2. SOCIAL STRUCTURAL THEORY
• An overview of a communities rules and regulations.
This theory is more about the actual person and
who they are, what they believe in, their traditions
and morals, and how it is brought to “their”
neighborhood. The stronger the community has self-
policing your more likely to have someone prevent
you from participating in illegal activity
3. SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION
THEORY
• Social disorganization theory and strain theory state that
higher crimes are related to social structure of the
society.
• Delinquency is mainly a consequence of community
based controls. It is believed that people living in these
situations are not disoriented
• Social disorganization theory explains why certain areas
are unable to exert social control over the acting youth
• To maintain the ambience and quality of a community
in which our youth is forced to reside, it should be kept
under control so that there is sense of efficacy
4. STRAIN THEORY
• The stress/frustration that results from “not getting
what you want”. Knowing the fact that you failed to
get what you want or getting to where you expect
yourself to be and failing is sometimes too much for
a juvenile to deal with
5. STRAIN THEORY STATE
• Feelings of strain are found typically in lower class
families where education is nil, opportunities for
employment are not prestigious.
• Theorists also lay emphasis on stressful life events
that prolong for a long time and eventually
increase delinquent behavior.
6. COMMUNITY STRUCTURES
• In the last two decades, as San Francisco’s population
has grown and become somewhat older and wealthier,
the city’s African American population has declined
sharply and become poorer and more concentrated in
isolated districts.
• San Francisco female youth are 6 times more likely to be
arrested for drug felonies than female youth elsewhere in
California; male youth, 2.5 times more likely.
• In San Francisco the community structure and the
degree of organization within the community is
significantly different when explaining the variation
between differing communities and their respective
crime rates
7. CRIME INCREASE
• Crime increase is directly proportional to the males
in the population. Studies examining the relationship
between race and crime repeatedly report an over
representation of minorities, especially African-
Americans, within the adult criminal justice system.
8. CHARACTERISTICS OF AREAS WITH
HIGH CRIME RATES
• Economic deprivation
• Average/median family income level
• Percentage of families below poverty line
• Percentage of unemployed men
• Percentage of families that receive welfare
• average./median education level
• Residential instability
• Poor communities
• Number of renter occupied
• Higher instability
9. CHARACTERISTICS OF AREAS WITH
HIGH CRIME RATES
• Family disruption
• High percentage of families that are separate/divorced
• Close proximity to high crime/economically
deprived communities
• Close in high crime areas
• Close to economically deprived areas
10. SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITY
CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics Percentage/Economic
Living in same house 1+ years 84%
(stability)
High school graduate or higher 85.7%
Bachelor’s degree or higher 51.4%
Homeownership rate 37.1%
Median household income $72,947
Below poverty level 12.3%
Percentages are from the U.S. census bureau
11. SAN JOSÉ COMMUNITY
CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics Percentage/Economic
Living in same house 1+ years 85.9%
(stability)
High school graduate or higher 82.3%
Bachelor’s degree or higher 36.6%
Homeownership rate 59.5%
Median household income $80,764
Below poverty level 11.1%
Percentages are from the U.S. census bureau
12. SAN JOSÉ VS. SAN FRANCISCO
• -San Jose’s blight is way more prevalent than San
Francisco. San Francisco has more abandoned
buildings, poor neighborhoods, etc. while San Jose
does not have as much. This can cause more arson
and theft in juveniles while San Jose has more set up
to prevent it
• -Downtown San Jose business owners actually tax
themselves to fund for maintenance down town.
This helps get graffiti off the walls, more lights
around at night time, and over all helps down town
become a safer place for everyone
13. WHY SAN FRANCISCO HAS HIGHER
CRIME RATES THAN SAN JOSÉ
• Although SF has higher education levels, all the
other characteristics fit ones of a community that
may have juvenile delinquents such as:
• Lower percentages of homeownership
• Lower household income
• Higher poverty
