About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

36 Criminology 441 (1998)
Incarceration, Social Capital, and Crime: Implications for Social Disorganization Theory

handle is hein.journals/crim36 and id is 451 raw text is: INCARCERATION, SOCIAL CAPITAL, AND CRIME: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY* DINA R. ROSE TODD R. CLEAR Florida State University This study is a theoretical exploration of the impact of public social control on the functioning of local social controls. Set within the framework of social disorganization and systemic theory, the study argues that an overreliance on incarceration as a formal control may hinder the ability of some communities to foster other forms of control because they weaken family and community structures. At the ecologi- cal level, the side effects of policies intended to fight crime by control- ling individual behavior may exacerbate the problems they are intended to address. Thus, these communities may experience more, not less, social disorganization. It is commonly accepted that in the absence of effective controls, crime and disorder flourish. Controls can operate at the individual, family, neighborhood, and state levels; and the safest neighborhoods are thought to be those in which controls work at each of these levels. This study is a theoretical exploration of the impact of state social control on the func- tioning of family and neighborhood social controls. We argue that state social controls, which typically are directed at individual behavior, have important secondary effects on family and neighborhood structures. These, in turn, impede the neighborhood's capacity for social control. Thus, at the ecological level, the side effects of policies intended to fight crime by controlling individual criminals may exacerbate problems that lead to crime in the first place. We recognize that to some readers our argument is entirely plausible, perhaps even obvious. After all, they might say, everyone knows that current socioeconomic policy produces structural damages to the poor, creating a permanent underclass. Yet other readers will find our argu- ment curious or even counterintuitive. How can it be bad for neighbor- hood life to remove people who are committing crimes in those very neighborhoods? We discuss a topic on which today's informed observers * Special thanks to Robert J. Bursik, Jr., Theodore Chiricos, Gary Kleck, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of this article. Thanks also to Karen Lepik for editorial and research assistance. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association. CRIMINOLOGY VOLUME 36 NUMBER 3 1998

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most