Criminology-Chapter 10

Contributions of Durkheim

-Contributed to Conesus theory, that society functions on shared values and beliefs. Compared it to a natural, living organism that does whatever necessary to survive

Social disorganization theory

Argued that the formation of concentric zones in Chicago were part of the natural evolutionary process of invasion, dominance, and succession

Differential association

1. People learn how to engage in crime

2. People learn by interactions with others who have already learned criminal ways

3. Learning occurs best in small, face to face groups

4. People learn techniques, motives, attitudes, and rationalizations

5. People learn to disregard the legal code

6. People increase differential association with people of like attitudes  and avoid conventional people

7. Differential associations vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity 

8. Learning crime follows the same principles of learning anything else

9. Criminal behavior is a response to the same cultural needs and values and non criminal behavior

Techniques of neutralization

1. Denial of responsibility 

2. denial of injury

3. denial of the victim 

4. condemnation of the condemners

5. appeal to higher loyalties (gangs, etc)

Labeling theory

Comes in three stages:

Stage one-Primary deviance: must be willing to engage in deviant behavior, weak commitment to conventional norms

Stage two-Agents of social control: Police, judges, probation officers-least influential groups get caught in web of social control and labelled deviant more often 

Stage three-Secondary deviance: Happens when behavior significantly changes the way you live, life centered around deviance, Master status, isolated from rest of society

Anomie-strain theory

A dysfunction exists between the cultural goals of American society (such as accumulation of wealth), and the access to achieve those goals is not readily available, leading to a sense of strain or anomie. To achieve these goals, many have taken to using illegal means.

General strain theory

Explains delinquent acts by teens from relatively affluent families; teens have more immediate strains than adults, such as physical appearance, popularity, parental discipline, academic performance, and peer pressure to join gangs and participate in delinquent behavior 

Institutional-anomie theory 

Messner and Rosenfeld’s theory that institutional anomie is caused by the cultural goals of capitalist society and the failure of social institutions to properly integrate and regulate the pursuit of those goals 

Social Control Theory

Originated from Chicago school, maintains that social bonds and informal social controls act as restraints on teen delinquency

Social bond theory

The four elements of the social bond are attachment (to parents, school teachers, and significant others), commitment, involvement, and belief

Interactional theory

Another type of social control theory that says both social bond theory and social learning theory are needed to explain criminal behavior

Life course developmental theory 

Sampson and Laub’s theory that individuals can be deflected from the trajectory toward a criminal career by life events that can lead them to transition out of criminal behavior