The disorganization theory was created by the Chicago School the main idea of the theory is that environment influences greatly the level of crimes. The point is that Chicago sociologists and criminologist began to research such connection between the crime rate and environment in 20s-30s of the last century. On the one hand, the theory does not apply to all kinds of crime; it is applied mostly to street crimes.
On the contrary, it was one of the main theories to explain a crime in Chicago in the first three decades of the last century. The point is that in that times, Chicago was the city where street crimes were dominant. Hence, the theory that explains street crimes in such a city was dominant as well.
Strain or anomie theory was firstly mentioned by Emile Durkheim, however, it was developed only in the last century. The main idea of the theory is that some people may be influenced by society to commit a crime. In my opinion, the strain theory explains the nature of crime and causes for criminal behavior. Even nowadays one may see that poorness make people steel or cheat. In the modern world, there are many countries where citizens live beyond the poorness border.
To survive they have to look for illegal sources of getting money: steeling, producing and selling drugs, etc. Obviously, they realize that it is not the way out and one cannot live like that for a long time. On the contrary, it is the society that does not provide them with all the stuff needed to survive, such as job, shelter and food. Hence, I claim that disorganization theory cannot be used to explain criminal behavior in the modern world.
Resources:
Lilly J. R., Cullen F. T., Ball R. A. (2011) Criminological theory: context and consequences. SAGE Publications
