Community structure and drug use: From a social disorganization perspective

Abstract

Social disorganization theory experienced a relative resurgence in the criminological literature during the 1980s. This new generation of research has expanded the work of Shaw and McKay by testing the relationship between neighborhood structure and delinquency through the use of self-report and victimization data. Confirmation of the theory has been widespread. In this paper we investigate variables mediating between social disorganization and adolescent drug use. We thus extend the research orientation to incorporate drug use and describe a preliminary attempt to examine how neighborhood structure affects behavior. The findings suggest that in the three distinct types of socially disorganized areas that were identified, there was no difference in rates of drug use but that different “mediating factors” appear to be operating in the three different types of communities.