The document discusses the theory of race, crime, and urban inequality proposed by Shaw and McKay, which attributes variations in crime rates to structural factors such as low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility. It emphasizes that high delinquency rates persist in certain areas over time, shifting the focus from individualistic explanations to the transmission of criminal behavior across generations in socially disorganized communities. The document prompts reflection on societal factors affecting crime and their differential impact on various races and ethnicities.

1. Street Code
Consider this quote from Robert Sampson and William Julius
Wilson in
Toward a Theory of Race, Crime, and Urban Inequality:
Shaw and McKay (1942) argued that three structural factors --
low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential
mobility -- led to the disruption of local community social
organization, which in turn accounted for variations in crime
and delinquency rates... Arguably the most significant aspect of
Shaw and McKay's research, however, was their demonstration
that high rates of delinquency persisted in certain areas over
many years, regardless of population turnover. More than any
other, this finding led them to reject individualistic
explanations of delinquency and focus instead on the processes
by which delinquent and criminal patterns of behavior were
transmitted across generations in areas of social disorganization
and weak social controls (1942, 1969).
This is the "macrosocial" view that Sampson and Wilson
discuss, that crime cannot be attributed solely to individual-
level (microsocial) factors. Thinking back over the theories
we've studied this term, what society-level factors do you think
affect crime? And why would such factors impact different
races/ethnicities differently? Is it differences in social
disorganization (Shaw & McKay)? Is it the "code of the street"
(Anderson)? Limited access to legitimate coping mechanisms
when faced with strain (Merton, Agnew)? Get creative!