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An Investigation of Individual Perceptions, Neighborhoods, and Disorder Author: Danielle Wallace Dissertation School: University of Chicago Pages: 226 Publication Date: August 2009 Availability: Access Number: 10875 Abstract: When first introduced, disorder was considered a "slippery concept" (Skogan 1990, p. 4), where lines between order and disorder were definitionally blurred. Unfortunately, little has been done to systematically arrive at a cohesive definition of disorder (Kubrin 2008). Critiques of disorder have questioned both the definitions of order and disorder (Harcourt 2001) and the causal relationship between disorder and crime (Sampson and Raudenbush 1999), though no critique has yet addressed a core assumption of disorder theory - individuals cohesively perceive and interpret disorder. Most conceptualizations of disorder assume that: 1) individuals within the same neighborhood have similar levels of perceptions of disorder; and 2) the meanings individuals attach to disorder are homogenous within neighborhoods. However, recent research suggests that disorder perceptions may, in part, be formed outside of the objective reality of the neighborhood. Sampson and Raudenbush (2004) shows that, when controlling for objective neighborhood disorder, individuals living in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of Blacks perceive higher levels of disorder. Heterogeneity of perceptions of disorder has grave consequences for disorder as a concept - a cohesive definition of disorder would be troubling given the variety of meanings disorder might hold for individuals. Before disorder theory and the policies to which disorder is applied can progress, the assumption of homogeneity needs to be tested. In this dissertation, I show the importance of individual perceptions of disorder theory by exposing various contexts that might shift both levels of perceptions and the meanings individuals attach to disorder cues. I do this by: 1) demonstrating that disorder perceptions vary across individuals and thus are not homogenous within neighborhoods; 2) showing the link between fear of crime and disorder varies across external criteria such as health and health-related behaviors; and finally 3) illustrating the relationship between individuals' capacity for informal social control and disorder perceptions. These three cases are the much needs preliminary work for showing that the meanings attached to disorder shift and that disorder perceptions vary. With the homogeneity assumption violated, I conclude that, as a concept, disorder should be used with caution until further research examines the meanings of disorder. |
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