Community Structure and Crime: Testing Social-Disorganization Theory
@article{Sampson1989CommunitySA, title={Community Structure and Crime: Testing Social-Disorganization Theory}, author={Robert J. Sampson and W. Byron Groves}, journal={American Journal of Sociology}, year={1989}, volume={94}, pages={774 - 802} }
Shaw and McKay's influential theory of community social disorganization has never been directly tested. To address this, a community-level theory that builds on Shaw and McKay's original model is formulated and tested. The general hypothesis is that low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, residential mobility, and family disruption lead to community social disorganization, which, in turn, increases crime and delinquency rates. A community's level of social organization is measured in terms…
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