Contemporary Social Disorganization Theory Sampson’s “Collective Efficacy” Theory

1. Contemporary Social Disorganization Theory Sampson’s “Collective Efficacy” Theory • Effort to link poverty, instability, immigrant concentration (ethnic heterogeneity) with crime through the concept of collective efficacy.

2. Contemporary Social Disorganization Theory Sampson’s “Collective Efficacy” Theory • Poverty • Residential instability • Ethnic heterogeneity Neighborhood crime rates Diminished community social organization/collective efficacy

3. Social Organization/Collective EfficacyRelationships Among Key Dimensions Informal social control Social cohesion Social Infrastructure COLLECTIVEEFFICACY * Density of social networks * Prevalence of and participation in local voluntary organizations Mutual trust and solidarity among local residents Willingness of neighborhood residents to Intervene to prevent crime

4. Collective Efficacy Theory • Poverty • Residential instability • Ethnic heterogeneity Neighborhood Crime rates * Density of social networks * Prevalence of, and participation in, local voluntary organizations Willingness of neighborhood residents to Intervene to prevent crime Mutual trust and solidarity among local residents

8. Collective Efficacy TheoryPolicy Recommendations • Identify neighborhood “hot spots” • Reduce social disorder and physical incivilities • Build informal social control, social capital • Promote housing-based neighborhood stabilization • De-concentrate poverty: scattered site new housing • Maintain and build the Municipal Service Base • Integrate community with child development/health policy • Increase community power/organizational base

9. Social disorganization and Social Control • Social disorganization / collective efficacy theory assumes that human beings naturally seek to satisfy basic appetites. In the absence of regulatory force (norms, supervision, etc.) • Hobbes social contract theory • Durkheim’s anomie theory

10. Generality vs. Specialization • Generality: an indiscriminate or “generalized” pattern of deviant activity • Specialization: a focused tendency toward specific types of deviant acts

11. Strain TheoryAnomie as the Disjuncture Between Goals and MeansTimeline of Intellectual Development Cloward and Ohlin Delinquency and Opportunity -Integrating economic and status strain • Major theoretical contributions: Merton Social Theory and Social Structure -Economic strain Cloward “Illegitimate Means…” Agnew “A General Strain Theory…” Cohen Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang -Status strain Theory falls out of favor Durkheim 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

12. Durkheim’s Concept of Anomie • Rapid structural • change • Economic improvement • Economic decline Anomie (part 1): Attenuation of norms regulating occupational aspirations / expectations Anomie (part 2): Disjuncture between Aspirations and expectations

13. Durkheim’s Concept of AnomieAnomic disjuncture between needs and means Rapid economic decline|Rapid economic improvement: Means Needs Anomic disjuncture between needs and means

14. Robert Merton“Social Structure and Anomie” • Cultural goals: comprise a “frame of aspirational reference”—while some are related to biological drives, they are not determined by them. • Institutional norms: regulations regarding the appropriate procedures for achieving cultural goals. The most expedient means may not be culturally approved.

15. Robert Merton“Social Structure and Anomie” • Cultural Universalism: • All should strive for the same lofty goals because they are open to all • Short-term failure should not deter one from the goal of success • Failure is in adopting low ambitions

16. Robert Merton“Social Structure and Anomie” • American society characterized by “cultural imbalance”: an emphasis on economic success to the virtual exclusion of other goals; relative indifference to the means by which success is gained.

17. Robert Merton“Social Structure and Anomie” • Social structural strain: social structure limits access to the means to achieve economic success for some resulting in a situation of social structural strain—defined as a discrepancy between aspiration and expectation

18. Robert Merton“Social Structure and Anomie” • What is the role of socialization in Merton’s approach? • Is Merton’s strain theory also, in part, a control theory?

19. Albert CohenDelinquent Boys • Most crime is “non-utilitarian, malicious…” • Middle class status is the key cultural goal • Working class vs. middle class ethic distinguishes cultural resources of children

20. Working class ethic Ethic of reciprocity Dependence on primary group Spontaneity Emotionally “irrepressible” Freer/less disguised expression of aggression Difficulty adopting roles more remote to identity Less polish, sophistication, personality needed to “sell onself” Middle class ethic Ambition is a virtue Ethic of individual responsibility Cultivation and possession of skills Worldly asceticism Rationality Cultivation of manners, courtesy, personability Control of physical aggression and violence Recreation should be “wholesome” Respect for property CohenClass-based Cultural Worlds

21. CohenDelinquent Boys Class continuum Working class Middle class Low socialization to middle class; High likelihood of rejection; lower likelhood of “reaction formation” in response to rejection. More effective socialization to middle class; Lower likelihood of rejection; Greater likelihood of “reaction formation” in response to rejection

22. Review of Classic Strain Theory • “Appetites” become “cultural goals” (goals are culturally given not biologically based) • Focus on blocked mobility among lower class • Key goals are: • Monetary success (Merton) • Middle class status (Cohen) • Delinquency stems from variation in motivation to commit crime based on class status and access to means to achieve success goals • If Merton and Cohen are right, what do we do to reduce crime?

23. Critique of Classic Strain Theory • Can’t explain middle class delinquency • Don’t take into account goals other than monetary success/middle class status • Don’t consider barriers to achievement other than social class • Don’t specify why only some strained individuals turn to delinquency