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Longitudinal Test of Social Disorganization Theory: Feedback Effects Among Cohesion, Social Control, and Disorder

NCJ Number
235915
Journal
Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2011 Pages: 833-872
Author(s)
Wouter Steenbeek; John R. Hipp
Date Published
August 2011
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the social disorganization theory.
Abstract
Social disorganization theory holds that neighborhoods with greater residential stability, higher socioeconomic status, and more ethnic homogeneity experience less disorder because these neighborhoods have higher social cohesion and exercise more social control. Recent extensions of the theory argue that disorder in turn affects these structural characteristics and mechanisms. Using a data set on 74 neighborhoods in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands spanning 10 years, the authors tested the extended theory, which to date only a few studies have been able to do because of the unavailability of neighborhood-level longitudinal data. The authors also improve on previous studies by distinguishing between the potential for social control (feelings of responsibility) and the actual social control behavior. Cross-sectional analyses replicate earlier findings, but the results of longitudinal cross-lagged models suggest that disorder has large consequences for subsequent levels of social control and residential instability, thus leading to more disorder. This is in contrast to most previous studies, which assume disorder to be more a consequence than a cause. This study underlines the importance of longitudinal data, allowing for simultaneously testing the causes and consequences of disorder, as well as the importance of breaking down social control into the two dimensions of the potential for social control and the actual social control behavior. (Published Abstract)