Final answer:
Crime rates can be influenced by poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility in communities. Social disorganization theory explains that crime is more likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and limited social control.
Step-by-step explanation:
Crime rates can be influenced by various community or neighborhood characteristics such as poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility. These factors affect social ties and collective social control within a community. In poor neighborhoods with a diverse population and high mobility, residents may have difficulty exerting effective social control, leading to higher crime rates.
On the other hand, wealthier, stable, and homogenous neighborhoods tend to foster a shared sense of right and wrong, resulting in lower crime rates. Social disorganization theory explains that crime is more likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and limited social control.