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Social Disorganization Theory and Policy Implications in Louisiana: Crime Statistics in

Cities with Highly Dense Population

Christopher J. Bowlin

21S-CRIM-A425-W01

Dr. Denney

5/5/2021
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Louisiana's crime rate of 3,711.29 per 100,000 is the fourth highest in the country. In

2019, Lousiana maintained the highest per capita murder rate for the 31st consecutive year of

11.7 per 100,000 people. Between 1989 and 2014, Louisiana experienced 13.7 murders per

100,000 people. The most dangerous cities in Louisiana are New Orleans, Opelousas, and

Alexandria. Alexandria's violent crime rate is 1,454 per 100,000 people. While most

criminological theories source from the individual via the person’s biological make-up, the mind,

the circumstances of one’s birth, self-control, etc; social disorganization theory addresses crime

at the macro-level. Why does a state or large city have more crime than others? With statistics

showing that crime is more prominent in areas with dense population, we must center our focus

on the theory of social disorganization and what we can do to mitigate crime in the most

effective manner. First, let’s cover social disorganization theory in its entirety to include its

origin and how it perceives crime. Shorty after, we will look at concentric zone theory and with

New Orleans as the subject of study and discuss what crimes this theory mainly addresses.

Lastly, we will address policy implications that are already in place and what could be added for

further mitigation of crime.

Social Disorganization

In sociology, social disorganization theory is a theory developed by the Chicago School,

related to ecological theories. The theory directly links crime rates to neighborhood ecological

characteristics. The key principle being that location matters. In other words, a person's

residential location is a key factor in shaping the likelihood that a person will become involved in

illegal activities. The theory suggests that residential location is as much of a determinant of

crime as individual characteristics are (race, age, sex, etc.), if not more of a determinant. So for
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example, the adolescent living in east New Orleans where there is a subculture of acceptance of

crime due to need, encourages crime to occur.

The origins of social disorganization theory took root in Chicago, IL when the city that

was incorporated in 1833 with 4,100 residents; grew its population to 1 million by 1890; and by

1910, the count surpassed 2 million (Palen, 1981, p. 63). Most of the growth in population

stemmed from immigrants, African Americans fleeing the south, and displaced farmers. This

created for oversaturation of jobs requiring many to take lower wages working harsh long hours.

At this time of the early 1900’s it was reinforced that crime could not be seen simply as an

individual pathology and it made more sense when viewed as a social problem. This thought was

then reinforced by a liberal reform movement, also known as the progressive movement. They

shared the view that the poor were pushed by their environment into lives of crime. So, at the

time the goal was to goal was to save the poor, especially their children, by providing social

services such as schools, clinics, recreational facilities, settlement houses, and foster homes in

order to aid the poor to raise to the middle class.

Some believed that the growth of a city happened sporadically, but Earnest Burgess and

Robert Park both believed it followed a social pattern. Imagine you are pouring pancake batter

into a skillet. Does it spread out without pattern or does it spread evenly flowing directly from

the middle of the pour? This analogy is similar to the pattern in which Burgess and Park believe

a city’s population grows. Ernest Burgess with his colleague, Robert E. Park, published The

City (Park, Burgess, & McKenzie, 1925) in which they conceptualized the city into the

concentric zones (Concentric zone model), including the central business district, transitional

(industrial, deteriorating housing), working-class residential (tenements), residential, and

commuter/suburban zones. Below is a figure of that zone developed by Burgess and Park.
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Figure 1.

Most high-priced residential areas lay on the outer rings, further from the busy business district

area and the poor residents. The focus of the statistics lay in the zone of transition where the

majority of crime takes place according to statistics. This zone contained rows of deteriorating

tenements, often built in the shadow of aging factories (Lilly et al. 1995). These social patterns

were observed and noted that this causes weakened familial and community bonds which results

in what is coined social disorganization. To confirm this, 2 more scholars by the names of Shaw

and McKay run analysis on the concentric zone theory. They found that delinquency flourished

in the transitional zone and it was inversely related to the zone’s affluence and corresponding

distance from the central business district. Through Chicago court records it was shown that

crime was most abundant in those slum neighborhoods within the zone in transition regardless of

race or ethnicity that resided in that neighborhood (Lilly et al.).

In the zone of transition, the population is dense with apartment buildings and many

residents tightly packed together with a high turnover of residency. The lack of resources such as

volunteer programs, community centers, schools, and churches do not allow young children to
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create sufficient community bonds. Along with this, a very diverse group of races and ethnicities

sharing a tightly packed area known as heterogeneity, creates an environment where people with

different cultures do not want to befriend each other since many of them share different views on

how one should live. When people live in the same residence for many years alongside familiar

neighbors, crime is drastically decreased in those neighborhoods. This is what some call

collective efficacy. The more bonds you share with your surrounding neighbors, the more you

know about who should be where and when. So, when something looks out of place, it is easy to

spot. In highly dense areas where crime is high, people residents often don’t know their

neighbors name or who should be allowed at another’s property or apartment building (Nolan et

al., 2004).

In sum, social disorganization theory shows that youths with the misfortune of being

raised in a socially disorganized zone are especially susceptible to the temptation of crime. Kids

roam around free with the current neighborhood criminals and often become the next generation

of the trade. This is where Edwin Hardin Sutherland, best known for defining white-collar crime

and differential association, follows up on Shaw and McKay’s work by adding in the bonds

needed for crime to be learned and a motivation to commit the crime. Most of social

disorganization theory was only related to street level, neighborhood crime. Sutherland expands

that with integrating differential association theory. Sutherland observed that the amount of

crime at amongst the larger corporations were quite frequent which presents a problem for the

theory that crime mainly occurs amongst the poor and disorganized. In sum, social

disorganization theory states that crimes occur at a higher ratio the closer you are to the center of

the city, and crime decreases the further out you get. This theory mainly accounts for street level

crime such as burglary, stealing, drug dealing/using, assault, murder, etc. This theory does not
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well explain white collar crime at the corporate level where there shouldn’t be as much a need

for the crime nor a heavy disorganization.

Previous Studies

Social disorganization theory has also been studied and tested in mid-west medium sized

cities. Data collected includes 114 block group locations, allowing each block group to be

represented by the raw number of incidents that occurred in that neighborhood and the

percentage of census variable indicators that represent the given block group. Data taken from

areas considered to lie in the zone in transition consisting of higher poverty population,

unemployment, use of public assistance, and rental residents. This compared with variations of

residential stability such as duration someone has lived in the same home. Analysis shows that in

areas where people have lived in the same resident for more than 3 years, crime is less than those

areas with a high turnover. It is also noted that according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in

2003, households in rented property experienced 206 property offenses per 1000 households

compared to 140 in owner-occupied housing. In addition, rented households had about twice the

rate of motor vehicle theft than those in owned property.

Another study conducted in two areas in Kampala, Uganda, both of which were

impoverished but only one of which had a high crime rate. It is found that residential mobility

and tribal heterogeneity were higher in the high-crime slum compared with the low-crime slum,

which suggests that it is not poverty in itself that causes crime but its interaction with

heterogeneity and mobility (Abbott and Clinard 1976).

In a study of collective efficacy, there was a neighborhood (a 16-square block

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area) that had sixty families with young children. For the majority of these families, child-care

was problematic. In response, the community organized a babysitting cooperative where the

families would take turns watching each other’s children for points—4 points per hour. Each

month the points were balanced, and a report was given to each member. Through this

arrangement, strong relationships were created among those who participated. As years passed,

and crime began to rise, the neighborhood was well equipped to work with the police

interdependently. Community policing within neighborhoods involves a broadening of the

definition of public safety to include other problems that may not typically be considered a

matter of safety (Nolan et al., 2004).

Crime Statistics in Louisiana

Let us talk about the most common types of crime in Louisiana. The vast majority of

crimes in America are property crimes, accounting for 85% of total crimes in 2019. This share

was roughly the same in Louisiana, with property crimes accounting for 85% of all crimes

reported in the state. There were 146,993 property crimes reported in Louisiana in 2019, or 3,162

per 100,000 residents. This is much higher than the national rate of 2,110 property crimes per

100,000 people and is the highest rate of the 50 states. Larceny is the most common type of

property crime with 5,086,096 reported incidents nationwide in 2019 accounted for 73% of all

property crime. Louisiana's rate of reported larceny incidents is 2,352 per 100,000 residents and

the nationwide rate is 1,550 per 100,000 which makes it the highest among states. There are

26,918 break-ins were reported in Louisiana in 2019, or 579 per 100,000 state residents, ranking

the fifth highest rate among states. For reference, there were an estimated 1,117,696 break-ins

nationwide, or 341 break-ins per 100,000 people. Across the U.S., there were 721,885 reported
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motor vehicle thefts in 2019, a rate of 220 per 100,000 people. Louisiana's has a rate of 231

motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 residents. Violent crimes make up a small share of crimes

nationwide. Louisiana has the 2nd highest crime rate of all states, it has the 4th highest violent

crime rate. The state’s violent crime rate of 549 per 100,000 people is much higher than the

national rate of 379 per 100,000. There were 25,537 violent crimes reported to Louisiana law

enforcement agencies in 2019. In Louisiana, 18,695 aggravated assaults were reported in 2019.

Louisiana's rate of aggravated assault is 402 per 100,000 people which is much higher than the

national rate of 250 per 100,000 and is the fifth highest of all states. There were 4,025 robberies

reported or 87 robberies for every 100,000 residents. There were 2,273 reported rapes or a rate of

48.9 per 100,000 residents. There were 544 murders reported to law enforcement in Louisiana.

The state’s murder rate of 11.7 per 100,000 residents is more than double the national rate of 5.0

per 100,000. Louisiana's murder rate is the highest in the country. As you can see, the most

common crimes are those at the street level. So, while social disorganization theory may not

address white collar crime per se, it is the appropriate theory to utilize here in Louisiana where

the there is an abundancy of street crime.

Policy Implications

According to the logic of Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization theory led to the

conclusion that the most effective way to reduce crime was to reorganize communities. The

solution to youthful delinquency, they suggest, is not to eradicate the pathologies that lie within

individuals but rather to eradicate the pathologies that lie within the fabric of disorganized

communities. Leaders would be recruited not from the ranks of professional social workers but

rather from the local community. The intention is to allow local residents the opportunity to
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organize against crime in their own way via neighborhood watch programs and other forms of

collective efficacy. Unless the program is developed from the “bottom up,” it would not win the

community’s support nor have realistic prospects for successful implementation. First, there

needs to be a strong emphasis placed on the creation of recreational programs that would attract

youths into a prosocial environment. A good example of this is the Partnership for Youth

Development which helps school-age children and youth in New Orleans maximize their learning

opportunities and educational experiences both in and beyond school. Second, efforts should be

made to have residents take pride in their community by improving the neighborhood’s physical

appearance. This is easier said than done but one example of how this is done in some

communities is through a home owners association fee (HOA), which includes certain amenities

of maintenance through out a neighborhood, but this is a cost that varies from area to area. Third,

there should be a team that would attempt to mediate on behalf of juveniles in trouble. This

might involve having discussions with school officials on how they might reduce a youth’s

delinquency by appealing to court officials to divert a youth into a child/adolescent program.

Fourth, within the program chosen, there should be bi-weekly counseling sessions to persuade

youths that education and a conventional lifestyle were in their best interest. Another way to

mitigate crime rates is to promote residential stability and increased homeownership since this

could mediate the effects of visible violence, disorder, and property offenses. Right now, there is

the Delta 100 Program. The Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) began the program to help

qualify first-time homebuyers who lack traditional credit purchase a home through alternate

avenues. Delta Parishes achieve their dreams of homeownership. Under LHC’s Delta 100

Program, eligible first-time homebuyers will receive up to 100% financing and up to 3% closing

cost and prepayment assistance in the form of a 30-year, 2% fixed interest rate loan. The
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program offers a maximum loan amount of $242,000. Unfortunately, this program is only for

that parish but if we can implement similar programs and grants in all parishes of Louisiana, we

can greatly achieve a higher residential stability. Research supports government incentives aimed

at fostering citizenry attitudes and aptitudes necessary for increased individual independence

through self-governance and increased ownership.

Conclusion

Louisiana’s crime statistics prove to be amongst the worst in the nation and the crimes

most committed are street level crimes such as larceny, burglary, motor vehicle theft, aggravated

assault, robbery, rape, and murder. Within these statistics it is shown that crimes are more

abundant near the center of the cities and decrease the further out you go. This falls in line with

concentric zone theory discussed earlier and shown in Figure 1. Majority of crime is committed

in the zone in transition which brings us to focus on mitigating social disorganization within the

city by facilitating to collective efficacy efforts, enforcing conventional lifestyle means to the

youth through child assistance programs, and providing more programs to aid first time

homebuyers in attaining a loan so that we can improve residential stability. With all of this

implemented, crime rates are likely to decrease and Louisiana residents will have an increased

quality of life.
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