Andrew W. Lind

Some Ecological Patterns of Community Disorganization in Honolulu

Delinquency and disorganization in Honolulu, as measured by the incidence of juvenile court cases, suicide, family dependency, and arrests for vice, tend to follow the same spatial patterns as in other cities. The presence in Honolulu, however, of a number of large population groups with competing moral standards occasions marked deviations from the normal ecological patterns of disorganization characteristic of American cities. The conservative pressure of the immigrant ghetto still provides effective resistance to the disintegrating forces of urban life, but it also leads to conflict with the legal standards imposed by the American community. Suicide, for example, mounts in the areas inhabited by orientals and declines in the sections occupied by the non-suicidal Hawaiians and Portuguese. The diminishing strengh of the immigrant community controls is measured by the rise of certain delinquency types and the participation of the second generation in delinquent behavior with members of other racial groups. One of the most effective melting pots for the races is the crucible of crime.

Assimilation in Rural Hawaii

Islands not only produce cultural isolation but serve as points of contact and interaction among the various inhabitants. This is illustrated by the Japanese of a rural community in Hawaii who have occupied the areas as coffee-farmers for forty years. At first there were few women, and the moral influence of the Japanese family was lacking. Breaches of Japanese and Hawaiian laws were frequent. Accommodations in food, dress, and housing were of a forced character and did not necessarily involve changes in cultural values. After 1900 the normalizing of the sex ratio led to more conservative Japanese practices through the formation of an opinion-forming community and greater contacts with the homeland. Influences of old-country mores were particularly marked in matters relating to courtship and marriage, also in the appearance of old-country institutions which served to preserve the basic elements of Japanese culture. A third phase in the assimilative process has appeared with the coming-of-age of the population. Japanese influence has declined, owing largely to the public school. Assimilation as measured by a shifting of tastes, a declining influence of Japanese institutions, and a reorganization of personality in terms of American standards and ideals has occurred with increasing frequency among the generation born since 1915.