ipl-logo

Social Disorganization Theory Paper

2283 Words10 Pages

In this paper I will be analyzing how living in a stressful, violent, and poverty-ridden environment in combination with racial discrimination can allow residents of that community too develop a “code of the street”, a set of informal rules to abide by. The two theories I will be connecting this matter to, is the social learning theory and social disorganization theory. More often, these street codes and rules are created by young gang members who manage and “run” the neighbourhood and have an influence. It is a requirement for every resident to not only be aware but abide by the rules, it does not matter the age, sex, or colour, but more where that individual resides, at times it may be for survival. Some of the rules in this code are …show more content…

We learn from the things we experience, the things we see, and the people with whom we associate. We learn from our surroundings , experiences, acquaintances, friends, and family. Contends that we learn aggression like any other behaviour-by watching others and imitating their behaviour” (2014). This theory explains that people act and do illegal things because that is all they have been taught. Those in gangs who may use violence to resolve conflict and/or establish a respectable name for themselves have been surrounded with those who do the same thing. For example those who follow the code of the street, that may mean beating someone up to make themselves feel more powerful, but they had to learn that from somewhere as they can not only learn things from their direct experiences but there is also a high chance that they have seen exposed to others that do the same exact thing. Differential association theory which is a strain of social learning theory, explains that criminal behaviour, and the specific techniques that one needs to know to commit crime are learned. This relates to the code of the street because those who abide by it are not only taught the violent or criminal behaviour but are also taught the motivating factors that back up the behaviour. All the residents that follow the street code do because that is what is they are surrounded with and according to the social learning theory, which is explains that crime is learned, they watch how others deal with things and use that as a model. It is a cognitive process in which one’s attitude and their surroundings merge in an ongoing conditioning theory. Explaining the differential theory further, “imagine a child growing up in a home where the parents routinely engaged in criminal acts. The child would grow up assuming that these acts may not

Show More
Related
101 Words | 1 Pages

Elijah Anderson spent much of his career doing ethnographic studies in the poor, inner-city communities of Philadelphia. From his field research, he came to believe that people, especially young black men who lived in the most economically depressed, drug-infested, and crime-ridden sections of the city, had to contend with weakened rules of civil law. In the place of the usual civil laws governing people’s behavior evolved a “code of the street” (Anderson, 1999, p. 9). Anderson argues that at the core of this code is a set of informal rules organized around a search for respect that governs public social

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

How well Wes Moore describes the culture of the streets, and particularly disenfranchised adolescents that resort to violence, is extraordinary considering the unbiased perspective Moore gives. Amid Moore’s book one primary theme is street culture. Particularly Moore describes the street culture in two cities, which are Baltimore and the Bronx. In Baltimore city the climate and atmosphere, of high dropout rates, high unemployment and poor public infrastructure creates a perfect trifecta for gang violence to occur. Due to what was stated above, lower income adolescent residents in Baltimore are forced to resort to crime and drugs as a scapegoat of their missed opportunities.

Read More
890 Words | 4 Pages

Elijah Anderson’s Code of the Street is an account of street violence in the Poor African American communities of Philadelphia. Andersons theory brings together elements of respect, loyalty, and honor, the “code of the street” is an informal system used to control social interactions in impoverished neighborhoods and views violence as acceptable, appropriate, and necessary response to transgressions. In these economically deprived and drug and crime ridden communities, the code of the street is a subculture that controls behavior, particularly violence. As a result of epidemic joblessness and enduring racism in mainstream society, inner-city African Americans are pressured to abide by the code of the street as a survival mechanism.

Read More
373 Words | 2 Pages

The “Code of the Street,” materialized in American’s major metropolitan inner city communities’ predominately homogeneous African American neighborhoods because segments of this population felt disenfranchised from mainstream American due to lack of economic opportunities as well as the distrust between citizens in these communities toward law enforcement. The common belief in among a minority of the population in these neighborhoods is that the criminal justice system is bias toward poor minority groups and every person must fend for himself or herself. Therefore, urban communities have developed a set of socially acceptable norms within these distressed communities coined the “Code of the Street.”

Read More
1031 Words | 5 Pages

The differential association theory has become the most talked about learning theory of deviance. The theory focuses on how individuals can learn to become criminals. The theory does not have concern for why individuals become criminals. Criminology is the knowledge regarding crime and delinquency as a social issue.

Read More
1336 Words | 6 Pages

Social learning theory and social bonding theory are two theories that may be compared and contrasted because they both overlap and differ. Although these theories have their similarities and differences, one theory may prove to be more convincing in terms of applying the theory to the understanding of crime and delinquency. Social learning theory refers to Akers’ theory of crime and deviance. Akers attempted to specify the mechanism and processes through which criminal learning takes place by explaining crime and deviance; he did this in such a way that the likelihood of conforming or deviant behavior based on the influence of an individual’s history of learning was accounted for. This theory was based off Sutherland’s differential association theory, which had nine propositions outlining the process by which individuals acquire attitudes favorable to criminal or delinquent behavior with the basic idea that people tend to associate with others in which they come into contact.

Read More
991 Words | 4 Pages

This process has nine components (Cullen, 2014). The first is criminal behavior is learned not inherited. Second, the Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication. Third, the principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. Fourth, When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes (a) techniques of committing the crime, which is sometimes very complicated, sometimes simple; (b) the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes.

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

Research has shown damage and dysfunction to the prefrontal cortex can have an effect on a persons antisocial behaviours. The pre-frontal cortex strong association with moral reasoning, social precessing and inhibition plays a huge role in this, with dysfunction in these areas affecting a person’s emotional response and behaviour. Permanent damage and temporal disfunction from substances like alcohol and drugs can lead to different types of anti-social behaviour such as violence and humour processing. But it must be noted, other factors such as environment and upbringing also play huge roles in what leads people to antisocial behaviour Cases that study direct damage to the prefrontal cortex hold a lot of evidence for it’s detrimental effects

Read More
980 Words | 4 Pages

Social learning theory will be used to examine the basis of learned behavior, specifically early exposure to violence, and how the behaviors observed by an individual may later become imitated in one’s relationships. Conflict theory will also be used to examine

Read More
1059 Words | 5 Pages

One of the major questions asked within the Criminal Justice field is, what makes an offender commit crimes? Although we know there is no one distinct answer to this question, we have learned that there are certain factors can contribute to an individual becoming an offender. The broad theory that supports the idea of criminal behavior being learned is the Social Learning Theory. There are four distinct theories that fall underneath the umbrella of Social Learning Theories. These distinct theories are Differential Association Theory, Differential Anticipation Theory, Differential Reinforcement Theory, and Imitation Theory.

Read More
264 Words | 2 Pages

Differential association theory is a part of social learning theory. All the theories are learned to commit crimes in different ways. Such as differential association theory suggested that, the behavior, the techniques and other things that are need to be learned by them in the process of being a gang member.(Walsh &hemmens, 2008). They believe gang violence is an identity to be exposing them in the community.

Read More
405 Words | 2 Pages

Primarily people learn to participate in crime by associating with other individuals. Social learning proves they are reinforced for crime, learn believes that are favorable to crime, and are exposed to criminal models. Consequently, they see nothing wrong with what they do as they view crime as something desirable or at least justifiable in certain situations. The theory of social learning involves differential reinforcement, beliefs, and modeling to describe the three mechanisms by which individuals learn to engage in crime from others. According to social learning theory, by association or exposure to others is where juvenile person acquire to act in transgression and conforming behavior.

Read More
820 Words | 4 Pages

One of the most analyzed theories in criminology today is the social learning theory. The social learning theory derives from the differential association theory by Dr. Edward Sutherland. The social learning theory of criminology says that individuals learn from the community around them. This happens in two ways by differential association and differential reinforcement. Differential association is the theory that individuals learn values and behaviors related with crime.

Read More
587 Words | 3 Pages

The education includes how to commit crimes and all the rationalizations for doing so. Criminal behaviors are reinforced by hearing them referred to in positive terms. Respect for social norms such as following the law is held in contempt by the group. Two of the nine propositions that Sutherland came up with to explain the Differential Association theory was that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication and the principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. These propositions are established in the movie Blow as follows.

Read More
1161 Words | 5 Pages

This paper investigates the relationship between gang-related violence in schools and street gangs. The author came across the conception that gang-related violence that takes place in schools is triggered by the street gang activities and lifestyle that come to pass in the community, which can be formulated in two fashion, in term of gang learners being part of the street gang and conducting part of their activities in the school grounds. While on the other side, the gang learners are forming their own gang groups that are not related to the street gangs but are share the same culture. In other words, the author is trying to disentangle the question of whether the existence of street gang in societies contributes to the incidences if violence

Read More

More about Social Disorganization Theory Paper

Open Document