DISORGANIZATION, STRAIN, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

STRESS THE CENTRAL ROLE OF SOCIAL FORCES

Culture of Poverty

1. Oscar Lewis coined term in 1966
2. marked by apathy, cynicism, helplessness and a mistrust of formal institutions
3. results in a permanent American underclass
4. hollowed out cities
5. the truly disadvantaged

 

Social structure and delinquency

Destructive economic and social conditions

middle-class youths

refrain from serious delinquency
better organize education and marketplace resources
able to age out of crime

lower-class youth

most likely to commit serious delinquent acts

The area studies of Shaw and McKay

25,000 delinquents from Juvenile Court of Cook County (1900-1933)
reject individual level explanations
delinquency is a product of decaying transitional neighborhoods
cultural transmission of criminal traditions
results from adults passing on shared values and norms to younger people

 

Concentric zones

transitional inner-city zones have highest crime rates

physical and cultural environment

poverty results in breakdown of social control and social disorganization

newly arrived immigrants face overwhelming problems

a stable pattern of delinquent activity

 

Criticism Shaw and McKay

did not account for the fact that some boys living in the zone of transition were not delinquent

criticized for dependence on official statistics

 

Sutherland’s Differential Association

delinquent behavior is learned
learned through interaction with others
learned in intimate groups
learn techniques, motives, attitudes, and rationalization

 

Sutherland’s Differential Association

definitions of the legal code as favorable or unfavorable
becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions of the legal code
affected by duration, priority, intensity, and frequency
same mechanisms as any other learning
same needs and values as noncriminal behavior

 

Criticisms of Sutherland’s Theory

vague and imprecise

time sequence

differential association or delinquency first

adolescents interact with environment, not passive

 

Walter Miller

distinctive family structure of lower class is responsible for delinquency

female headed households

lack male role models for male children

alienate male children and force them to seek attention from adult males wherever they can

serial monogamy

 

Lower class culture - focal concerns

lower class has a culture significantly different from that of the middle-class

trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement, fate, and autonomy

 

Criticisms of Miller

"values of lower-class gang delinquents not embraced by majority of lower-class people"
evidence of the relationship between father absence and delinquency is mixed

Strain Theory

Most people share similar values and aspirations

inability to achieve goals causes crime
means for success are determined by socioeconomic status
focus on individual offending patterns
doesn’t explain why adolescents choose to commit such a wide variety of delinquent behaviors

 

Merton's theory of anomie

Durkheim used anomie to describe social malaise that accompanies the breakdown of social rules and values
anomie is normlessness for Durkheim
Merton argued that when legitimate means to social goals are blocked, anomie results

 

Social adaptations

conformity
innovation
ritualism
retreatism
rebellion

 

Crime and the American dream

Americans are conditioned to succeed at all costs
both deliquency and conformity can be understood in terms of this value system
social institutions are undermined

 

Cohen's theory of delinquent subculture

"Delinquent Boys" (1955)
nonutilitarian, malicious, and negativistic behavior

 

Causes of delinquency

social and economic limitations
family structure
developmental handicaps

Middle-class measuring rods

reactions to middle-class measuring rods
delinquent responses

Criticism of Cohen

assumes that lower-class delinquents reject middle-class values

Opportunity theory

Cloward and Ohlin, "Delinquency and Opportunity" (1960)

gangs are a way for lower-class boys to achieve what they want from life
as lower-class boys become increasingly isolated from the rest of society, they form cohesive groups

 

Delinquent subcultures

criminal subculture, stable, lower-class neighborhoods
conflict subculture, disorganized slums
retreatist subculture, double failures

 

Analyzing opportunity theory

inconclusive results from testing

delinquents may be more generalists in their criminal acts

 

Social Control Theory

delinquency on a defective social control system

inadequate socialization - low self-esteem - delinquency

Why do people conform to the rules?

 

Social controls

lack of neighborhood social control results in higher crime rates and community deterioration
informal control at primary or private level exerted by family members or peers
neighborhood internal networks or local institutions of social control
external controls

 

Matza’s Drift Theory

Maturational reform

move in and out of delinquency

pick up cues from others that delinquency is acceptable

 

Techniques of neutralization:

Lessen the effectiveness of internal an external social controls

(1) Denial of Responsibility;

(2) Denial of injury;

(3) Denial of victim;

(4) Condemnation of the condemners; and

(5) Appeal to higher loyalties.

 

Walter Reckless' containment theory

Internal Pushes - personal factors

External Pressures - are adverse living conditions

External Pulls

Internal and external containments

 

Travis Hirshci's theory of social control

Attachment (emotion)

parents, peers, and schools most useful for predicting delinquency

commitment (rational)

involvement (time in activities)

belief (moral)

 

Gottfredson and Hirschi general theory of crime

self-control determines whether people become criminal

Parents who are attached to their children, supervise closely, recognize children’s lack of self-control, and punish deviant acts will promote self-control.

 

Juvenile Justice Policy

Two-pronged approach

refurbish deteriorated neighborhoods

create educational and employment opportunities

 

Social Disorganization Theory

Chicago Area Project

Shaw and McKay - Environment

local leaders coordinate social service centers

recreation

physical appearance

mediate with school and law

prosocial role models

 

Sutherland - Differential Association

programs which re-integrate criminal offenders into community life

 

Strain Theory

Head start

getting a good education

institutionalized means to achieve cultural goals

 

Social Control

Bonding to society

Hirschi - get more directly involved with youth education, hobbies, and recreation