Suburbanization, Privatization, and Juvenile Delinquency: Some Possible Relationships (From Housing and Neighborhoods: Theoretical and Empirical Contributions, P 119-137, W Vanvliet, et al, eds.)

• NCJ Number: 111742
• Author(s): D Popenoe
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: Greenwood Publishing Group
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Based on a paper delivered as a keynote address to the International Conference on Housing in Amsterdam, June 3, 1985.

Annotation

This paper explores possible relationships between the ecology and social character of suburban development and juvenile delinquency, focusing on the social process of privatization and individualism.

Abstract

'Privatization' as used in this discussion refers to the growth of the private at the expense of the public. The local residential environment of the prototypical suburb is a highly privatized environment where public activities and sentiments have been curtailed and the community as a whole is organized mainly to foster private pursuits. This privatization leads to a breakdown in informal social control mechanisms such as the family, school, church, and community social sanctions. Although the causes of delinquency are complex, a general consensus is emerging among delinquency theorists that two general social processes are almost always involved: a lack of social control by adults in the family, school, and community and the increased influence of peers on adolescent behavior. The typical suburb thus fosters the erosion of adult informal social controls and the emergence of peer pressure as the dominant mechanism influencing adolescent behavior. New suburbs should be designed and old suburbs redesigned to foster self-contained, socially rich environments. 73 references.