Lecture 3: Group Theories

Conflict Perspective

A basic premise that deviance is based on the concept of structural inequality, where the bourgeoisie use power to control and exploit the proletariat.

Bourgeoisie

Those with wealth and power who control and exploit the proletariat while manipulating the legal system and other social institutions to their advantage.

Proletariat

The worker-lower SES folks who are controlled and exploited by the bourgeoisie.

Turk's Model of Criminality

A theory stating that social conflict is likely when there are marked differences in cultural values between authorities and less powerful members, the less powerful are organized, and increased conflict leads to more behaviors considered criminal.

Blue-collar offenses

Crimes like burglary, robbery, assault, and battery, which result more often in official legal sanctioning.

White-collar crimes

Crimes like embezzlement, insider trading, and price-fixing, which are less likely to result in official legal sanctioning compared to blue-collar offenses.

Quinney's Social Reality of Crime

A theory focusing on the dominant economic class controlling the working masses by defining certain behaviors as criminal, leading to criminal activities by the disadvantaged and official sanctioning of offenders.

Thio's Power Theory of Deviance

A theory proposing that the more power people have, the more likely they are to engage in lower consensus deviance (less serious, more profitable, sophisticated deviance) with a lower probability of being labeled deviant.

Lower consensus deviance

Less serious, more profitable, or more sophisticated types of deviance, typically committed by the powerful with a lower probability of being labeled deviant.

Functionalist Perspective

Focuses on the purpose, usefulness, or contribution that a given social phenomenon makes to the social order.

Durkheim's view on Crime

Considered crime a natural, useful part of society that contributes to social integration and regulation.

Classic Strain Theory (Merton)

An integrated society maintains balance between social structure (approved means) and culture (approved goals); anomie arises from a contradiction between valued cultural ends and legitimate societal means.

Anomie (Merton)

A condition where there is a contradiction between valued cultural ends (e.g. monetary success) and legitimate societal means to those ends, leading to strain.

Merton's Modes of Adaptation

Five ways individuals adapt to strain: Conformity, Innovation, Rebellion, Retreatism, and Ritualism.

Classic Strain Theory (Cohen)

A theory focusing on delinquent subcultures, arguing that strain arises from the inability of lower-class male adolescents to gain status and acceptance in conventional society based on middle-class standards.

Status Deprivation (Cohen)

The inability of lower-class boys to achieve middle-class standards, leading to a lack of status and subsequent 'status frustration'.

Reaction Formation (Cohen)

A protest against the norms and values of middle-class U.S. culture by delinquent subcultures, used to win approval of similarly situated peers.

Classic Strain Theory (Cloward & Ohlin)

A differential opportunity theory combining Merton and Cohen's ideas with Sutherland's, arguing that motivation alone doesn't account for behavior, but access to conforming or deviant 'learning environments' does.

Differential Opportunity Theory

Proposes that individuals must be in specific 'learning environments' to acquire the skills for either deviant or conforming behavior, highlighting unequal access to illegitimate roles and opportunities.

General Strain Theory (Agnew)

A theory focusing explicitly on negative relationships with others that lead to crime/delinquency because of the negative affect (e.g., anger) they engender.

Types of Strain (Agnew)

Categories of negative relationships that cause strain: preventing one from achieving valued goals, removing valued stimuli, or presenting noxious stimuli.

Negative Affect (Agnew)

Negative emotional states, notably anger and related emotions, that arise from negative relationships and pressure people into crime.

Anger (Agnew's GST)

Identified as the most critical emotional reaction for General Strain Theory, leading people to use illegitimate channels, attack/escape adversity, or manage negative affect through illicit drugs.

Adverse Events (Agnew)

Events that are more influential to the extent they are greater in magnitude or size, recent, of long duration, or clustered in time.

Cognitive Coping Strategies (Agnew)

Ways to interpret objective stressors to minimize their subjective adversity, such as ignoring adversity, lowering goals, or accepting responsibility.

Behavioral Coping Strategies (Agnew)

Actions taken to maximize positive outcomes, minimize negative outcomes, or engage in vengeful behavior.

Emotional Coping Strategies (Agnew)

Activities that act directly on negative emotions resulting from adversity, such as substance use, physical exercise, meditation, or relaxation.

Neutralization Theory (Matza)

Theory suggesting that individuals use justifications or excuses for committing delinquent acts (techniques of neutralization) that precede deviant behavior, making it possible.

Techniques of Neutralization

Justifications or excuses for delinquent acts, including denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victim, condemnation of the condemners, and appeal to higher loyalties.

Social Disorganization Theory

Refers to the inability of local communities to realize the common values of their residents or solve commonly experienced problems.

Concentric Zone Theory (Shaw & McKay)

A theory identifying certain zones near central business districts as more crime-prone due to factors like poverty, racial/ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility, leading to a breakdown in informal social control.

Cultural Transmission Theory

The process by which a differential system of values (deviant) is passed on from adolescents currently living in a neighborhood to recent arrivals.

Differential Association Theory (Sutherland)

Proposes that criminal and deviant behaviors are learned through greater interaction with others who advocate the violation of the law, leading to the acquisition of motives, rationalizations, and techniques for criminal offending.

Social Learning Theory (Akers)

Expands on Differential Association by incorporating Differential Reinforcement, stating that behaviors associated with a higher probability of rewards will be repeated and learned through imitation.

Differential Reinforcement (Akers)

A concept within Social Learning Theory indicating that behaviors associated with a higher probability of rewards will be repeated, and behaviors associated with punishments will be avoided.