functionalist, strain and subcultural theories

crime

crime

An act against the law

deviance

Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society

4 characteristics of crime - durkheim

functional, universal, relative, inevitable

why do modern societies tend towards crime?

the rules governing behaviour become weaker and less clear cut

bcs they have a complex division of labour which weakens the shared culture which results in more deviance

why is crime inevitable?

(Durkheim) individuals are exposed to different circumstances which will influence their norms and values. Dif subcultures in society have their own norms and values. So it cannot be expected that everyone accepts societies norms, values and expectations.

what is boundary maintenance

when someone is punished for a crime, it reinforces norms and values, reminding people of the boundaries of acceptable behaviour
--> rituals of the courtroom

what does Davis say about prostitution?

Prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release of men's sexual frustrations without threatening the monogamous nuclear family

cohen

a warning an institution isnt working properly

what elements does merton combine

structural and cultural factors

deviance is the result of which two things?

- the goals a culture encourages individuals to achieve
- what the societal structures allow the ind. to achieve

what are the adaptations to strain

ritualism. retreatism, conformity, rebellion, innovation

conformity

- majority
- trying to achieve the AD legitimately by working up the career ladder

rebellion

wish to replace the AD and legitimate ways of achieving it - political radicals and counter cultures

strength of strain theory

• explains patterns shown in of stats

• most crime = property

• lc crime rates are higher bcs they've least opportunity to obtain wealth legitimately

status frustration

- a form of culture conflict experienced by lower-class youths because social conditions prevent them from achieving success as defined by the larger society
- they resolve this frustration by rejecting mc values and form/join delinquent subcultures

alternative status hierarchy

For Cohen, the subculture offers an illegitimate opportunity structure for boys who have failed to achieve legitimately. This subculture values spite, malice, hostility and contempt.
- e.g. society upholds regular school attendance whereas the boys gain status from peers through truanting

strength and weakness of cohen

explains non utilitarian deviance

assumes wc boys start off sharing mc goals and reject this only when they fail. he ignores the possibility of not sharing these goals in the first place and never considered themselves failures

cloward and ohlin

Deviance depends on the illegitimate opportunity structure that frames a person's life
- some have a better opp to be krooks than others

3 subc. identified by C and O

criminal, conflict and retreatist

criminal subculture

emerges in areas with high organised crime and provides criminal apprenticeships to young people
- they get associated with older role models who select the ones with the best potntial and help them climb up criminal ladder

conflict subcultures

- no establishes criminal subc
- antisocial, violent and aggressive behaviour over making money
- can provide alternative source of status

retreatist subculture

criminal subculture made up of double failures (drug addicts)

strengths and weaknesses of C and O

- explains dif types of wc deviance

- ignore crimes of the wealthy
- overpredict amount of wc crime and ignore the wider structure, including those who make and enforce the law
- matza- most delinquents just drift in and out of delinquency
- reactive theories

miller (1962) - eval on cohen

wc boys get into trouble bcs they have dif norms and values to the rest of the population
- excitement, toughness, smartness, fatalism, autonomy etc

recent strain theories - institutional anomie theory

- Messner and Rosenfeld showed that America's obsession with money and a winner takes it all mentality exerts pressure towards crime by encouraging an anomic cultural environment where people will adopt an everything goes mentality to pursue wealth

- supported by Salvesburg who showed post communist societies in E. Europe saw a rapid increase in crime after the fall of communism. He attributes this to the communist collective values being replaced by new western capitalist goals of individual money success

functional

a certain amount of crime is beneficial for society

universal

c. exists in every society

relative

what is seen as criminal behaviour varies between societies and over time

inevitable

crime will always exist

adaptation and change

Acts of deviance can help improve society, e.g. gay rights eventually lead to gay marriage legislation
- too much tears the bonds of society apart
- too little means society is too controlling

criticism of the functionalist view of crime

- society needs certain amount of crime but D doesn't say how much
- just bcs crime strengthens solidarity but this doesn't mean that was its purpose
- ignores how crime may affect dif groups
- doesn't always promote solidarity- may lead to more isolation

the american dream

-the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
- this ideology tells p. that their society is a meritocratic one w/ opps for all

why does crime exist according to merton

not all ind. can can achieve the american dream lawfully and a strain exists between the goals and ambitions of people and their ability to achieve them

innovation

-crime
- trying to achieve AD through illegitimate means
- crime w financial profit

ritualism

- deviant
- give up on the dream but not the means of achieving

RETREATISM

give up on dream and reject means of achieving it like drug addicts

criticisms of merton's strain theory

- doesn't explain non utilitarian crime or state crimes like genocide
- doesn't explain why everyone who doesn't achieve the dream doesn't turn to crime
- assumes value consensus - everyone wants the AD
- lots of crime is committed in groups but he doesn't explain this
- marxists - ignores the power of the ruling class to make and enforce rules in ways that criminalise the poor

How does Cohen criticise Merton?

- m sees deviance as individual response to strain
- m focuses on utilitarian crime committed for material gain and ignores crimes w no monetary gain