Question

Noted socio-legal researchers Shaw and Mckay propounded, "traditions of delinquency are transmitted through successive generations of the same region in the same way as language, customs and attitudes are transmitted". How it is known as?

• A. Social Disengagement Theory
• B. Cultural Transmission Theory
• C. Neighbourhood influence of crime theory
• D. Crime Syndicate Theory

Hint:

Associate Shaw and McKay with the Chicago School and two key ideas: 1) Social Disorganization (crime is caused by neighborhood characteristics like poverty and population turnover) and 2) Cultural Transmission (delinquent values are passed down in these disorganized neighborhoods).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Core Idea:
This concerns a criminological theory by Shaw and McKay, Chicago School sociologists, examining how urban areas, specifically neighborhoods, affect crime.
Step 2: Explanation:

Shaw and McKay observed persistent high crime rates in certain inner-city Chicago neighborhoods, regardless of the residents' ethnicity. They attributed this to neighborhood characteristics, not the people living there.
They proposed that socially disorganized areas foster a delinquent subculture, where criminal values, norms, and skills are passed down through generations.
This intergenerational passing of delinquent traditions is the Cultural Transmission Theory, an extension of their Social Disorganization Theory.
Social Disengagement Theory focuses on aging, not crime.
Neighbourhood influence of crime theory is a general description; the specific name for their concept is Cultural Transmission.
Crime Syndicate Theory deals with organized crime, not neighborhood delinquency transmission.
Step 3: Answer:
The theory describing the intergenerational transmission of delinquent traditions in specific neighborhoods, as proposed by Shaw and McKay, is Cultural Transmission Theory.