Final answer:
The high rates of crime persist in the same neighborhood over time regardless of who lives there due to factors like poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential instability. Social Disorganization Theory explains that neighborhoods create conditions that may encourage or discourage criminal behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
The high rates of crime and other problems persist within the same neighborhood over long periods of time regardless of who lives there. This phenomenon can be explained by Social Disorganization Theory, which suggests that neighborhoods create conditions that may encourage or discourage criminal behavior. Factors such as poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential instability contribute to the elevated crime rate in these neighborhoods.
When a neighborhood has a higher poverty rate, a diverse population, and frequent residential turnover, residents may have less social control and a weaker sense of collective responsibility. Conversely, wealthier, stable, and homogenous neighborhoods tend to have a stronger shared sense of right and wrong, which leads to a lower crime rate.
Research has shown that it is not ethnicity itself that directly relates to crime rates, but rather the social environment of the neighborhood. Factors such as income inequality, lack of opportunity, racism, poverty, poor schools, gang activity, and substance abuse also contribute to the variability in crime rates.