Gun Violence Sociology

More often than not, juveniles and those most vulnerable to gang life come from broken homes, many never having had a solid sense of internal belonging and safety. Further, to this some young people have genuine problem at home, which encourages them to turn to what they class as ‘street life’, where they receive the care and attention that being part of a gang can provide. For these reasons gangs are often seen as a surrogate family. By the same token, others young people want to make money and are in search of instant gratification. Further, to this, researchers carried out a long-term study around violence in Chicago neighbourhoods, considering why some youth become violent and use guns. By analysing collected data it was recorded that young people who witness gun violence are more likely to engage in violent crime. (REFERENCE) Moreover, it is

In so doing, sociologists have developed several social structure theories in an effort to link criminal behaviour patterns to socio-economic forces and other social environmental factors, one of which is social disorganization theory.

Although social disorganisation theory has a long and distinguished history, starting with Park and Burgess (1924), Thrasher (1927) and Shaw and McKay (1942), the rise of psychological approaches for understanding criminal behaviour led to a declining interest in social disorganisation until the late 20th Century. (Bursik, 1988). William J. Wilson’s (1987) is widely credited for reviving our interest in understanding the influence of this theory. (Sutherland et al. 2013 p. 3)

Social disorganization theory “argues that crime occurs when the mechanisms of social control (arrest and court procedure, jail sentences and payment of money for breaking the law) are weakened” (Kelly, 2000; Messier,