1. Positivism, Social Ecology, and the Chicago School CJS 380 Crime Science:Principles, Strategies and Practice of Crime Prevention and Reduction J.A. Gilmer
3. Lombroso and the Innate Criminal Italian criminologist Founder or Positivist School of criminology “Born criminal” as atavist (evolutionary throwback) identified through physical stigmata 1835-1919
4. Goddard – IQ and Heredity Psychologist, eugenicist Feeblemindedness caused criminality, an inherited trait IQ test used to “scientifically” validate Author of The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness Influenced immigration control policy of early 1920s 1866-1957
6. The Chicago School (of Sociology) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_%28sociology%29 Founded urban sociology 1914-1934 Period of rapid expansion and social change Chicago Population Trends, 1870-1940
7. Durkheim – Social Change and Anomie French sociologist Studied evolution of societies Mechanical-organic continuum Norms – shared expectations of behavior Collective conscience – shapes common identity Anomie – ‘normlessness’ due to rapid societal change 1858-1917
8. Robert E. Park and Natural Areas Journalist, sociologist Positivism & functionalsim The City as natural area Social ecological/environmental The city is a state of mind, a body of customs and traditions, and of organized attitudes and sentiments that inhere in this tradition. The city is not, in other words, merely a physical mechanism and an artificial construction. It is involved in the vital processes of the people who compose it, it is a product of nature and particularly of human nature. http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/projects/centcat/centcats/fac/facch17_01.html 1864-1944
9. Burgess and Concentric Zones Urban sociologist Collaborated with Park Developed concepts of urban Zones 1886-1966
10. Shaw & McKay – Delinquency Shaw, Clifford R. & McKay, Henry D. (1942/1969). Juvenile Delinquency in Urban Areas. Sociologists and founders of Chicago Area Project Mapped addresses of male delinquents Examined delinquency rate in different areas Studied relationship of nativity and other social and demographic characteristics to delinquency "Perhaps the results of the Project should not be measured by the rate of juvenile delinquency alone. The project has uncovered latent talent within the communities. Committees have improved parent-teacher relationships and shouldered responsibility for school attendance and improvement. They have brought to bear effective public opinion on specific contributors to juvenile delinquency. They have succeeded in leading children away from crime and reincorporating parolees in the neighborhood." http://www.chicagoareaproject.org/historical-look-chicago-area-project
11. Main Findings of Zone Theory Delinquency rates decreased moving out from the center of the city Related to other ‘social pathologies’ – unemployment, poverty, poor health, mortality, broken families Neighborhood stability a key characteristic Home ownership (stake in the community) Ethnic turnover did not affect high rates of delinquency in inner zone
12. Interpretation of Zone Dynamics Outer zones Shared values, norms, collective conscience Engagement in conventional activities Community containment of deviance Innermost zones Extreme diversity -> mixed messages Greater exposure to violence Weak community controls -> subcultural deviance thrives -> crime “inability of a community structure to realize the common vslues of its residents and maintain effective social controls.” Sampson and Groves (1989)
13. Critique of Social Disorganization Labeling power to define conduct as delinquent or rationalize it away Ecological Fallacy “the danger of making assertions about individuals as the unit of analysis based on the examination of groups or other aggregations” (Maxfield and Babbie, 1995) Tautological (circular reasoning) Socially disorganized b/c high crime but high crime used to define socially disorganized area
14. Community-level Factors and Crime Low socioeconomic status / relative deprivation Having little? or having less than other? Ethnic heterogeneity Race consistently correlated with crime – why? Population Density Increased interactions and relative anonymity Residential instability Impact on family structure
16. Collective Efficacy Hypothesis “social cohesion among neighbors combined with their willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good” (Sampson, et al., 1997) High mutual trust/shared values Strong social ties/social network Expectation of intervention Robert J. Sampson
17. Elijah Anderson -- Sociologist This is because the street culture has evolved what may be called a code of the streets, which amounts to a set of informal rules governing interpersonal public behavior, including violence. The rules prescribe both a proper comportment and a proper way to respond if challenged. They regulate the use of violence and so allow those who are inclined to aggression to precipitate violent encounters in an approved way. The rules have been established and are enforced mainly by the street-oriented, but on the streets the distinction between street and decent is often irrelevant; everybody knows that if the rules are violated, there are penalties. Knowledge of the code is thus largely defensive; it is literally necessary for operating in public. Therefore, even though families with a decency orientation are usually opposed to the values of the code, they often reluctantly encourage their children's familiarity with it to enable them to negotiate the inner-city environment. Elijah Anderson
Editor's Notes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Lombroso. Specific criminals, such as thieves, rapists, and murderers, could be distinguished by specific characteristics, he believed. Lombroso also maintained that criminals had less sensibility to pain and touch; more acute sight; a lack of moral sense, including an absence of remorse; more vanity, impulsiveness, vindictiveness, and cruelty; and other manifestations, such as a special criminal argot and the excessive use of tattooing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Lombroso. Specific criminals, such as thieves, rapists, and murderers, could be distinguished by specific characteristics, he believed. Lombroso also maintained that criminals had less sensibility to pain and touch; more acute sight; a lack of moral sense, including an absence of remorse; more vanity, impulsiveness, vindictiveness, and cruelty; and other manifestations, such as a special criminal argot and the excessive use of tattooing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Lombroso. Specific criminals, such as thieves, rapists, and murderers, could be distinguished by specific characteristics, he believed. Lombroso also maintained that criminals had less sensibility to pain and touch; more acute sight; a lack of moral sense, including an absence of remorse; more vanity, impulsiveness, vindictiveness, and cruelty; and other manifestations, such as a special criminal argot and the excessive use of tattooing.
