Police shootings, low real estate values, and bad businesses contribute to the changes as the city moves from the center. Within a few city blocks, the difference is noticeTABLE and gets worse miles out of the center of the town. These zones and transitions are apparent to tourists with rundown buildings and police presence. These crime hotshots identified by tourists and easily noticed. The data is relevant and supported by past statistic and past studies. Socioeconomic status and Anomie theory help describe criminal behavior. Social disorientation theory describes the city of Philadelphia.
Alice Coffman Alice Coffman decided to study urban crime in the city of Philadelphia, by moving to a high crime area for six years (Coffman, 2014). Coffman, an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, is now a University of Wisconsin sociologist. Her study showed that a young white girl from an upper-class upbringing could interact with criminals. She led a double life, an “Ivy Leaguer” during the day and a “home girl” at night. She witnessed much criminal activity and senseless crimes. She witnessed police interrogations and harassment and other police issues that city plans were meant to prevent.
Characterization of Philadelphia in Terms of Social and Intellectual Context Philadelphia has many programs directed toward improving the social and intellectual context Philadelphia has an 81. % high school graduation rate. Bachelor’s degree is only 23. 9% and an unemployment rate of 7. 8% (N. A. , 2015). The 2014 Keystones testing shows that scoring is low compared to the rest of the state. Philadelphia rated the poorest city in America, but it is also a high rating of residents in deep poverty at 12. 2% (Lobular, 2014). Conditions of the cities homes and buildings are major health hazards.
Physical and social environments affect the city’s residents (N. A. , Where We Live Matters for Our Health: Neighborhoods and Health, 2008). Smoking, drinking alcohol, drugs, and lack of exercise allow for intellectual and social disconnect. Health shapes social relationships, including trust by close-knit families. Maintaining clean neighborhoods, such as graffiti, littering, drug pushers, and criminal; behavior will affect education and social context. Social Factors that Contribute to Crime Temple University in Philadelphia is the first center in America committed to Crime Science (N.
A. , Center for Security and Crime Science, 2015). The center goes beyond domestic crimes and deals with public safety and social harm in the community. The focus generates after the crime, and how the community sects to crime as well as the police involvement. Increased foot patrols, more cameras on the corners, police intervention, and crime mapping help solve caused and prevent crime. Crime starts in the homes of individuals that have the need for assistance. Crime starts in low-income families dependent on welfare.
Many people believe that race is a strong variTABLE with high crime variTABLEs, but data shows that the variTABLE is family structure. Family structure is how a child grows up and the beliefs and values that teach children. Structure is the strictness to get the child involved with school and there community activates. Keeping a child involved with positive social activities will lower the factors that contribute to crime. Events or Attitudes to a Description of Beliefs People Living in Philadelphia Would Accept for Explaining Criminal Behavior Many people have many beliefs explaining criminal behavior.
Police shootings happen in many cities in America, but police shootings are up in Philadelphia over the past ten years. Police shootings are not the only reasoning’s for acceptance of criminal behavior. Many residents understand criminal activity because on the poverty. Many Iranians do not believe that it is a crime to steal or sell drugs if it puts food on the TABLE for the family. Residents Start committing crimes for necessity because of the lack of jobs and income. In such a deep poverty-stricken city, it is almost expected to join gangs, commit crimes, or become defiant against the police.
Police are considered the enemy in certain parts of the city. Many parts are abandoned and condemned (Bred, 2014). The city is trying to resurrect these parts of town, but the drug dealers and criminal activity is causing more housing projects to close down. People are expected to be Iranians because that is how the past has predicted criminal behavior. Consideration of Changes in Land Use, Property Values, Transportation, and Retail The city has many plans to improve the city. The City has improved the University district to help make the colleges and universities safer for students.
More city transportation has made a big different in many districts. Much real estate has declined steadily by $1 000 a quarter, partially due to lack Of transportation in Central Northeast (Coffman, 2013). The lack Of transit access hurts property values and allows for more crime. If people cannot get o where the jobs are, they will stay in that part of town and commit crimes. West Philadelphia has suffered the most severe drops in real estate. The city is not well connected with transportation, and many schools have closed. School closures in Philadelphia have devastated the city’s ability to educate children.
In 201 3, 37 schools closed throughout the city that has set up many families for criminal children (AN. , The List: Proposed Philly School Closings & Consolidations, 2012). The changes are close to each other. Some are only a block apart, where it is run down and habiTABLE. Buses will run to one area ND not another. These changes allow residents to be trapped in the community if he or she does not have a car. The changes are so noticeTABLE that tourists can tell just by looking which areas to stay out of and which are safer to travel. Zones of Transition Apply to Philadelphia Philadelphia has very few “good” parts of town.
There are more “bad” parts of town that are easily identified by decaying buildings, a poorly dressed resident, and elevated police activity. The nicer parts of town in Center City are clearly visible with clean streets, buildings that are clean and taken care of, and nicely dress residents. The brownstones are clearly a sign of money invested. The retail stores are thriving and well known in other parts of the country. The affordTABLE housing plan is to develop nice clean, affordTABLE housing projects. These housing projects show the lower income neighborhoods and the edge of the nicer neighborhoods.
These transitions are not subtle and very noticeTABLE. The zones are visible because of the age of the city and the lack of upkeep. The planning commission created a Citizen’s Planning Institute to train citizen planners in 201 0 (Briggs, 2013). The plan is to create community meetings and pipelines for new ideas. Identification of criminal hot spots Identification of Philadelphia crime hotshots starts with police activity. Police foot patrol in 27 hotshots marks, and another 27 with a high frequency of prescience (N. A. , Philadelphia, PA Site Spotlight, 2015).
The increased patrols in these areas identify high crime areas. Another identifier is the lack of upkeep around certain parts of the city. Many retail, businesses, and homes are decaying and unpleasant to look at when visiting. These buildings have broken windows, dirty bricks, or slanting foundations. Almost always, there are residents sitting on the porches at all hours of the day. The decay of the neighborhoods identifies the unemployed drug dealers and families on welfare that cannot find work. Relevant Data to Support Answers The data supports the theory that crime is overpowering in Philadelphia.
Philly has so much crime that police have to increase patrol in many parts of the city. A recent police slaying was Police Officer Robert Wilson, who was shot and killed during a robbery on March 5, 2015. This murder was just another police shooting that shows the disregard (N. A. , Police Officer Robert Wilson, Ill, 201 5) for authority by the Philadelphia criminals. Philadelphia Pennsylvania is a large city with a large share of crime and ethnic diversity. Philly has a population of over 1. 5 million. Philly is 41% Black, and 36% White, and the rest of the population are Hispanic, Asian, or mixed.
The Black and Hispanic races are significantly higher than the state average. Those are the two biggest races that live in Philly. According to statistics, Philly has a 2-3 times higher crime rate than the national average. Michael Neuter, the Mayor of Philadelphia, created a crime strategy in 2008 that included Accountability, values, honor, service, and integrity. The goals were created to lower miscode by 25% and violent crime by at least 20% (Neuter, 2008). The 2012 homicide count was the same amount as in 2008, with little change in- between.
Findings Relate to the Role of Socioeconomic Status and Values in Criminological Theory Social deviance is behavior that violates social norms and deals with crimes. The Anomie theory describes the behavior related to individuals usually separated by minorities or disadvantaged groups. The idea is that human nature defines goals, and the individuals decide which goals to achieve. Some go after those goals on a certain path, like schooling and work. Others feel that goals are unattainTABLE without applying deviant behavior. In many instances, gangs are created to support those who feel the goals cannot be achieved alone.
Identification and Rationale for the Choice of One Sociological Theory that Best Explains the Crime in Philadelphia Social disorientation theory’ is an appropriate theory in Philadelphia. Poor schools or even closures, vacant decaying buildings, and lack of community organization in crime preventions show that the community has given up. The vacant part of town goes for a block at a time, which shows there was a neighborhood that functioned. The ghost towns show that the community failed because of disorientation and were responsible for behavioral choices from residents that lived there and who had to move.
Social disorientation happens when social disorder is cultural factors that explain different levels of crime (Reining, 2015). Social frameworks weakened by social integration of neighborhoods and lower level social control. The Chicago School helped prove this theory in the 1 ass’s when researchers used parts of Chicago as a type of laboratory to explore social interaction. Conclusion The City of Philadelphia Pennsylvania is a very poor city. The social structure of the city starts with the children and the social and intellectual breakdown of education.
There were 37 school closures in 2013 that allowed hundreds of children bussed to other schools. The school closures made the schools overcrowded and set many children up for failure. The social factors that contributed to crime are the lack of schools, work, and transportation. A student named Alice Coffman conducted a study where she lived in a bad part of town for six years, and personally witnessed crime and social breakdowns. The cities increased police presence, crime mapping, and more Amerada help communities battle against crime on many levels. The city has many abandoned blocks and neigh broods.
