The social ecological view takes account of the role played by the family, the church, and the school as well as individual and ethnic group aspirations and skills. However, it is a broader theory than such other theories as conflict theory and labeling theory. Social ecologists argue that black criminality occurs at an above-average rate largely because blacks reside in natural areas of crime. These areas are characterized by such factors as deteriorating or deteriorated housing, anomic behavior patterns, limited or nonexistent legitimate employment and recreational opportunities, and a local criminal tradition which preceded the occupancy by the current black ethnic group in residence. For social ecologists crime is both a social and a spatial reality and should be examined in terms of four factors: place, social organization, environs, and time. The social ecological approach explores the relationship among race, ethnicity, extralegal social control, social class, and minority crime, based on the recognition that the black ghetto really consists of numerous black ethnic ghettos within a spatial area that is not totally black. A study of black ghetto crime in Chicago would include these factors: (1) the identification of the Chicago black ghettos from census data, (2) the identification of black ethnicity using survey research and board of education data, (3) identification of the extent of ethnic heterogeneity within black ghetto zones, (4) determination of victimization and residents' perceptions of extralegal social controls, (5) determination of intact institutions for socialization within the various social ecological zones, (6) survey of victims of serious crimes, (7) survey of offenders committing serious crimes, (8) determination of the site and situational aspects of criminal incidents, and (9) survey of businesses which have been criminally victimized. A bibliography listing 380 references is provided at the end of the volume containing this paper.