Sub-Cultural (Strain) Theories

Cohen- Status frustration

Deviance is largely a lower-class phenomenon. Cohen focuses on deviance among w/c boys. They suffer from cultural deprivation and lack the skills to achieve. They face anomie in the m/c dominated education system. The boys reject m/c values and form a delinquent subculture. For Cohen, the subculture’s function is that it offers the boys an alternative status hierarchy.

Evaluation of Cohen

Willis- w/c boys do not share the same ideas of status as m/c boys, so they don’t experience frustration.

Ignores female delinquency and only discusses youth crime.

Cloward and Ohlin

Illegitimate opportunity structures- unequal access to the legitimate opportunity structures:

1) Criminal subcultures: they arise only in neighbourhoods with a longstanding and stable criminal culture with an established hierarchy of professional adult crime.

2) Conflict subcultures: violence provides a release for young men’s frustrations at their blocked opportunities.

3) Retreatist subcultures: those who fail to succeed legitimately or illegitimately up the career ladder. These people turn to illegal drug use.

Evaluation of Cloward and Ohlin

Assumes the Official Statistics are accurate.

Over exaggerates the criminal opportunities available to the young.

Simplistic analysis of areas of crime, overlaps may be likely.

Miller-focal concerns

He argues that the lower class has its own independent subculture separate from mainstream culture, with its own values. This subculture does not value success, so its members are not frustrated by failure.

What is the meaning of Miller’s focal concerns?

The reason why w/c boys commit crimes centers on the idea that they are socialised into a particular set of norms and values that he calls focal concerns.

What is toughness?

This involves a concern for masculinity and finds expression in courage in the face of physical threat and a rejection of timidity and weakness.

What is smartness?

This involves the ‘capacity to outfox, outwit, dupe, take others’. The ability to outsmart the police/law enforcement.

What is excitement?

This involves the search for ‘thrills’, for emotional stimulus. In practice, it is sought in gambling, sexual adventures and booze.

What is fate?

They believe that little can be done about their lives.

What is trouble?

Young working-class males accept their lives will involve violence, and they will not run away from fights.

Evaluation of Miller

This presents a picture of this group living their lives isolated from mainstream society. David Bordua states that Miller seems to be saying that the involvement in working class culture is so deep and exclusive that contacts with agents of middle class dominated institutions, especially schools have not impact.

Who is Matza? (delinquency and drift theory)

He is an interactionist, and is evaluating subcultural theories.

Matza’s theory

Matza is suggesting that male delinquents:

• To be committed to the same values and norms as other members of society.

• Delinquents often express ‘regret’ and ‘remorse’ at what they have done, and show disapproval to crimes such as mugging, armed robbery, fighting with weapons and car crime.

• They drift into deviant activities, there is a lot of spontaneity and impulsiveness in deviant actions.

What did Matza identify as two levels of values?

1. Conventional values: roles such as father, occupational position.

2. Subterranean values: values of sexuality, greed and aggressiveness. These are, however, generally controlled, but we all hold them, and we all do them.

Matza thus suggests that delinquents are simply more likely than most of us to behave according to subterranean values in ‘inappropriate’ situations.

What are Matza’s techniques of neutralisation?

Five techniques:

• Denial of responsibility: it’s not the culprit’s fault, it was their ‘upbringing’

• Denial of the victim: the victim deserved it, i.e., ‘I hate Whites’.

• Denial of injury: the victim is supposed not to be harmed by the crime, they can afford it.

• Condemning the Condemner: 'everyone drinks and drives’.

• Appeal to higher loyalties: ‘I needed money to feed my family’.

These delinquents share society’s values; otherwise, they wouldn’t need to use these techniques of neutralisation.

Matza criticisms of functionalism

Portrays criminals as very different from conformists.

Overpredicts crime- not everyone turns to crime if they can’t succeed.

Doesn’t see deviance as a conscious, individual choice.