Criminology Research Assignment | Online Homework Help

Unit IV Scholarly Activity For this scholarly activity, you will do further research on one of the four projects discussed in your textbook and in the Unit Lesson. Please select one of the following: Chicago Area Project, · Mobilization for Youth, War on Poverty, or Chicago Human Development Project. Within your essay, include responses to the following points: Explain the theory, from the chapters, influencing this project. If there is more than one, you may explain them all. Explain the particular policy upon which the program is based and the effect it has had on society. Was it effective in fighting crime or preventing crime or both? What could make this more effective from your perspective? What were the disadvantages to this particular project? How did criminology research lead to the development of this policy? Your scholarly activity must be a minimum of two pages in length, not counting a title and reference page. You are required to use at least two outside sources; one must be from the Waldorf Online Library. All sources used, including the textbook, must be cited in the text and included on the reference page. Be sure they are academic sources. Information about accessing the grading rubric for this assignment is provided below

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
2. Assess laws and social policies established to address crime in the United States in relation to
criminological theory.
2.1 Explain how a program is created from criminological theories.
2.2 Assess the effect of social policies on society.
4. Explain how criminologists impact laws and social policy in the United States.
4.1 Analyze how criminology research leads to policies.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 6:
Social Structure—It’s How We Live
Chapter 7:
Social Process and Social Development—It’s What We Learn
Unit Lesson
In the previous unit, we looked at the theories dealing with the individual, but now we are looking at society as
a whole. This unit focuses on sociological theories, society, and their relation to criminology. Sociological
theories, according to Schmalleger (2018), are a group of theories focusing on power relationships existing
between social groups and the influence of those relationships. They also look at how social interaction
changes groups of people. There are many types of sociological theories, but they all have three main
principles:
 social structure: the pattern of social relationships in society;
 social process: the interaction among groups, people, or social agents; and
 social life: the structured interaction happening between people in society.
While we will mostly focus on social structure and social process theories, for this unit, please keep in mind
that in Chapters 6 and 7 of your textbook, there are explanations of all these theories and their sub-theories.
You are looking at all sociological theories, but we are focusing more on social structure theories. While we
are not going to go through all of these individually, we recommend you read them in the chapter to grasp the
general assumptions and theories relating to this unit. You will see how they intertwine and build upon each
other.
Social structure theories suggest that crime results from the institutional structure of society; this includes
three main types:
 social disorganization theories,
 strain theories, and
 culture conflict perspectives (Schmalleger, 2018).
UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE
What We Live and Learn
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Social process theories suggest that we all have potential to commit crime, contrary to biological theories that
suggest it is innate. The main types of social process theories are:
 differential association theory,
 social control theory, and
 labeling theory (Schmalleger, 2018).
It is important to understand the basis of these theories before you can begin to understand how these
influence our social policy and laws, which is the focus of this unit’s lesson. You must also keep in mind that
sociological theories have three main explanations for crime as outlined in your textbook. The explanations
are:
 Crime is a result of where someone is in society.
 Crime is the result of social processes with attention given to inappropriate socialization and social
learning.
 Crime is the result of class struggle (Schmalleger, 2018).
 Thinking Point: Why do you agree or disagree with the three explanations above? Is crime more than
this?
Our social groups, the way society is arranged, and all our social rules are of importance to criminologists.
The organization and engagement of our groups, as well as the formation of subgroups is also examined with
their relation to crime. Overall, the groups we belong to, how they are set up, and the way they are run could
contribute to criminality. Keep in mind, this is not necessarily a formal and recognized group. This could be
our families, peer groups, sports teams, or even church groups. Any group could either push you to crime or
pull you away. While it is impossible to research and predict every individual’s behavior, these theories allow
us to look at group behavior and perhaps estimate the likelihood of crime based off shared norms, traits, and
values.
So why does this play a role in criminology? If you look at our social institutions, the people in our society, and
the various existing groups and focus on how they interact, you can see the impact this has on who we are
socially as well as how we behave. Think about how your behavior is influenced by where you are, the groups
you are with, and how you interact with people. Society has a large influence on what we do, how we do it,
and when we do it whether we realize it or not.
 Thinking Point: When thinking about your own life, what people and groups had the most impact on
you?
Social structure theories, specifically, have played a role in social policy. They have influenced many
programs including the Chicago Area Project, the War on Poverty, and Mobilization for Youth. This unit lesson
focuses on these three; however, Chapter 7 of your textbook also discusses how social control theories also
lead to policy implications such as The Chicago Human Development Project or the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency’s program on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency (Schmalleger, 2018). Please
review these within your textbook, as they will help you to see the link between criminology, society, and
social policy.
Let’s take a closer look at how one area of theories causes change within society and policy. Social structure
theories explain crime through the institutional structure of society. These look at how social groups are
arranged and how the informal arrangements between social groups could cause crime and deviance. All
social structure theories emphasize society contributing to socioeconomic status, which is a cause of crime.
These groups, disadvantaged due to social class, are comprised of people we consider more likely to commit
a crime. Overall, this perspective sees crime as something that happens in the lower class. The crime that
happens in upper and middle class is viewed as not as serious, not happening as frequently, and not being
that dangerous.
 Thinking Point: Why do you think that crime is attributed to the lower class more than the middle and
upper class?
Social class is one important element of society leading to crime, according to this branch of theory and
research. Socioeconomic status—where we belong in society—sets our social standing due to what kind of
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money we make, and therefore can predict some of our behavior, not only social and economic, but also
criminal. These theories attempt to show how our place in society determines whether or not we commit a
crime. With that in mind, let us look at the three major policy implications of social structure theories.
The Chicago Area Project was developed by Clifford Shaw and was the effort to lower delinquency in
transitional neighborhoods. In these slum areas, the project tried to reduce the social disorganization by
forming committees within the community. Shaw felt that if the community life was improved, then juvenile
delinquency would be reduced (The Chicago Area Project, n.d.). Since the founding, in the 1930s, the
program has continued to work on low-income neighborhoods that have crime and poverty. The areas of
focus are gangs, substance abuse, unemployment, and poverty. Through finding leaders within the
community and creating projects, delinquency should decline. Upon its creation, the project focused on
improving the appearance of poor neighborhoods, providing some type of recreation for juveniles, and
involving those interacting with delinquent or troubled youth.
Click the link to review additional information on the Chicago Area Project:
Youth As Resources. (2013, March 11). YAR at the Chicago Area Project [Video file]. Retrieved from

The transcript for this video may be found here.
 Thinking Point: Why do you think that preventing juvenile delinquency is important in lowering the
overall crime rate?
The War on Poverty was declared in the 1960s and assisted with the creation of state and federal welfare
programs. The idea was to provide supplementary financial assistance and redistribute wealth. The idea was
social-welfare legislation, led by President Johnson, which would eventually end poverty in the United States.
This idea of a “Great Society” was to make the United States more equitable to all (Cooley, 2016).
Click the link to see more about President Johnson’s speech regarding the War on Poverty:
Media Rich Learning (Producer). (2009). War on poverty. [Video File] (Segment 13 of 17). Retrieved from:
https://libraryresources.waldorf.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx
?wID=273866&xtid=47588&loid=141165
The transcript for this video may be found here.
From a criminology standpoint, changing poverty and helping those who need financial assistance should
decrease crime. Remember, these theories focus on low-income individuals as those who commit the most
crime. Unfortunately, this program did not lower the poverty rate as planned (Cooley, 2016). With the poverty
rate not changed, the crime rate would not change at least according to this theory.
 Thinking Point: What do you think changed in society, through the creation of national welfare
programs, if the poverty issue itself did not change? What do you think the impact on criminal justice
and crime rates was?
The Mobilization for Youth project works to give new opportunities to juveniles. It focuses on changing social
arrangements and addressing the root causes of crime. The project puts a focus on community action. The
program aims to have a society where everyone is equal and there is justice for everyone (Mobilization for
Youth, n.d). To do so, the organization focuses on social justice for low-income and disenfranchised people.
The organization is able to give legal help, create community programs, and assist with policy and litigation.
Again, the program focus is equal access to everyone.
 Thinking Point: Do you think it is possible for everyone to be equal, socially and financially? Why, or
why not?
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