Urban Violence—The Pattern of Disorder

This paper presents some general background information on the present status of violence and its impacts on the criminal justice system, giving particular emphasis to day-to-day crime and mass behavior. The paper emphasizes structural factors in our society with regard to the generation and control of violence and the implications they have for structural rather than short-term palliative or counterforce solutions. The need for an experimental approach and the development of new knowledge is emphasized. Among the long-term structural changes in the U.S. society influencing urban crime are the homogenization of U.S. society; the pervasiveness of inexpensive transportation and communication facilities; continuing urbanization; and the general trend toward middle-class status and attitudes for all citizens. Economic prosperity and the related growth of knowledge-based industries have strong implications for long-term patterns of crime and disorder. Institutional barriers to effective change within and outside the criminal justice community are touched on. Responses within that system are discussed.