Political Decisionmaking and Ecological Models of Delinquency: Conflict and Consensus (From Theoretical Integration in the Study of Deviance and Crime: Problems and Prospects, P 105-117, 1989, Steven F Messner, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-118940)

• NCJ Number: 118944
• Author(s): R J Bursik Jr
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: California Correctional Peace Officers Assoc
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This chapter proposes that insights from conflict theories of delinquency can be incorporated into social disorganization theories, illustrating this integration with an empirical analysis of the effects of the construction of new public housing units on the residential stability of Chicago neighborhoods.

Abstract

The Chicago study examines the degree to which open-market considerations were apparently related to the locational decisions of the municipal government. It then determines the effect of new public housing on the levels of social disorganization in the targeted communities and the ensuing effects on the delinquency rates. Evidence indicates that political dynamics can directly affect the level of social disorganization in a community, thereby indirectly affecting the delinquency level. The model provides no support for the assumption that public housing projects might attract more crime-prone populations than the existing residents. Instead, it introduced a new source of instability into the neighborhood that decreased the community's ability to regulate itself. The key to integrating conflict theories into social disorganization theories is to recognize that the internal dynamics of neighborhoods, which are regarded solely as independent variables in conventional social disorganization models, are themselves affected by political decisionmaking. 3 tables.