Crime and Deviance - Subcultural Theories

Introduction of Subcultural Theories

• Historical Period: The 1940s-60s, Underclass Theory – 1980s.

• Subcultural theory explains deviance in terms of a deviant group, split apart from the rest of the society which encourages deviance.

Albert Cohen: Status Frustration

• Working class boys try to gain status in school and fail thus suffer status frustration.

• Some such boys find each other and form a subculture.

• Status is gained in the subculture by breaking mainstream values.

Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate Opportunity Structure

• A combination of strain theory and subcultural theory.

• The type oof subculture an individual joins depends on existing subcultures (which from an illegitimate opportunity structure).

• There are three types of subculture: Criminal (working class areas), Conflict (less stable populations) and Retreatist (e.g. drug subcultures) which Cloward and Ohlin saw as being formed by people who lacked the skills to join the former two).

Walter Miller: Focal Concerns

• Saw the lower working class as a subculture with its own set of unique values.

• Working class cultures emphasised six focal concerns/core values which encouraged criminal behaviour amongst working class youth.

• Three examples of these focal concerns were toughness (physical prowess, excitement (risk-taking) and smartness (being street-smart).

Charles Murray: Underclass Theory

• By the 1980s, an Underclass had emerged in Britain.

• Key features = long term unemployment, high rates of teen pregnancies and single parent households.

• Means children aren’t socialised into mainstream norms and values and have become NEETS.

• The underclass is 20 times more criminal than the rest of society.

Evaluation of subcultural theories of crime (positive)

• Unlike bonds of attachment theory recognises that much crime is done in groups not lone individuals.

• Unlike functionalism doesn’t see crime as functional.

Evaluation of subcultural theories of crime (negative)

• Contemporary research shows gang (subculture) membership is more fluid than the above research suggests.

• Recent research shows that the underclass doesn’t really exist and working class culture is more complex.

• There is a much wider variety of subcultures today.

• Ignores the role of agents of social control labelling in subculture formation.

• Underclass Theory is ideological - based on moral panics.

• Marxism: ignores the crimes of the elite.