Strain Theories

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powerful influence. This shows that his neighborhood had illegitimate means of money, which was stealing. Vast areas who engage in illegitimate means typically have lower neighborhood control and more policing.

In all, in order to fix this would need to come from collective efficacy. Collective efficacy is when there is a willingness of the residents to be involved in with each other and exercise informal control. Sidney’s community had a lack of control. By having communities engage in collective efficacy, it will create a peaceful environment for all of the community members. For an example, setting up neighborhood crime watches is one of the various ways to control a neighborhood. Also, when you have more police controlling the areas it may be a way to slowly prevent crime from taking place. When areas engage in collective efficacy, violence is rated to be lower in those areas. However, the most effective way is community policing over collective efficacy. This shows that it has to come from a community first in order to stop delinquent activities in their neighborhoods. With this being said, with taking a look into Sidney’s case, her neighborhood suffered from not enough control within his neighborhood. The control that they have is from institutions such as schools, courts, and the police. Sidney’s neighborhood suffered from broken neighborhood traditions and institutions.

Sidney’s story connects to two of the theories; Shaw and Mckay social disorganization theory and Cloward and Ohlin’s theory of differential opportunity. There are many areas that individuals need to explore further when examining one’s delinquent behavior. There are many different factors that come into play when dealing with the behavior of an individual. Sidney suffered from delinquent behavior, yet after examining her area of residency, we saw that there were different categories that factored into her overall behavior.