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Social Disorganization Theory

Social Diorganization Theory was an outgrowth of the stuty of the outgrowth of the study of juvenile delinquency in Chicago in the the 1920's and 30's. The work was conducted by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay. Shaw and McKay noticed that there were marked differences in the crime rate in various parts of the city. They developed a model to study the Chicago crime rate. It is known as the concentric zones model.
- The concentric zone model was based on dividing the city into five concentric circles the first starting at the center of the city in the core business district each of the next circles then expanding out. Crime rates were then monitored for each of these geographic regions.
- The highest crime rate was found to be located in the zone that had been labled Zone II. This zone was the zone right next to the central buisness district.
  - There were 5 zones
    - Zone I - Central buisness
    - Zone II - Zone of Transition
    - Zone III - Working Class Homes
    - Zone IV - Middle Class Homes
    - Zone V - Commuters
  - Zone II was marked by a high level of transition, people moving in and out of the area.
  - It was hypothesized that this "zone of transition" led to social disorganization.
Shaw and McKay noted that the crime rate remained high in zone II even though different ethnic groups would move in and out from the years 1900 thru 1933.
- They believed the crime rate was kept elevated through process of " cultural transmission ".
- It was also stated that crime was comitted by ordinary people within certain enviroments.