Concentric Zone Theory asserts crime rates are higher in certain city zones, especially transition areas with weak social structures. Which pair of researchers is associated with this theory?

Concentric Zone Theory asserts crime rates are higher in certain city zones, especially transition areas with weak social structures. Which pair of researchers is associated with this theory?

• A. Shaw and McKay
• B. Park and Burgess
• C. Simmel and Wirth
• D. Merton and Schweitzer

Answer: (A)

Concentric Zone Theory in urban sociology explains crime tends to be higher in certain city zones, especially the transition area where rapid change, poverty, and weak social controls prevail. This pattern was documented by Shaw and McKay, who mapped delinquency in Chicago and found crime concentrated in the transition zones regardless of the residents’ ethnicity, highlighting social disorganization as the key factor linking neighborhood structure to crime. Park and Burgess helped establish the concentric zone model itself, but the association between crime rates and those zones comes from Shaw and McKay. The other pairs contributed to different ideas in urban sociology.

Concentric Zone Theory in urban sociology explains crime tends to be higher in certain city zones, especially the transition area where rapid change, poverty, and weak social controls prevail. This pattern was documented by Shaw and McKay, who mapped delinquency in Chicago and found crime concentrated in the transition zones regardless of the residents’ ethnicity, highlighting social disorganization as the key factor linking neighborhood structure to crime. Park and Burgess helped establish the concentric zone model itself, but the association between crime rates and those zones comes from Shaw and McKay. The other pairs contributed to different ideas in urban sociology.