<P> Mapping can also show spatial distributions of delinquency and crime, but it cannot explain the results . Indeed, such research has often been used politically to ascribe immorality to specific population groups or ethnicities . Social disorganization theory and cultural transmission theory examine the consequences when a community is unable to conform to common values and to solve the problems of its residents . </P> <P> Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay (1942) applied Sutherland's theory of systematic criminal behavior, and claimed that delinquency was not caused at the individual level, but is a normal response by normal individuals to abnormal conditions . Thus, if a community is not self - policing and if it is imperfectly policed by outside agencies, some individuals will exercise unrestricted freedom to express their dispositions and desires, often resulting in delinquent behavior . They considered the concentric zone model, and produced a diachronic analysis to demonstrate that delinquency was already dispersed in urban areas, and that more wealthy and important groups moved to avoid the existing social disorganization . </P> <P> Their concepts, hypothesis, and research methods have been a strong influence on the analysis of delinquency and crime . Their dependent variables in the delinquency rates were measured by arrests, court appearances, and court adjudications of institutional commitment . Their independent variables were economic conditions by square - mile areas, ethnic heterogeneity, and population turnover . These variables were based on where delinquents lived and consisted of 10 - to 16 - year - old males who were petitioned to juvenile court (56,000 juvenile court records from 1900--1933 were used as data). The time frames they selected showed strong patterns of immigrant migration; Shaw and McKay believed that they could demonstrate whether delinquency was caused by particular immigrant groups or by the environment in which the immigrants lived: </P> <Ul> <Li> If high delinquency rates for particular immigrant groups remained high during their migration through the city's different ecological environments, then delinquency could be associated with their distinctive constitutional or cultural features . </Li> <Li> If delinquency rates decreased as immigrants moved through different ecological environments, then delinquency could not be associated with the particular constitution of the immigrants, but must somehow be connected with their environment . </Li> </Ul>

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