Modeling the Structural Effects of Residential Instability, Family Disruptions, and Social Support on Neighborhood Crime Perceptions: A Partial Test of Social Disorganization Theory

While social disorganization theory suggests the importance of change, most prior research examining macro-level criminological associations uses cross-sectional data. The current study examines the multilevel relationship between changes in disadvantage and changes in crime over time using four data sources: the National Neighborhood Crime Study, the 2000 U.S. Census, crime-incidents occurring between 2005 and 2009, and the 2005–2009 American Community Survey. Analyzing 6,068 census tracts within 53 large U.S. cities using multilevel models with time nested within tracts nested within cities, I parse out the contribution of changes in tract-level disadvantage from city-level disadvantage to changes in robbery and burglary rates. Results indicate the importance of both static and dynamic associations between disadvantage and crime, at both the neighborhood and city level.

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(Re)conceptualizing Neighborhood Ecology in Social Disorganization Theory: From a Variable-Centered Approach to a Neighborhood-Centered Approach

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/00111287211041527 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 001112872110415

Author(s):

Charis E. Kubrin ◽

Nicholas Branic ◽

John R. Hipp

Keyword(s):

Social Disorganization ◽

Large Body ◽

Social Disorganization Theory ◽

Ethnic Heterogeneity ◽

Residential Instability ◽

Communities And Crime ◽

Structural Forces ◽

Spatially Distributed ◽

Independent Effects ◽

Racial Ethnic

Shaw and McKay advanced social disorganization theory in the 1930s, kick-starting a large body of research on communities and crime. Studies emphasize individual impacts of poverty, residential instability, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity by examining their independent effects on crime, adopting a variable-centered approach. We use a “neighborhood-centered” approach that considers how structural forces combine into unique constellations that vary across communities, with consequences for crime. Examining neighborhoods in Southern California we: (1) identify neighborhood typologies based on levels of poverty, instability, and heterogeneity; (2) explore how these typologies fit within a disorganization framework and are spatially distributed across the region; and (3) examine how these typologies are differentially associated with crime. Results reveal nine neighborhood types with varying relationships to crime.

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Detangling Individual-, Partner-, and Community-level Correlates of Partner Violence

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0011128703049003004 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 49 (3) ◽

pp. 412-438 ◽

Cited By ~ 87

Author(s):

Judy A. Van Wyk ◽

Michael L. Benson ◽

Greer Litton Fox ◽

Alfred DeMaris

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Neighborhood Effects ◽

Social Disorganization ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Community Context ◽

Female Partner ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Social Disorganization Theory ◽

Individual Level ◽

Male To Female

This article attempted to identify neighborhood- partner- and individual-level factors that may lead to male-to-female partner violence. The relevant dimensions of community context were derived from social disorganization theory that indicates that disorganized areas lack formal and informal controls that inhibit street violence. Social disorganization theory predicts that there is a higher rate of violence and social isolation in disorganized areas. At the individual level, women who experience less social support will more likely be victimized by partner violence. This article investigates the direct and interactive effects of social disorganization measures and variables from social support theories on male-to-female partner violence. The data come from Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households completed in 1994 and from the 1990 census. Logistic regression was used to assess variation in the independent and dependent variables between and within neighborhood types. Results indicate that neighborhood effects interact with partner- and individual-level characteristics for a more complete explanation for male-to-female partner violence.

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Social Disorganization Theory

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.253 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paul Bellair

Keyword(s):

Collective Efficacy ◽

Social Disorganization ◽

Urban Neighborhoods ◽

Informal Social Control ◽

Social Disorganization Theory ◽

Neighborhood Crime ◽

The Social ◽

Organic Solidarity ◽

The Relationship ◽

Crucial Test

Contemporary sociologists typically trace social disorganization models to Emile Durkheim’s classic work. There is continuity between Durkheim’s concern for organic solidarity in societies that are changing rapidly and the social disorganization approach of Shaw and McKay (1969). However, Shaw and McKay view social disorganization as a situationally rooted variable and not as an inevitable property of all urban neighborhoods. They argued that socioeconomic status (SES), racial and ethnic heterogeneity, and residential stability account for variations in social disorganization and hence informal social control, which in turn account for the distribution of community crime. Empirical testing of Shaw and McKay’s research in other cities during the mid-20th century, with few exceptions, focused on the relationship between SES and delinquency or crime as a crucial test of the theory. As a whole, that research supports social disorganization theory. A handful of studies in the 1940s through early 1960s documented a relationship between social disorganization and crime. After a period of stagnation, social disorganization increased through the 1980s and since then has accelerated rapidly. Much of that research includes direct measurement of social disorganization, informal control, and collective efficacy. Clearly, many scholars perceive that social disorganization plays a central role in the distribution of neighborhood crime.

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Responding to Neighborhood Problems: Is the Division of Community Labor Gendered?

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0011128717750390 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 64 (9) ◽

pp. 1215-1241 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rebecca Wickes ◽

Lisa Broidy ◽

John R. Hipp

Keyword(s):

Social Control ◽

Social Disorganization ◽

Fear Of Crime ◽

Crime Reduction ◽

Informal Social Control ◽

Social Disorganization Theory ◽

Neighborhood Crime ◽

Neighborhood Problems ◽

Control Actions ◽

The Relationship

Social disorganization theory positions informal social control as central to neighborhood crime reduction. Although neighborhood ties, fear of crime, and perceived disorder influence the exercise of informal social control, there are significant sex differences for these drivers that might differentially influence men and women’s informal social control actions. Furthermore, these differences may be exaggerated under conditions that activate gendered divisions of labor. We use survey data from 4,000 residents in 148 neighborhoods and employ multilevel logistic regression to examine the relationship between sex and informal social control actions. We find that men are more likely to take action than women; however, our three-way interactions reveal family arrangements moderate the relationship between ties, fear of crime, disorder, and these actions.

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Individual- and School-level Predictors of Latent Profiles of Bullying Victimization: Comparing South Korea and the United States

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260521997950 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052199795

Author(s):

Yoonsun Han ◽

Shinhye Lee ◽

Eunah Cho ◽

Juyoung Song ◽

Jun Sung Hong

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

South Korea ◽

Social Disorganization ◽

Latent Profile Analysis ◽

Profile Analysis ◽

The United States ◽

School Level ◽

Social Disorganization Theory ◽

Bullying Victimization ◽

Latent Profiles

This cross-national research investigated nationally representative adolescents from South Korea and the United States, explored similarities and differences in latent profiles of bullying victimization between countries, and examined individual- and school-level variables that predict such latent profiles supported by the Social Disorganization Theory. The fourth-grade sample of the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study from South Korea ( N = 4,669) and the United States ( N = 10,029) was used to conduct a latent profile analysis based on eight items of the bullying victimization questionnaire. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted using latent profiles as dependent variables. Independent variables include individual-level (material goods, school absence, academic interest, school belonging) and school-level (concentration of affluent families, school resources, the severity of delinquency, academic commitment) factors. More similarities existed than differences in the latent groups of bullying victimization between South Korea ( rare, low-moderate, verbal-relational-physical, and multi-risk) and the United States ( rare, low-moderate, verbal-relational, and multi-risk). Evidence for school-level variables as predictors of bullying victimization profiles was stronger for adolescents in the United States, with a concentration of affluent families and severity of delinquency being significant in four of the six models. For the South Korean sample, the severity of delinquency predicted bullying victimization in only one model. Examination of both individual- and school-level factors that predict unique bullying victimization experiences grounded in Social Disorganization Theory may be informative for addressing key areas of intervention—especially at the school-level context in which victimization primarily takes place and where anti-bullying intervention programs are often provided.

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