Reference no: EM132286012

Discussion :

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Perspectives of Social Disorganization

Cesare Bonesana, Marchese de Beccaria is known as the father of the the classical school of criminology/father of criminal justice and influenced and inspired what we know today as the American criminal justice system. One of the most revolutionary ideas within the American Criminal Justice System is the concept of Due Process.

In this paper I will examine elements within the criminal justice system that are based on or are residual processes from Beccaria's work, more specifically the concept of Due Process.

Social Disorganization

Social disorganization is a theory that was created by Shaw and Mckay that is used to explain the breakdown of social control that causes different levels of crime based on the factors shaping the relationships within and across neighborhood communities (Bernard, Snipes, Gerould, & Vold, 2016, p. 142,144).

Factors of a Socially Disorganized Neighborhood

Kornhauser discussed the basic argument that within neighborhoods where people are poor, live in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods, frequently move from place to place will have difficulty assimilating and maintaining social relationships within the neighborhood (Bernard, Snipes, Gerould, & Vold, 2016, p.144). I think these factors plus distrust of the police, and single parent households contribute to the social disorganization of neighborhoods and communities.

It seems that residents within those neighborhoods often disassociate themselves from the responsibility of camaraderie with the people who live around them and the overall responsibility of making sure the neighborhood or community achieves their common goals of social control.

Lack of Ability and Willingness for Social Control.

Triplett, Sun, and Gainey examined the ability and willingness of neighborhoods to enact social control, and it's influence on crime rates (Triplett, R., Sun, I., & Gainey, R., 2005).

When I reviewed the article I observed that the researchers felt four factors influenced the willingness for neighborhoods to enact social control: neighborhood structural characteristics, trust, environmental characteristics, and ability (Triplett, R., Sun, I., & Gainey, R., 2005). The researchers looked at social ties, quality of police services, and cooperation with the police as a way to shape ability and willingness to enact social control and their effects on neighborhood crime rates (Triplett, R., Sun, I., & Gainey, R.,2005)

Personal Experience with Houston Neighborhoods

Upon reflecting on my days on patrol, I patrolled in two different districts/neighborhoods within the City of Houston. The first neighborhood I patrolled was predominantly single dwelling residential homes and the second neighborhood I patrolled was a low income apartment home communities with some single dwelling residential homes.

While there were some distinct differences within the neighborhoods the interesting part was that I observed some similar criminal patterns within both neighborhoods, but it was the way members of the neighborhood handled. Both areas were predominantly Black and Hispanic, one area was lower middle class with predominantly homeownership, and the other area was lower income with very little homeownership.

I did observe from the area where majority of the residents were homeowners, there was more pride in the overall appearance of the neighborhood. The residents of that neighborhood were more willing to cooperate with and assist the police in order to stop criminal activity.

There was an overall sense of accountability and a level of responsibility for the state of the neighborhood. In the neighborhood were there were more apartments and less homeownership the disassociation with the neighborhood was evident. There was a lack of desire to assist police in stopping crime, members of that neighborhood often turned an eye to the criminal activities and would not get involved with assisting police in solving crimes to stop the criminal activity.

Overall I saw how not seeing something and saying something impacted the level of criminal activity within the community. I saw how more people within the neighborhood that had no real responsibility became victims of the crimes that they turned a blind eye to. It is an important function of the members of the neighborhood to police within their neighborhood, speak up when they observe the teenagers vandalizing the buildings, call police when they observe drug dealing on the corner, help to be the change that can transmogrify the neighborhood.

Social Disorganization and the Bible.

When examining the idea of Social Disorganization from a biblical standpoint and relating the concept to scripture I turned to Jeremiah 12:10 which states "Many shepherds have ruined my vineyard, They have trampled down My field; they have made my pleasant field a desolate wilderness. I feel this explains perfectly what transpires within a socially disorganized neighborhood. I feel this scripture touches on my previous point of how when society provides inadequate shepherding (lack of involvement with protecting the neighborhood), it leads to the neighborhood becoming destroyed.

In conclusion, social disorganization is a theory used to explain how lack of social control impacts and contributes to criminal activity within neighborhoods. Many factors contribute to creating the disorganization. It is important to note that members of neighborhoods need to participate within their communities in order to combat crime. This can be achieved by developing a connection and a sense of responsibility to protecting the neighborhood.