Criminology: Strain, Anomie, and Cultural Deviance Theories

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering social structure theories, Agnew's General Strain Theory, Messner and Rosenfeld's Institutional Anomie Theory, and cultural deviance theories by Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin, and Miller.

Classic Strain Theory

A sociological perspective associated with Merton asserting that society teaches everyone to pursue the American dream of material wealth and success, but unequal access to legitimate means (education, jobs) creates blocked opportunities, prompting adaptation through conformity or crime.

General Strain Theory (Agnew)

A criminological theory formulated by Robert Agnew positing that individual-level strains—both actual and anticipated—produce negative affective states and pressure that may lead an individual to commit crime.

Failure to Achieve Positively Valued Goals

A major type of strain in Agnew's theory occurring when an individual cannot attain valued aspirations, including experiencing a disjuncture between expected achievements and actual outcomes, or perceiving outcomes as unfair.

Presentation of Negative Stimuli

A form of strain identified by Agnew involving noxious or stressful elements entering a person's life, such as living in an abusive relationship, encountering delinquent peers, or coping with a family member's illness.

Removal of Positive Stimuli

A category of strain identified by Agnew involving the loss of a valued element or relationship, such as experiencing an unwanted divorce, losing a cherished job, losing a house to storms, or losing a companion pet.

Negative Affective States

Prolonged emotional conditions resulting from strain—such as sadness, anger, crying, or depression—that increase the likelihood of criminal behavior depending on the person's coping abilities.

Coping Mechanisms

Cognitive, behavioral, and emotional strategies individuals utilize to manage stress; deficiencies in positive coping skills can cause an individual to turn toward crime, violence, or substance abuse.

Institutional Anomie Theory

A macro-level theory proposed by Messner and Rosenfeld arguing that the cultural obsession with monetary success and the American dream erodes fundamental social institutions (family, education, politics, religion), rendering them ineffective at controlling behavior and thereby sustaining high crime rates.

Cultural Deviance Theories

Theories focusing on lower-class male delinquency that examine how individuals join subcultures in response to strain or adopt distinct lower-class cultural norms that facilitate and support criminal behavior.

Subculture

A distinct group within a society that maintains its own separate values, norms, and behaviors apart from the dominant culture, exemplified by youth movements like the 1970s UK punk subculture.

Delinquent Subculture Theory

Albert Cohen's theory arguing that lower-class boys are socialized with distinct values that clash with middle-class expectations when they enter school, resulting in strain and delinquency.

Middle-Class Measuring Rod

The set of standards and values upheld by teachers and schools—such as punctuality, neatness, cleanliness, and language proficiency—against which lower-class boys are evaluated.

Status Frustration

The intense irritation, frustration, and strain experienced by lower-class boys when they fail to meet the middle-class measuring rods applied by teachers in school.

Schoolboy Adaptation

In Albert Cohen's subculture typology, a lower-class youth who responds to school strain by embracing middle-class values, striving academically, and avoiding crime to achieve social mobility out of the neighborhood.

Corner Boy Adaptation

In Albert Cohen's typology, a lower-class boy who accepts his status, engages in minor non-serious delinquency (such as skipping school), and eventually becomes a conventional, productive member of his lower-class community.

Delinquent Boy Adaptation

In Albert Cohen's typology, a lower-class boy who responds to status frustration with intense hostility, inverts middle-class standards, and engages in malicious and nonutilitarian delinquent behavior.

Differential Opportunity Theory

Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin's theory proposing that delinquent subcultures take different forms depending on whether legitimate and illegitimate opportunities are available within a neighborhood.

Criminal Subculture

A subculture described by Cloward and Ohlin that emerges in neighborhoods with stable illegitimate structures and adult criminal role models, where youth engage in organized crime specifically for economic gain.

Conflict Subculture

A subculture described by Cloward and Ohlin that arises in disorganized neighborhoods lacking both legitimate and illegitimate opportunities, leading youth to form fighting gangs to defend territory and earn respect.

Retreatist Subculture

A subculture described by Cloward and Ohlin consisting of 'double failures' who fail to succeed in both legitimate and illegitimate realms, leading them to drop out of society and engage primarily in severe substance abuse.

Focal Concerns

Walter Miller's concept describing the distinct set of values and everyday behavioral rules that govern life for lower-class adolescent boys, often developing in female-headed households lacking male role models.

Trouble (Focal Concern)

A focal concern identified by Walter Miller involving daily preoccupation with either staying out of trouble or getting involved in trouble.

Toughness (Focal Concern)

A focal concern identified by Walter Miller emphasizing physical strength, an unyielding willingness to fight, suppression of emotion, and asserting masculinity.

Smartness (Focal Concern)

A focal concern identified by Walter Miller defined as street smarts, highlighting the capacity to outwit, con, or hustle others while avoiding being conned yourself.

Excitement (Focal Concern)

A focal concern identified by Walter Miller centered on fighting boredom through thrill-seeking, taking risks, and engaging in activities such as gambling or games.

Fate (Focal Concern)

A focal concern identified by Walter Miller reflecting the fatalistic belief that one's future and outcomes are predetermined by destiny or luck rather than personal choice.

Autonomy (Focal Concern)

A focal concern identified by Walter Miller reflecting a desire for independence from outside control, often manifesting counterproductively as defiance toward authority figures such as teachers and police officers.