This theory holds that crime is more likely in communities with weak social institutions, such as families and schools.

This theory holds that crime is more likely in communities with weak social institutions, such as families and schools.

• A. Social Disorganization Theory
• B. Conflict Theory
• C. Somatotyping
• D. Labeling Theory

Answer: (A)

Crime is more likely in neighborhoods where social control breaks down because families, schools, and other community institutions fail to reinforce norms and supervise behavior. This idea is Social Disorganization Theory. It comes from Shaw and McKay’s work in Chicago, which showed that crime clustered in areas with high residential turnover, poverty, and social heterogeneity, regardless of which ethnic groups lived there. When formal and informal networks are weak, residents have less ability to supervise youths, intervene in problem behaviors, or transmit shared values, leading to higher crime rates. Over time, the concept of collective efficacy—the trust and willingness of neighbors to intervene for the common good—became a key mechanism: low collective efficacy means less informal social control and more crime. The other theories don’t fit this-neighborhood-driven explanation: Conflict Theory focuses on power and inequality, Somatotyping on supposed physical predispositions, and Labeling Theory on reactions to deviance rather than the neighborhood structure that permits crime to flourish.

Crime is more likely in neighborhoods where social control breaks down because families, schools, and other community institutions fail to reinforce norms and supervise behavior. This idea is Social Disorganization Theory. It comes from Shaw and McKay’s work in Chicago, which showed that crime clustered in areas with high residential turnover, poverty, and social heterogeneity, regardless of which ethnic groups lived there. When formal and informal networks are weak, residents have less ability to supervise youths, intervene in problem behaviors, or transmit shared values, leading to higher crime rates. Over time, the concept of collective efficacy—the trust and willingness of neighbors to intervene for the common good—became a key mechanism: low collective efficacy means less informal social control and more crime. The other theories don’t fit this-neighborhood-driven explanation: Conflict Theory focuses on power and inequality, Somatotyping on supposed physical predispositions, and Labeling Theory on reactions to deviance rather than the neighborhood structure that permits crime to flourish.