Criminology Unit 7

Anomie Theories

an anomie is a norm breakdown -> loss of moral guidance -> deviance. Crime emerges when societal structure fails to provide fair paths to success – a social problem, not just individual pathology

Antisocial potential

posits that relatively few people have high AP or potential to commit antisocial acts.

Desistance

quitting criminal activity

Ecological fallacy

group rates are used to describe individual behavior. Aggregate statistics do not yield accurate estimates if the intended unit of analysis is the behavior of individuals

Focal concerns

§  Delinquency reflects lower-class cultural values, not rejection of middle-class norms. Walter Miller (1958) argued that lower-class culture has its own focal concerns — values that guide behavior and identity.

§  Six Focal Concerns: Trouble, Toughness, Smartness, Excitement, Fate, and Autonomy

§  Explanation:

·      When these values are exaggerated or distorted, especially when legitimate success paths are blocked, youth may turn to gangs or deviant subcultures to express these traits.

Human ecology

looking at humans and the environment and urban ecology, viewing the city as a growing organism, heavily employing analogies from plant ecology

Looking glass self

viewed the human personality as social self, one that Is learned in the process of socialization and interaction with others. The personality as a social product is the sum total of an individual’s internalization of the impressions they receive of the evaluation of others, or mirror of alters.

Lower class reaction theory

Working-class youth reject middle-class standards they can’t achieve.

Delinquent subcultures reverse norms to gain respect and self-esteem.

Crimes are often non-utilitarian (for respect, not money) and rebellious toward authority.

Natural areas

subcommunities that emerge to serve specific, specialized function. Unplanned and serve to order the functions and needs of diverse populations within the city

Social bond theory

delinquency takes place when a persons bonds to society are weakened or broken, thus reducing the personal stakes in conformity

§  Stronger social bonds = stronger conformity

§  Weak or broken bonds = higher risk of crime

Social disorganization theory

•Crime emerges where community ties are weak and control breaks down — especially in poor, unstable neighborhoods.

•Criminal values spread through local networks.

Soft determinism

although human behavior is determined to some extent by outside forces, there still exits an element of free will or individual responsibility.

Subcultural theories

• Crime stems from subcultures that emerge when mainstream goals and norms can’t be met.

• Youth seek status, belonging, and identity through alternative (often deviant) values

Power control theory

§  Gender differences in delinquency stem from family power structures and parental control

·      Family structure shapes freedom and risk

·      Parental control determines how much deviance children engage in

§  Delinquency = risk taking for fun

§  More parental control = less delinquency

§  Patriarchal families: boys face fewer controls – more risk taking

§  Egalitarian families: boys and girls have similar control – similar delinquency

Techniques of neutralization

rationalization or excuses that juveniles use to neutralize responsibility for deviant actions.

Strain Theory (Agnew)

strain = feeling blocked or mistreated -> causes anger, frustration, stress

Differential Opportunity Theory (Cloward and Ohlin)

combines Merton’s Strain and Sutherland’s learning theories. Youth Join different gangs depending on available opportunities (legal or illegal). Three Subcultures:

• Criminal: stable areas, organized crime, theft/extortion.

• Conflict: disorganized areas, violence for respect/turf.

• Retreatist: “double failures,” turn to drugs/escape.

Social Process Theory

crime is learned through social interaction and shaped by the environment, not biology

Social Control

asks why people don’t commit crime, not why they do crime occurs when social bonds weaken. Attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief restain deviance.

o   How society builds conformity through relationships and values.

o   Weak controls leads to more crime

o   Crime stems from broken social bonds, not excess motivation

Routine Activity Approach (Cohen and Felson)

crime happens when opportunity and routine patterns align. Three elements: motivated offender, suitable target, lack of capable guardian.

Development and Life Course Theories

o   Crime changes over the life span — from onset to persistence to desistance.

§  Desistance: Stopping crime often follows turning points like marriage, work, or service.

§  Life transitions reshape criminal paths — people can change.

o   Key Focus:

§  Explains how offending develops and changes with age.

§  Risk factors shift across life stages.

§  Life events (marriage, work, military) can alter behavior.

Differential Association Theory (Sutherland)

crime is learned through interaction—people become criminal by associating with others who favor crime. crime is learned, not inherited. Learning happens in close groups such as family or peers. Involves techniques and motives. Crime occurs when pro-crime messages > anti-crime ones. Associations differ by frequency, duration, priority, and intensity.

Delinquency and Drift Theory (Matza)

delinquents drift between conformity and deviance, not fully committed to crime. Youth exist in a limbo, sometimes law abiding and sometimes not. Social forces shape but don’t determine behavior.

Subterranean values

hidden mainstream values like aggression, excitement, and risk taking, shared by most people but delinquents just express them at the wrong time.

Grand Theory of Crime

looks into low self control, impulsivity as a by-product of crime. crime is rooted in low self control and motives are self interest

Chicago School

studied how urban life and disorganization foster crime

Strain Theory (Merton)

§  Crime occurs when there’s a gap between society’s goals (e.g., success, wealth) and the means available to achieve them.

§  The “American Dream” promises success for all, but unequal opportunities create strain or pressure.

§  When legitimate paths fail, some turn to crime or deviance.

§  Five Adaptions to Strain: Ways people respond to blocked success goals

·      Conformist: accepts cultural goals, accepts means to get there

·      Innovator: accepts cultural goals, rejects means to get there

·      Ritualism: rejects cultural goals, accepts means to get there

·      Retreatism: rejects cultural goals, accepts means to get there

·      Rebellion: rejects cultural goals and makes new goals, accepts means to get there and makes new means to get there

Containment Theory

§  Crime occurs when social pressures are strong and containment is weak

§  Crime happens when pressures outweigh control

§  Pressures:

·      External: poverty, bad peers, media

·      Internal: stress, insecurity

§  Containments:

·      Inner: self-control, moral beliefs, strong self concept,

·      Outer: family, community

Life Course Criminality

§  Strong social bonds in adulthood — such as marriage, work, or military service — reduce crime and promote desistance.

·      Crime and desistance are dynamic and shaped by life events and relationships over time.

§  Key Points:

·      Life trajectories and turning points shape offending patterns.

·      Antisocial youth behavior predicts later crime.

·      Social controls change over time — weaker bonds → more delinquency.

·      Even chronic offenders can desist through renewed social ties.