Social Disorganization Theories and the Chicago School

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key figures, theories, and models of the Chicago school of sociology and social disorganization perspectives as presented in the lecture notes.

Chicago school of sociology

A community of scholars at the University of Chicago in the first half of the twentieth century who introduced social disorganization theories of crime and laid the foundations for urban sociology.

Social organism

A conception of the city, community, and region as more than a geographical phenomenon, but as a living social entity, as described by Robert E. Park.

Human ecology

A theory grounded in the idea that dynamic social conditions of the city, including population shifts and immigration, are the source of crime, resembling ecosystems of the natural world.

Prohibition

The period from $1919$ to $1933$ during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were illegal, contributing to a wave of crime and delinquency.

Social disorganization theories

A criminological tradition arguing that crime is rooted in the social environment and the city itself, rather than individual biological or psychological factors.

The City ($1925$)

A volume by Robert Park and Ernest Burgess that is central to the social disorganization perspective and describes the city as a series of concentric zones.

Concentric Zone Model

A diagram representing the growth of a city as it radiates and extends outward into five distinct rings or zones.

Zone I

The Central Business District, identified as the epicenter of the city.

Zone II (Transitional Zone)

An area characterized by population flux, deteriorated housing, abandoned buildings, and the breakdown of traditional norms; the primary area of interest for Chicago school theorists.

Zone III

The Working Class Zone, characterized by single-family tenements.

Zone IV

The Residential Zone, characterized by single-family homes with yards and garages.

Zone V

The Commuter Zone, consisting of the suburbs on the periphery of the city.

Invasion and Succession

Naturalistic terms used to characterize regional population shifts in which new groups move into zones while previous residents migrate out.

Radial expansion

The process by which the city grows and extends outward from its center.

Ethnographies

Deep observational studies used by Chicago school researchers to map human behavior and social interaction up close in actual social settings.

Travis Bickle

The antihero of the $1976$ film Taxi Driver, used to illustrate the assumptions and worldview of social disorganization theories.

The Great Migration

The movement of recently freed slaves north, which, along with immigration, shifted Chicago's population from thousands in the late $1800s$ to more than $2$ million by the $1920s$.

Criminogenic force

The idea from the Chicago school that the city environment, particularly ghettos and slums, stimulates criminal acts among otherwise normal individuals.