A Study of a High Delinquency Area

This is a report of an ecological study of delinquency in a Chicago neighborhood having the fifth highest rate of delinquency compared with the 75 other neighborhood communities in the city. Ecology, broadly defined, is the study of the interrelationships between organism and the immediate environment in which it lives. In sociology, some ecological studies have been concerned with total urban areas. Others have investigated smaller areas such as neighborhoods or census tracts. The unit areas are compared with one another in terms of certain characteristics considered to be the independent variables such as housing, income, and mobility and certain conditions considered to be dependent variables. The prevalence of mental illness or juvenile delinquency are examples of the latter