Ecological Stability and the Dynamics of Delinquency

Shaw and McKay's ecological approach to social disorganization and delinquency was developed under the assumption that Chicago was characterized by a stable set of ecological dynamics. This enabled them to interpret the relative stability of the location of high delinquency areas in the city. This essay examines the degree to which stability has characterized Chicago since 1930 and the extent to which social disorganization remains a viable approach to the explanation of delinquency. Since World War I, due to an acceleration in processes of suburbanization, Chicago underwent very dramatic ecological changes. In areas characterized by the most rapid changes, there were dramatic increases in delinquency, which is consistent with the social disorganization perspective. An examination of areas whose development differed substantially from the pattern predicted from the general social disorganization model suggests that ecological theories would benefit from a consideration of dynamics external to local communities and must be careful in the ways in which local communities are defined.