Crime, Delinqueney, and Social Areas
| Author | Richard Quinney |
| Published date | 01 July 1964 |
| Date | 01 July 1964 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002242786400100206 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
149
Crime,
Delinqueney,
and
Social
Areas*
RICHARD
QUINNEY
Assistant
Professor,
Department
of
Sociology,
University
of
Kentucky;
B.A.
(Sociology,
Psychology),
Carroll
College,
1956;
M.A.
(Sociology),
Northwestern
University,
1957;
Ph.D.
(Sociology),
University
of
Wisconsin,
1962
Social
area
analysis
was
employed
in
an
ecological
study
of
crime
and
delinquency
in
a
metropolitan
area.
It
was
found
that
crime
rates
were
negatively
correlated
with
economic
status
and
positively
correlated
with
racial
status.
Delinquency
rates
were
negatively
correlated
with
economic
status
and
family
status
and
positively
correlated
with
racial
status.
The
proportion
of
de-
linquency
to
crime
was
positively
correlated
with
economic
status
and
negatively
correlated
with
family
status
and
racial
status.
Further
analysis
according
to
the
grouping
of
census
tracts
into
social
areas
and
racial
areas
revealed
qualifications
of
the
cor-
relations.
The
ecology
of
crime
and
delinquency
has
significance
only
when
social
structures
are
specified
by
measures
which
are
related
to
a
theoretical
framework,
as
is
the
case
with
social
area
analysis.
Finally,
the
rates
and
patterns
of
crime
and
delinquency
appear
to
be
related
to
characteristics
and
trends
in
contem
porary
society.
THE
most
commonly
used
approach
in
the
description
and
analysis
of
urban
social
structure
today
is
that
of
human
ecology.
Social
characteristics
of
population
aggregates
within
areas
of
the
city
have
served
as
basic
units
of
analysis.
It
has
been
assumed
that
population
ag-
gregate
statistics
indicate
the
underlying
social
structure
of
geographical
areas.
On
numerous
occasions
specific
social
behaviors
within
the
city,
primarily
de-
viant
behaviors,
have
been
related
to
these
population
characteristics.
The
basic
premise
in
the
investigations
has
usually
been
that
a
number
of
popula-
tion
variables
are
in
some
way
causative-
ly
related
to
social
behavior.
The
causal
link
between
population
statistics
and
OThe
research
was
supported
through
a
contract
between
the
Social
Research
Service
of
the
University
of
Kentucky
and
the
City-
County
Planning
Commission
of
Lexington
and
Layette
County
which
was
financed
by
a
Fed-
eral
grant
from
the
Urban
Renewal
Adminis-
tration
of
the
Housing
and
Home
Finance
Agency,
under
the
Urban
Planning
Assistance
Program
authorized
by
Section
701
of
the
Housing
Act
of
1954,
as
amended.
behavior,
however,
has
not
been
made
clear.
Lander’s
elaborate
analysis
of
de-
linquency
rates
in
Baltimore
is
the
ex-
ception
in
that
he
regards
his
two
sta-
tistically
most
important
population
variables
(home
ownership
and
Negro
concentration)
as
indicators
of
anomie;
but
he
ignores
the
tautology
of
the
argu-
ment
that
when
group
norms
are
no
longer
binding,
behavior
is
likely
to
be
deviant.’
Shevky,
Williams,
and
Bell
have
pro-
vided
a
useful
scheme
and
method
for
urban
ecology.2
Their
social
area
anal-
ysis
is
based
on
a
number
of
population
characteristics,
as
found
within
census
tracts,
which
are
grouped
into
three
un-
derlying
dimensions:
economic
status,
family
status,
and
ethnic
status.
Each
di-
1
Bernard
Lander,
Toward
An
Understanding
of
Juvenile
Delinquency
(New
York:
Columbia
University
Press,
1954).
’Eshref
Shevky
and
Marilyn
Williams,
The
Social
Areas
of
Los
Angeles
(Berkeley
and
Los
Angeles:
University
of
California
Press,
1949) ;
Eshref
Shevky
and
Wendell
Bell,
Social
Area
Analysis
(Stanford:
Stanford
University
Press,
1955).
To continue reading
Request your trial