Summary: Preventing Neighborhood Crime

Improved Essays
Question one

Informal social control, collective efficacy, and social capital all play an important role when it comes to preventing neighborhood crime efforts. Informal social control does not involve any formal social institutions such as the police. Instead, it involves a group of individuals outside the government spectrum that come together to try to prevent crime for the common good. This concept is often hard to achieve when individuals cannot conform and help define social norms. On the other hand, it can be very helpful when preventing neighborhood crimes because it brings people from the neighborhood together and creates bonds between neighbors. When bonds exist within communities, it is more likely that the residents will look
…show more content…
Social disorganization happens when a community cannot work together towards something they want to achieve. The factors of social disorganization are high poverty rates, diverse cultures, and high residential mobility rates (Lowenkamp, Cullen & Pratt, 2003). Having a neighborhood with a high poverty rate most likely indicates that the population is spending more of their time working, compared to having leisure time and looking after their children. Individuals who work for long periods of time do not have spare time to create bonds with their neighbors. Also, having many different cultural norm from different groups of individuals in one area could lead to a clash of ideas and customs. Residential mobility means that individuals do not live in the same place for very long. Therefore, these people do not have enough time nor do not care enough to engage in relationships with their …show more content…
The article “A general theory of Criminal Justice” says there are many characteristics that people with a low self-control level may display. The first characteristic they display is behavior that demonstrates not wanting to wait for anything. They want instant gratification and do not want to work for it. The second characteristic involves individuals with self-control that desire easy tasks. The third characteristic involves a person that engages in risky and/or dangerous activities, in order to fulfil their adrenaline rush. The fourth characteristic involves an individual that chooses not to be part of any social institutions because they do not feel like it will benefit them in anyway. The fifth characteristic involves individuals that want to engage in activities that don’t take much skill or that need little preparation. Lastly, the sixth characteristic of low self-control is self-center or mean behavior. Individuals that have low self-control do not think about the consequences of their actions before they act on them, which makes them more likely to be involved in criminal behavior. A child develops their level of self-control for a life-time before the age of ten (DeLisi, Hochstetler, Higgins, Beaver, & Graeve , 2008). Children develop self-control from their parents. If parents do not properly supervise their children, recognize if their child has unfitting or bad behavior, and discipline

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In an article titled “Don’t Scapegoat Gun Owners for Chicago’s Violent Crime Problem” published on nraila.org, the writer explains that that the gun ownership should not be the ones getting punished for the criminal act of others and the issue of Chicago’s violent crimes is a lot more complex than what pro-gun control advocates are saying. Essentially their argument boils down to “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” While they do have a point about situations like this being a lot more complex, it doesn’t excuse that gun ownership is still part of the core issue. The main problem I have with this is that it’s basically a strawman fallacy, which is when you construct a weaker version of your opposition’s argument in order to disprove…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One reason is the dynamics of the neighborhoods may differ. One neighborhood may have a large population of young adults that may demonstrate more deviant activity as compared to the neighboring neighborhood that may be a more settled and made up of mid to older aged residents that did not adopt the “code of the street”. Another reason could be due to the type or amount of illegal activity that is going on in one neighborhood compared to the adjacent neighborhood. Moreover, one neighborhood could have a multiple number of gamblers or drug and gun dealers, which would draw a wide diverse of individuals in and out of the dealers’ place of residency.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crime varies in different locations because there are many different factors that contribute to the amount of crimes that happen in a certain area. Community areas such as Lakeview, Austin, Little Village, and Roseland differ because they vary in financial status, and have different environmental factors. The communities with high rates of crime and violence are Lakeview, and Austin; the communities with lower acts of crime and violence are Little Village and Roseland. These communities can be categorized under Social Disorganization Theory. In Little Village and Roseland acts of violence may not be so high, but they aren’t low either.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This variable will show economic strains that are outside of poverty. This variable is made up of two pieces of data, 21 and 4b, the percent of households with earnings and the percent of households that use public assistance. These are important because they capture a greater range of families that live in poverty; it expands the definition of poverty and it begins to show the socioeconomic standing of each neighborhood. Understanding poverty in this way is important because neighborhoods of a lower socioeconomic status are positively correlated with higher crime rates. The reverse is also true, that neighborhoods with a higher socioeconomic standing are associated with higher levels of collective efficacy (Sampson et.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It will strengthen the community and put a decrease on the crime rate, because people usually won't commit a crime in a nice looking neighborhood but once they see a broken down community they feel like crime is everywhere and it will be difficult for the police to find out because it happens so…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout this paper, I will argue that through a systematic process of connected laws and policies, concentrated incarceration formulates a cycle of harm that subdues entire disadvantaged communities. Looking at human capital, social network and social capital, family functioning, child development, and informal social control, I will discuss the ways in which zero tolerance policing has destroyed the ability of urban communities to thrive in society, essentially creating the criminals they aim to imprison. In this way, as illustrated by Randol Contreras, Paul Butler, Matt Taibbi and Todd Clear, pro-social control policy makers shape the path for coercive mobility forcing individuals into correctional institutions, and directly impacting the way their…

    • 1790 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Shaw And Mckay Analysis

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shaw and McKay would account for the high crime neighborhoods that seem to exist in almost every city through saying the particular place in question creates problems and crimes for the people the live in the zone 2 (The Zone of Transition according to Concentric zones model created by Park and Burgess)(Lecture). Shaw and McKay found that three major aspects led to the problems in Zone 2. The first is poverty most of the people in zone 2 do not have the resources to move out of that particular area which allows for these people to stay in the area of temptation that breeds crime and promotes problems(text, ch7). A second aspect is Ethnic Heterogeneity, basically melting pot of people that can’t agree on which rules should apply (Lecture). The…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Criminologists believe that social disorganization plays a major role in why crime is much higher in these communities. They feel that it is much harder to control crime in areas that have more people, delinquent peer groups, and minimal resources. Agnew (1999) explains that deprived communities tend to have less access to jobs that are stable and well paying (p. 131). This leads to a population that is more angry and frustrated. This increases the level of strain in the community and further enhances violence and crime.…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The problem with this application of the theory is that Joan has created an elaborate fraud that carried on for 18 months. Kahnerman, in his research found that those with an addiction problem such as gambling do not possess the ability to properly predict future gains from their current actions (Krstic, 2014). This would mean that she committed her actions because of her addiction and her inability to weight future consequences, and thus reducing her rationality and free will. The theory would then be able to function since Joan was deprived of her rationality and free will. As well, rational choice theory is not a universal explanation, meaning it is simply a tool that can help explain one facet of a phenomenon (Lovett, 2016).…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Auto Thefts

    • 2331 Words
    • 10 Pages

    As I searched journals and websites for material on the research involving auto thefts, I found very few articles. In fact, according to one author, motor vehicle thefts are the number one under-researched part one crime (Jeffrey Walsh, 2007). In this same article studies indicate auto thefts are linked to community structure, instability and surrounding crime (Jeffrey Walsh, 2007). The author theorizes the reason for the lack of research is the crime itself creates little effect on most victims. That said, stability of a neighborhood has an affect on auto theft incidents.…

    • 2331 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Crime Proposals

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Anytime that you turn on your television and turn it to the news channel you hear about some sort of crime that someone has committed. Crime in itself has become a big issue in the state of New Mexico and it continues to be a big issue in the United States. As a society, we need to establish effective methods to prevent crime and reduce the number of crimes in this state. According to Zastrow, (2010) there are three different proposals that could possibly be used to reduce crime rates.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Self Control In Prison

    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages

    and Gottfredson compiled common characteristics of crime, which are immediate gratification, easy or simple gratification, thrill, risky, pain for the victim, no skill required or very little planning, and long-term benefits (Williams & McShane 2014). Gottfredson and Hirschi also point out that people by nature are self-interested and that crime is a problem of individuals having low self-control. Criminal justice policy makers can use this theories perspective on criminality in order to implement rehabilitation programs in prison that tackle the issues of self-interest and self-control. Self-control theory provides an interesting perspective in rehabilitation policies when addressing self-control of prison inmates. For example a way to address self-control amongst prison inmates, a Transcendental Meditation program that has been used in prisons and has been seen to be successful in…

    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crime is increasing every day, everywhere and most definitely increasing in communities. Crime is a major problem in the United States, people are dying from crime, people from younger generations are committing crimes, and law enforcement officers are getting hurt while protecting our communities. There are hundreds of crimes committed a day, which means there are hundreds of victims of crimes a day, but there are many of ways to reduce that number. Imagine if there was a way to reduce the number of homicides, burglaries, forcible rapes, and in all the amount of crime all together. One of the ways is by using social media to enhance policing.…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Walter Reckless’ Containment theory is that of one that highly intrigues me. His theory claims that those who resist anti-social temptations are contained by two overlapping forms of containment- outer and inner. My focus throughout this essay will lie within inner containment, which is how the individual sees themselves. The reason why the idea of self-concept is pivotal is because it claims that those with a more negative self-concept become more likely to engage in criminal acitivities. I will be drawing attention on the four main factors of inner containment which are the following: self-concept, goal orientation, frustration tolerance and norm erosion whilst providing critique for the theory.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reflection On Attachment

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Kochanska, G., & Aksan, N. (2006). Children’s conscience and self-regulation. Journal of Personality, 74, 1587-1617. Kochanska, G., & Knaack, A. (2003). Effortful control as a personality characteristic of young children: Antecedents, correlates, and consequences.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics