Answer:
sociological theories.
.
Contemporary theories of crime, place and space include:
defensible space theory, which examines how the design of physical space is
related to crime;
broken windows theory, which looks
time.
More information on the Chicago School/Social Disorganisation Theory
More information on contemporary theories of crime, place and space
The Chicago School/Social Disorganisation Theory
Social disorganisation theory grew out of research conducted by sociologists at the
University of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s. It key proponents were Clifford R.
Shaw and Henry D. McKay (1942), who used spatial mapping to examine the
residential locations of juveniles referred to court. Shaw and McKay found that
patterns of delinquency were higher in areas characterised by poor housing, poor
health, socio-economic disadvantage and transient populations. This led them to
suggest that crime was a function of neighbourhood dynamics and not due to
individual actors and their actions.
Shaw and McKay explained these patterns by reference to the problems that
accompanied immigration to Chicago at this time. They claimed that areas settled by
newly arrived immigrants experienced a breakdown of social norms due to ethnic
diversity and competing cultural traditions. Conventional institutions of social control
were therefore weakened and unable to regulate the behaviour of local youths.
