Harvey Weinstein Social Disorganization Theory

Our Guys by Bernard Lefkowitz (1998) is an account of the gang rape of a mentally disabled girl, Leslie Faber that took place in Glen Ridge in March 1989. Kevin and Kyle Scherzer, Bryant Grober, Paul and Chris Archer, Richard Corcoran Jr., the most popular high school athletes in the town, participated in or observed the group rape of Leslie. Although Glen Ridge was a small and peaceful suburb, it is a perfect example of America’s jock culture where status is associated with sports and being a man is linked aggression. In this essay, we will argue that from both a micro and macro-level analysis, Glen Ridge’s social institutions perpetuated the cycle of violence and how society blames the victim rather than the perpetrators of the crime since

Sexual assault always has and always will be a serious problem in society. Despite the fact that, according to sources like the RAINN organization, the amount of reported sexual assault cases in the United States has dropped by more than half since 1993, sexual assault itself remains a problem in the United States. Just very recently, eight women have now come forward and accused longtime news anchor Charlie Rose of sexual misconduct in the workplace. This latest incident is one of many that have been reported within the recent months against those of a high socioeconomic standing in society, entertainers and politicians who abused their positions of power in order to harass and harm their female colleagues. These victims waited until now to report these incidents due to the fear that they will not be believed and that justice will not be delivered against those in such powerful positions. They only now come forward due to the unity they have found in each other against these abusers. To understand the uncertainty these women faced in their decision, this issue must be looked upon sociologically, using each of the three sociological perspectives of functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism to overview the various factors like race, gender, and social class that played a part in delaying their decision and explain why and how the justice system has failed in this way.

This breakdown of organization and culture within a community leads to a lack of informal social control which in turn leads to higher crime rates especially in the juvenile population (Simons, Simons, Burt, Brody, & Cutrona, 2005). Social disorganization theory asserts that strong levels of connection within a community along with a sense of civic pride motivate individuals to take a more active role in the community therefore acting as a deterrent to crime.

And on the other hand how “Code of the Streets” shows links to the Differential Association and Social Learning theories of crime. The Differential Association (closely related to Social Disorganization theory), developed by Edwin Sutherland, and Social Learning theory, developed by Ronald Akers, both theories of crime are theories that try to explain, at a micro-level, why individuals rather than groups of individuals commit crime (Feldmeyer, Differential Association and Social Learning, 2015).

American people live in societies usually fitting to their social class, that is usually considered by the dissemination of success, supremacy, and status. These individuals share similar thoughts in relations to the desire for things, feelings, beliefs, norms, and a required lifestyle. The Chicago School Theory, better known as Social Disorganization Theory, and Strain Theory are both branches of the social structure theory that focus on crime by analyzing the unfairness distribution of wealth, desperateness, and hopelessness. Based off two Chicago sociologists, Clifford R. Shaw and Henry McKay, social disorganization theory, crime stem from a disorganized area in which society of social control, such as schools, have failed to perform their anticipated purposes (Siegel, L.J. 164). With the numerous school within the inner city has broken down the

Social Disorganization theory is the most prominent in the film. Shaw and McKay used this theory to describe areas within a society that would be more susceptible to crime. The area that was deemed more likely for criminal activity to occur was the “zone in transition” (Lilly, 2012, p. 40). This zone consisted of “rows of deteriorating tenements” and was considered the “least desirable living area” (Lilly, 2012, p. 39).

The social disorganization theory is directed towards social conditions. This theory argues that crime is due to social conflicts, change, and lack of consensus in the group.

Frank Schmalleger explains the theory of social disorganization as one that depicts both social change as well as conflict, and lack of any agreement as the origin of its cause for both criminal behavior as well as nonconformity to society and closed associated with the ecological school of criminology (Schmalleger, 2012, p. 152). The philosophy behind the organization and structure of a society and how that contributes to criminal behavior within society is by stressing poverty, economic conditions, lack of education, lack of skills, are not sought-after in the work place, and divergent cultural values. Criminal behavior is the result of the person’s assignment of location within the structure of society.

Social disorganization theory was established by Shaw and Mckay (1942) in their famous work “Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas”. The main argument of the social disorganization theory is that, the place where people live will influence the individual’s behavior, and this may lead them to crimes. More precisely, certain characteristics of the neighborhood/community will strengthen or weaken the informal social control within the community, and this has mediating effect on crimes.

The social structure theory is a theory that makes use of several assumptions. The first assumption is that the criminal behavior begins during the youth of the perpetrator. The other assumption is that the perpetrator of the crime comes from a disadvantaged class. There must also be a group dynamic where the crime could develop. The other assumption is that there exists a social structure that its degree of organization contributes towards the occurrence of criminal behavior (Hirschi, 2017).

Social disorganization theory explains the ecological difference in levels of crime, simply based on cultural and structural factors that influence the social order in a given community. Social disorganization is triggered by poverty, social stability, ethnic heterogeneity, and a few key elements. Although Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay (1942), were known for social disorganization theory, in 1947 Edwin Sutherland introduced the notion of a ecological differences in crime that is the result of differential social organization. Despite similar arguments on social organization, Shaw and Mckay argued that the cultural integration explained the ecological variation in crime rates as a result of the negative impact on the community. Also elaborating on structural socioeconomic factors shaping informal control like poverty, heterogeneity, and residential mobility. Later Robert Sampson and Byron Groves (1989), refined the work of Shaw and Mckay by highlighting on the importance of social ties and new measures of social disorganization.

Social disorganization theory is part of the positivist paradigm of criminology, a scientific approach to crime causes, and part of the Chicago School of crime. While trait theories under the positivist approach assume that crime is cause by internal factors, social disorganization theory relies on the assumption that crime is caused by environmental

The Social Disorganization theory is an intriguing theory that can be seen in our society today. This theory states that “disorganized communities cause crime because informal social controls break down and criminal cultures emerge” (Cullen 6). The city of Chicago was the predominate focus upon the construction of this theory. The reasoning for this was because Chicago was the fastest growing population in the 19th century, a population starting at 5,000 in 1800 and growing to 2 million in 1900, nearly doubling every decade. At this point in time, the city was composed of citizens who did not speak a common language nor shared the same cultural values. Due to this social divide, these community members were unable to organize themselves in

Had he had a boss that did socially acceptable and illegal things he may have been swayed in that direction? Although, as said before, his actions could be considered socially acceptable because not only the people that Jordan chose to surround himself with accepted it, but also the majority of people in the stock trading business at the time. To compare this to today’s culture, these events most likely wouldn’t be able to happen being that there are many more regulations on the stock trading business that there were at this time. This also can relate back to conflict theory being that those in power chose to create more regulations to sacrifice the needs of the weak, for the needs of the powerful. The regulations both in this movie and in life today are put together and held up by those with the power and they are never going to put forth regulations that have negative effect to them.

The rational choice theory and social disorganization theory contrast in so many ways. The rational choice theory is when wrongdoers choose to commit crimes and is punished severely. On the other hand, the social disorganization theory is differences in crime levels based on structure and culture factors that shape the nature of social order across communities. Furthermore, the difference between the two is that one of the is about a decision making process choice and the other is about how socialization controls criminal behavior.