SOC-325 Final Exam

Social Strain Theory

• Durkheim & Merton

• Anomie

  • breakdown of social norms, values, and expectations within a society

• Merton

  • expanded to a broader spectrum

General Strain Theory

• Park & Burgess

• Magnitude

• Recency

• Duration

• Negative emotionality

Social Disorganization

• Shaw & McKay

• the inability of a community to uphold common values and goals

Social Control

• Hirschi

• Relationships steer us away from delinquency

  • Parental

• Focuses on attachment (emotional), involvement (time spent together), commitment (sacrifice and endurance), belief (values of family)

• Can be age-graded

  • Kids, marriage, assets, pets

Socialization & Delinquency

• Learn relationship with the law, right from wrong

• Delinquency can be a result of socialization

  • Learning and internalizing norms, beliefs, values, and cultures

  • Develop a sense of self

General Theory of Crime

• Identify impulsiveness

• Relation of how parents discipline juveniles

  • Monitor behavior

  • Recognize deviant behavior

  • Punish consistently

Differential association

• Sutherland and Cressey

• Delinquency is the result of who you associate with

  • Criminal behavior is learned

    • Techniques and motives

    • Law is favorable/unfavorable

• Varies in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity

Differential identification

• Glaser

• Delinquency is learned through modeling behavior

Differential reinforcement

• Burgess and Akers

• Delinquency is reinforced by knowing if punishment is severe or not

Labeling Theories

• Suggests that the labels (whether given or achieved) given to people can influence their behavior and identity

  • “Self-fulfilling prophecy”

Praxis

• How to merge values and theory to put into action

• Social construction of reality: nothing is inherently good or bad

• How conformity of expression focuses on actor and audience rather than a predictor of behavior

Looking Glass Self

• Cooley

• Seeing ourselves as how we perceive other people see us and reacting accordingly

When Kids Get Life

• The U.S. is one of the very few countries in the world that allows children under eighteen to be prosecuted as adults and sentenced to life without parole

• Jacob Ind

  • He killed his parents after years of abuse, but even some of the jurors who convicted him wonder if he deserved life without parole.

• Trevor Jones

  • Serving life without parole for a con gone bad, Trevor Jones is an example of the exacting logic of Colorado's felony murder statute.

• Andrew Medina

  • A player in a botched carjacking, he was only 15 when he was charged with first-degree murder and imprisoned; now he's serving time at Colorado's maximum-security facility.

• Nathan Ybanez and Erik Jensen

  • Erik was there when Nate killed his abusive mother. Nate says Erik didn't do anything, but they're both serving life without parole for her death.

Kids For Cash

• Judge Ciavarella and Conahan disposed thousands of children to extended stays in youth centers for trivial offenses for profit

Police & Juvenile Delinquency

• Creates social norms

  • Intimidation, protection, or service

• Law Enforcement

  • Capture crime offenders and enforce the law

• Crime Prevention

  • Discretion allows police options on how to aid offenders, attack root causes of crime

Staging Areas

• Social contexts that bring youth into contact with people outside their circle

  • Street, shops

• Actively build relationships with the community

  • Deviancy, such as drugs, prostitutes

  • Builds contact with police

School Policies

• Can create rejection of school, leading to the combat zone

• Violent behavior creates malevolent terrorism

• Bureaucracy leads to unfavorable circumstances

  • Standardized testing, dress codes