iada, [Projectville youth] began to attend school irregularly in junior high or the first years of high school. (Sullivan 39). Hamilton Park had better school attendance, and those who didnt attend school were generally employed instead. According to Hirchis theory, this is one factor explaining Hamilton Parks significantly lower crime rate. According to Hirchis theory, a second factor in crime rate is the bond to the belief in moral order. In Hamilton Park, this belief included a strong criminal justice system. Hamilton Park residents [were] more willing and able to use the criminal justice system to control youth crimeThe very fact that the offender was identified and had to resist sanctions, however, demonstrates the greater effectiveness of the Hamilton Park social control. (Sullivan 181) In the other neighborhoods, it was very rare for the offender be known, much less have the police become involved. The second micro-level theory explaining juvenile criminal behavior is called Differential Association. Edwin Sutherland pioneered this theory when he introduced his nine points to explain crime. His main point is that crime is a learned behavior and that a person commits crime because he or she sees the benefits as outweighing the negatives. In all three of the neighborhoods studied, theft started at an early age: [stealing] usually involved the appropriation of youth culture consumer items-radios, bicycles, sneakers, coats-which were then as likely to be used directly as to be sold (Sullivan 117) Many of the youths then moved on to economic, or money-making crimes, such as stealing gold chains and selling them. Crime proved a viable way to make money at the same time that they were beginning to perceive a need for more regular incomeOnce they learned what prices to expect for stolen goods, the risks and rewards associated with specific criminal opportunities were weighed against those associated with opportunities for othe...
