By
age 21, Billy Smith has spent most of his adolescent years in juvenile
detention facilities in California. His
crimes began minor with drug use and theft but escalated to armed robbery and
second-degree murder. At 21, Smith
serves the next four years of his 20-year sentence at Deuel Vocational
Institute (DVI) in Tracy, California. He
will be sent to a California prison when he turns 25. An analysis of Smith’s youth beginning at age
12 revealed that he had no attachment to his adoptive parents, and he dropped
out of high school in 10th grade. He
lacked commitment to socially acceptable endeavors such as after-school
activities–sports, etc. His only involvement was with the Bulldog Street Gang
in Fresno, California. Finally, Smith
has no belief in any of society’s acceptable values, such as educational
achievement, respect for others, and work as a means of success.
1. Identify the
theory that is described above.
2. Explain how
this theory explains criminal behavior
3.
Argue whether this theory explains criminal behavior better than other
theories
Using 4 scholarly sources
Category: Crimonology
In the 1930s, two prominent sociologists, Clifford Shaw and
Henry McKay, formulated their Social Disorganization Theory based on
observations of the social dynamics they observed in Chicago, Illinois, from
1900 – 1933.
Is this theory an
anachronism, or can it be applied to at least one California city, Los Angeles,
in 1992?
Identify the tenets of the social
disorganization theory and write a 2-3 page paper examining this phenomenon in
LA with four citations/references
Use 4 scholarly references