., & Krivo, L. J. (2009). Segregated spatial locations, race-ethnic composition, and neighborhood violent crime. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623, 93-107.
2. Peterson, Ruth D., and Lauren J. Krivo. National Neighborhood Crime Study (NNCS), 2000. ICPSR27501-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2010-05-05. doi:10.3886/ICPSR27501.v1
Persistent URL: http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR27501.v1
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy.
...g, Critical, Peacemaking, Life Course and Strain theories could also be used to explain crime in these neighborhoods. According to Emile Durkheim, mores are different depending on the type of community. On a spectrum, from organic or the lower socio-economic neighborhood to mechanical or the well-structured community in this case Chestnut Hill. In a mechanical society, there is greater cohesion, sharing common values or goals. As could be expected, crime is predicted to be higher in more organic the community is.
Over the past 60 years there has been a recent phenomenon in the development and rise of gangs and gang violence. This is exceptionally apparent in South Central Los Angeles where the Bloods and the Crips have taken control of the social structure and created a new type of counter culture. Poverty in this area is an enormous problem caused by a shear lack of jobs; but just because there is a lack of jobs doesn’t mean that there will be a lack of bills to pay, so sometimes selling drugs in order to keep a roof over your head seems like the most logical option. Crime often times flourishes in these regions because the inconvenient truth is; crime pays. Senator Tom Hayden stated “It’s been defined as a crime problem and a gang problem but it’s really an issue of no work and dysfunctional schools.” this statement is in fact true, but with an exception it is a more broad issue than just involving school, and lack of jobs but goes beyond into social structure as a whole and more specifically the judicial system, this can all be supported by three sociologists Chambliss, Anderson, and Durkheim.
Charles, Camille (2003). The dynamics of racial residential segregation. Annual Review of Sociology, 167. Retrieved from http://jstor.org/stable/30036965.
According to Dr. Carl S. Taylor, the relationship between minority groups and police in the United States has historically been strained. Some cities have a deep and bitter history of bias and prejudice interwoven in their past relationships. The feeling in many communities today is that the system pits law enforcement as an occupying army versus the neighborhood. Dr. Taylor wrote about easing tensions between police and minorities, but stated “If there is any good news in the current situation, it is that the history of this strain has found the 1990’s ripe for change.
Crime has always been a hot topic in sociology. There are many different reasons for people to commit criminal acts. There is no way to pinpoint the source of crime. I am going to show the relationship between race and crime. More specifically, I will be discussing the higher chances of minorities being involved in the criminal justice system than the majority population, discrimination, racial profiling and the environment criminals live in.
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
Is it a coincidence that highly urbanized areas are full of crime and always statistically higher than small towns and rural areas? A child that is being brought up in a metropolitan area that is full of violent crimes is flooded in a sense and has nothing to do but to breath in some of the negative influences that go on around him. Therefore, I believe that the most influential scene in a child’s life is the neighborhood that he grows up in. Parents cannot constantly watch over their children, ask about whom they are hanging out with, constantly check where they are, and find out what they are getting themselves into? (Statistics p348)
In the article “Gentrification’s Insidious Violence: The Truth about American Cities” by Daniel Jose Older, Older places emphasis on the neighboring issue of gentrification in minority, low income communities or as better known as being called the “hood” communities. The author is biased on how race is a factor in gentrifying communities by local governments. Older explains his experience as a paramedic aiding a white patient in the “hood” where he was pistol whipped in a home invasion by a black male. This is an example of black on white crime which is found to be a normal occurrence in the residence of his community. But that is not the case in Older’s situation because that was the first time he has
"‘Race Wars’ Part 1: The Shocking Data on Black-on-Black Crime." The Blaze. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
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.
Social Science Research, 38, 717-731. http://journals2.scholarsportal.info.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/tmp/9506051508484483171.pdf. Nielsen, A. L., & Martinez, R. (2011). Nationality, immigrant groups, and arrests. Examining the diversity of arrests for urban violent crime.
Therefore, the community has informal social control, or the connection between social organization and crime. Some of the helpful factors to a community can be informal surveillance, movement-governing rules, and direct intervention. They also contain unity, structure, and integration. All of these qualities are proven to improve crime rate. Socially disorganized communities lack those qualities. According to our lecture, “characteristics such as poverty, residential mobility, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity contribute to social disorganization.” A major example would be when a community has weak social ties. This can be caused from a lack of resources needed to help others, such as single-parent families or poor families. These weak social ties cause social disorganization, which then leads higher levels of crime. According to Seigel, Social disorganization theory concentrates on the circumstances in the inner city that affect crimes. These circumstances include the deterioration of the neighborhoods, the lack of social control, gangs and other groups who violate the law, and the opposing social values within these neighborhoods (Siegel,
You can’t turn on the television, or read the paper without hearing about violence in our cities and world. In a report from “Stand Up for Kids” in Chicago, they analyze the relationship between low wages, income inequality, and the epidemic of violence in Chicago’s low income neighborhoods. This report found that in 2012 there were nearly 7,700 gun-related crimes reported in the city. The city of Chicago has the third highest overall metropolitan poverty rate in the nation. Nearly one quarter of all Chicago residents live below the federal poverty threshold according to this report. ("Chicago Not Only Leads the Nation in Gun Violence Rates, but Also in Measures of Urban Poverty." Stand Up Chicago, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.) Decades of research have demonstrated that there is a statistically significant link between low wages, income inequality and crime. The analysis presented in this report shows that when a city’s economic conditions improve, the violent crime rates go down.( "Chicago Not Only Leads the Nation in Gun Violence Rates, but Also in Measures of Urban Poverty." Stand Up Chicago, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.) Parents and children are turning to violent acts to provide for their family needs. Policy makers and the government need to address the issues of persistent poverty and income inequality such as raising the minimum wage to a living wage and create satisfying jobs for the
Otero, Juan. “Curbing street gang violence,” National League of Cities. 21 Dec 1998. General Reference Center Gold. Jan 2007