Age And Crime Research

Over the years there have been many studies looking into the predictors of crime. Many researchers have strongly correlated age, race, gender, and economic status together to find the individuals most likely to commit crimes. Studies have shown that typically, males, beginning at age 17 into their early twenties, commit crime. The fact is that a majority of these individuals are of a minority race, and from a lower economic status. Although many of these theories, for example, general strain theory, self- control theory and also social bonds theories discuss the roles of age and race to crime. For the purpose of this paper we are going to look to approach the theories that best correlate to age and crime and also race and crime. Then look at …show more content…
Shaw and McKays’ original social disorganization theory was never directly tested but when tested, the results supported their theory. “Shaw and McKay argued three structural factors: low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility” (Sampson & Groves, 1989). These three factors led to the disruption of the community’s social organization, in turn this led to variations in crime and delinquency. This theory looks at differences between certain communities and crime rates. During the 1920’s Burgess organized the concentric zones made up of residential, occupational, and class characteristics. In the middle part of the zone, which is towards the inner city areas, where jobs and transportation is held is where the most crime took place. The further out from the middle are the nicer residential areas that call for less crime. This is because as inner cities started to grow, those that had the money to move out of the city and away from the pollution and work that was being done, and those that did not have the funds to move, stayed (Vito & Maahs, 2012). Later when immigrants would move into cities to find work they had no money and no way of transportation so they would then move into these communities in the middle of the zone. This ultimately led to social disorganization by the immigrants moving in it would weaken the social ties of that community (Vito & Maahs, …show more content…
This theory is more about who has power and who does not; it does not care about race, age, or gender as it seeks to show how the differences in power cause crime. For Marx and Engels “conflict was inherent in the nature of social arrangement under capitalism, for it was capitalism that generated the vast difference in interest and capitalism that gave the few at the top so much power over the many at the bottom” (Lilly, et al., 2011, p. 167). The first was that inequality in distributions of scarce resources would lead to a conflict of interest between different groups. A second proposition was that those individuals that realize they were getting the “raw deal”, meaning they were receiving less of the needed recourses, would start questioning the legitimacy of the arrangement. The third proposition was that these groups of individuals would be more likely to bring the conflict out into the open, after which there would divergence and violence leading to redistribution of the scarce resources in which, they would be shared by everyone (Lilly, et al., 2011). According to Bonger, there was a sharp division in the rulers and the ruled due to the economic struggle people were pitted against each other. The economic struggle caused people to seek pleasure by any means necessary without regards for others. Bonger traced crime to “egoism” which made people more capable of