Concentric Zone Theory Of Crime

When discussing crime, one must understand the underlying factors behind crime itself. What is crime? We as humans have no true authority to label something as crime, solely due to the fact that it was natural behavior before we made it out to be deviant in nature. Humans of our era and the ones before us have created a new norm of which is nothing like the natural norms of our predecessors. Looking beyond this mere fact of deviance, we must embark on a journey of finding and explaining why these crimes exist in the first place. In comes the theories put in place for understanding such actions in our society. There are many explanations or “Theories” in place to help understand crime as a whole and the reasons why we experience these deviant …show more content…
This is due to the fact that it explains crime, but only crime in minorities, and only crime which take place within a certain zone, and in this particular zone these crimes are not the focus of law-makers. Concentric zone theory was formed to explain the theory of social disorganization further in depth; broken down into zones 1 through 5, these consisted of “zone 1 where department stores, skyscrapers, office buildings, large hotels, theaters, and city government can be found” (Akers/Sellers 162). These became the invading species which drove out the indigenous population of “inner city” troubled youth. This invasion caused these people to move outward in search of expansion and due to a lack of resources. Zone 2 became “an area of rundown housing occupied by the newly arrived immigrants and the poor” (Akers/Sellers 162) these deteriorating neighborhoods became the new home for the majority of the troubled youth. Zones 3-5 were just expansions of the theory and only show improvement of living space in comparison to zones 1 and 2. This theory explains furthermore, not only the absence of crime in general; it lays no focus on the eminent threat of rape or the reduction of such …show more content…
The concentric zone theory does no such job of explaining how to rid the crime ridden people of zones 1 and 2 of their deviance and issues which accompany the zone. The thought process of this theory leaves individuals with the following impression; over time we have come to believe that the structure of the city is in part responsible for the rise of criminal behavior. Other theorists have looked at the concentration of unemployment, welfare, community engagement, political activity, and volunteer work as a gauge of the relative health of a community as the factors which inner city residents endure which lead to the deviant behavior. Also let us be mindful that this deviant behavior within these areas follows a pattern and seems to stray away from our focal point