Some Classical Dilemmas Concerning the Validity of the Environmental Approach to Deviant Behavior

This text examines the classical environmental analysis of deviant behavior based on the works of sociologists from the »Chicago« School of urban sociology (E. R. Park, E. W. Burgess, F. M. Trasher, H. D. Mckay, C. R. Shaw, R. D. Mckenzie and others). Particular attention is paid to analyzing the elements of the environmental approach, elements of the »physical« and »social« environment, based on the assumption that environmental structure and the »provocation« of deviant behavior are interconnected. The text proposes the division of the physical environment into smaller spaced units, settlements, and structures through a comparative study of the structure of various cities according to population density, structural capacity, the position of social groups in the city, etc. The classical environmental analysis does not, the author concludes, represent a satisfactory theoretical framework to fully explain the phenomenon of deviant behavior: It offers only a partial approach to the problem. The newer criticism of »traditional urban« sociology, to the largest extent, hits just these environmental theories (particularly M. Castells). Finally, it is necessary to establish new theoretical frameworks for the study of deviant behavior, above all, to adequately define the concept of deviancy and normalcy