Social Disorganization Theory in Cinema

Application of Social Disorganization Theory in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver

• Visual Depiction of Urban Decay: In the $1976$ film Taxi Driver, director Martin Scorsese utilizes specific elements of social disorganization to illustrate the alienation of the protagonist, Travis Bickle (played by Robert De Niro).
• Signs of Normlessness: The film captures Travis's existence through visual markers of chronic normlessness in New York City's red-light district, including:
  • One-way street signs.
  • Tow-away zones.
  • Pornographic theaters (labeled "PORNO" and "XXX ZONE").
  • Dilapidated and crumbling buildings.
• The Character of Travis Bickle: Labeled as "God's lonely man," Travis is depicted as a figure standing out against a backdrop of city-life disorganization. His approach to the city mirrors the methodological framework of social disorganization theory.
• Ethnographic Methodology: Travis explores New York by circling in his taxi, employing a style of observation similar to a Chicago school researcher:
  • He maintains a journal, recording ethnographic details of the city.
  • He assesses night life as if the city were a laboratory for observing human nature (both good and evil).
  • Following Robert Park’s recommendation to researchers, Travis literally and figuratively "gets his pants dirty" by immersing himself in the city's most troubled zones.
• Psychological Consequences: Unlike a detached researcher, Travis lacks the perspective necessary to process his observations. His immersion in the troubled environment exacerbates his suffering rather than providing clinical understanding.
• The Paradox of Travis's Actions: Travis's attempts to "become a person" or stabilize his identity further disturb the social fabric. A failed assassination attempt is eventually redirected into an act of "child saving" that consists of multiple murders.

Characterization of Iris and Chicago School Delinquency Themes

• Delinquency as a Social Product: The character Iris, a child prostitute played by Jodie Foster, embodies the Chicago school's argument that delinquency results from the breakdown of conventional institutions and norms.
• Training in Deviance: Iris is shown being trained in her life of crime by her pimp, Sport, and by fellow prostitutes, illustrating that criminality is learned and embedded within a social context.
• Persistence of Crime: Chicago school theorists suggest that opportunities for delinquency emerge early and become more durable and persistent over time. Iris is a classic example of a youth whose path into crime is shaped by her immediate environmental influences.
• Child-Saving Reform: Travis's obsession with "saving" Iris aligns with the ideology of late nineteenth-century Chicago reformers. He interprets the city's influence on her as malignant and seeks to return her to her parents and a small-town life to "neutralize" the urban effect.

Sociohistorical Context and National Normlessness

• Vietnam War Influence: Travis's perspective is rooted in his status as a Vietnam War veteran returning to a homeland undergoing radical social changes.
• Gender and Sexuality Gaps: The film highlights the friction between Travis’s primitive views on gender/sexuality and the actual shifting roles of women in the $1970s$. This is exemplified in his relationships with the characters Betsy and Iris.
• The Disenfranchised White Male: Travis represents a proto-type of the disenfranchised white male that fueled "law-and-order" backlash movements against the civil rights and countercultural movements of the $1960s$.
• "We the People": The political slogan of the character Palantine, "We the People," serves to highlight the void and lack of meaning in Travis's personal life.
• Societal Zones of Transition: The film suggests that the concept of "zones of transition" (traditionally applied to specific urban neighborhoods) has expanded to characterize the entire U.S. society as a whole. In this context, society is in a state of chronic normlessness, with Travis serving as an antihero.

Urban Environments and the "Hood" Film Genre

• Boyz n the Hood ($1991$): Directed by John Singleton, this film was a pioneer in examining how the lives of Black youths in South Central Los Angeles are defined by components of social disorganization:
  • Drugs, gangs, and pervasive violence.
  • Hero Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.) faces a ubiquitous presence of alcohol, guns, and police intervention.
  • The narrative focuses on the struggle of parents to insulate children from a criminogenic environment.
• The "Hood" Film Wave: Boyz n the Hood initiated a genre focused on the intersection of race, poverty, and violence in African American urban centers. Related titles include:
  • New Jack City ($1991$).
  • Menace II Society ($1993$).
  • Clockers ($1995$).
• Criminogenic Crisis: These films chronicle the long-term impact of the "war on drugs" and drug use, which left inner-city centers in a state of perpetual crisis.

Vigilantism and Institutional Failure in The Brave One

• The Brave One ($2007$): Directed by Neil Jordan, this psychological thriller draws inspiration from Chicago school theory and earlier vigilante films like Taxi Driver, Ms. 45 ($1981$), and Death Wish ($1974$).
• The Witness Archetype: Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), a radio host, initially acts as an observer of New York City, recording its sounds. She describes herself as a "witness to all the beauty and ugliness that is disappearing."
• Nostalgia and Loss: Erica poses the question of whether an "imaginary city" must be constructed to house memories as the physical city changes.
• Catalyst for Violence: Erica is brutally beaten and her fiance is murdered at "Stranger's Gate" in Central Park.
• Failure of Social Institutions: Due to the unresponsiveness of the police and the absence of effective social institutions, Erica takes justice into her own hands:
  • She obtains a gun.
  • She engages in a series of vigilante killings across the city.
  • She specifically intervenes in acts of male violence against women.
• Outcome and Irony: As seen in Taxi Driver and Death Wish, the film ends with ironies regarding justice. Erica’s murders are covered up by an empathetic detective, and her vigilante actions are publicly reconstructed as acts of self-defense.