Neighborhood Disorganization and Social Control

This Brief presents a framework for understanding the role of school and neighborhood contexts in the development of self-control. Through the application of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime and Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory, the authors of this Brief examine the importance of family socialization and school and neighborhood for self-control of youth in three Russian cities, replicating results from an earlier study in Germany.

The cases presented in the Brief found that family socialization is important for self-control, but it interacts with school and neighbourhood contexts. According to the study, school social control as a structural characteristic can lead to less delinquency, even if students did not develop self-control. Self-control mediates parental supervision and attachment to parents on one hand, and juvenile delinquency on the other hand. However it was not found to mediate neighbourhood context characteristics.

The results of the study provide a research framework that can be applied to other international, comparative contexts. It will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, as well as related fields such as Public Policy and Social Work.

Examines the role of school and neighborhood contexts on self-control Presents case studies on self-control and social control from three Russian cities Provides research framework and recommendations for future research Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Olga Siegmunt is an associate professor at the HafenCity University in Hamburg and a consultant for criminology research methods at the State Office for Criminal Investigation of Lower Saxony, Hanover, Germany. She has been teaching and researching in criminology for 20 years in several Universities in Germany and Russia.

Her research interests include crime statistics, survey research, comparative studies, quantitative methods for social research, juvenile delinquency, and victimology. Dr. Siegmunt serves in the editorial board of the journal Legal Science and Law Enforcement Practice. She has worked periodically for the first regular German Victim Survey, Victim Survey of Lower Saxony, since its beginning in 2012.

Inhalt
Introduction.- The General Theory of Crime.- The Neighborhood.- Context of School and Self-Control.- Theoretical Concepts and Hypotheses.- Methods, Procedures, Implementation of the Study, and Description of the Sample.- Variable Description and Descriptive Results: Aggregate Level.- Descriptive Results and Scale Analysis: Individual Level Variables.- Intraclass Correlation, Median Odds Ratio, and Ecological Reliability.- Results of Hypothesis Testing: Influences on the Family.- Results of Hypothesis Testing: Influences of the Neighborhood.- Results of Hypothesis Testing: Influences of the School.- Summary, Discussion, and Outlook.