Social Disorganization Theory



Social Disorganization Theory

Introduction

The theoretical understanding of social disorganization has advanced since the conceptuatalization and study of the system model. Other theoretical models have since been interpolated into the disorganization thought to develop a true understanding of the manifestation of individual motivations towards crime as seen at the community level. This has been done by Agnew (1999) by explaining the rudiments of general strain (GST) through an aggregate lens and incorporating facets of social disorganization literature. Agnew presents this notion as a new Macro Strain Theory (MST). This paper will seek to explicate Macro Strain Theory through first providing an understanding of general strain theory before explaining how sources of general strain may manifest at the macro level in communities. Lastly, this paper will delve into empirical literature to ascertain whether findings lend support to the theoretical hypothesis.

Discussion

Agnew (1999) asserts that GST is created by problems inherent in the communities to which individuals belong. In that, communities with structural disadvantage are more likely to “select and retain strained individuals, produce strain and foster criminal responses to strain” (Agnew, 1999., p. 126). Structural conditions in a community such as poverty and inequality lead both directly and indirectly to high crime rates. Individuals who reside in disadvantaged communities are likely to be directly exposed to strain such as being discriminated against or indirectly affected such as failing to acquire skills necessary for success (Agnew, 1999).

It is through this scope that MST is clearly explicated. The variation in delinquency and crime rates across communities is indirectly dependent on the levels of aggregate strain and other conditioning variables. Communities that are highly disadvantaged create strain and anger by blocking the ability of members of a community to achieve positive goals, creating a loss of positive stimuli, and exposing individuals to negative stimuli (Agnew, 1999). This then creates negative emotion such as anger and frustration. Agnew (1999) interpolates aspects of social disorganization theory through stating that the structural disadvantage affects social but also presenting the argument that social control serves as a conditional variable that determines whether negative emotions manifest into crime.

Structural disadvantage such as economic deprivation in neighborhoods may lead to a loss of positive stimuli and exposure to negative stimuli, which may then manifest in anger and frustration. A low-income community dependent on manufacturing jobs for economic sustenance of its members would most likely be adversely affected by a major decline in the manufacturing sector. Possible loss of income may expose one to negative life events such as foreclosures that may cause fights and other domestic problems that affect families and reduce private and parochial social control. Such exposure to negative stimuli may also spawn other forms of strain such as failure to achieve positively valued goals and relative deprivation. The academic ability of members of a community who are economically handicapped and possess limited social capital, maybe indirectly impinged upon by their disadvantage, thus blocking one from achieving positively valued goals. When such effects are aggregated in a community, there ...