Social Structure and Crime: Theories and Perspectives

Posted on May 23, 2024 in Psychology and Sociology

Chapter 6: Social Structural Theories of Crime

Level of Analysis

Durkheim

  • Functions of Crime: Crime is normal and serves a purpose in society.
  • Anomie: Breakdown of social order due to the loss of ethical or social standards and values.
  • Collective Conscience: Shared beliefs and values that bind a society together.

Mechanical & Organic Societies

  • Mechanical Societies: Simple, with shared tasks, beliefs, and high social solidarity.
  • Organic Societies: Complex, with diverse tasks, beliefs, and low social solidarity.

Merton’s Strain Theory

  • Focuses on the “American Dream” and the pressure to achieve success, often considered the most influential theory in criminology.
  • Critique #1: Society’s emphasis on achieving success (wealth) outweighs the emphasis on achieving it through legitimate means.
  • Critique #2: There’s a disconnect between the universal goal of success (wealth) and the unequal access to legitimate means of achieving it.

Cohen’s Subcultural Theory

  • Status Frustration: Lower-class youth experience frustration from their inability to meet middle-class standards.
  • Oppositional Subculture: They react by forming an oppositional subculture with its own values and norms.

Cloward and Ohlin’s Differential Opportunity Theory

  • Like Cohen, they believed blocked opportunities lead to deviant subcultures, but they emphasized the diversity of subcultural responses.
  • Different areas provide different opportunities for crime.
  • Transition Zones: Areas with existing criminal structures offer opportunities for progression in illegal activities, status, and rewards.

Messner & Rosenfeld’s Institutional Anomie Theory

  • An adaptation of Anomie and Strain Theory.
  • Attributes high crime rates in the U.S. to the “dark side of the American Dream” and high levels of inequality.

Chapter 7: Social Disorganization Theory and Cultural Deviance Theory

Burgess’ Concentric Zones

  • Zone 1: Business
  • Zone 2: Zone in Transition
  • Zone 3: Working Class
  • Zone 4: Residential
  • Zone 5: Commuter

Shaw and McKay’s Social Disorganization Theory

  • Crime is more likely in communities with weak social ties, lack of social control, poverty, ethnic diversity, and family disruption.
  • Chicago Area Project (CAP) Zone V: A project aimed at reducing delinquency by strengthening communities.

Elijah Anderson: Code of the Streets

  • A set of informal rules governing interpersonal public behavior in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
  • Two types of families: “Decent” and “Street” (disorganized).

Wolfgang & Ferracuti (1967)

  • Proposed that violence is a culturally learned way of dealing with life, particularly among inner-city youth.

Miller’s Focal Concerns

  • Identified six focal concerns of lower-class culture: fate, smartness, autonomy, excitement, trouble, and toughness.

Chapter 8: Learning Theories and Control Theories

Learning Theories

  • Classical & Operant Conditioning: Behavior is learned through associations with rewards and punishments.
  • Bandura’s Social Learning Theory: Learning occurs through observation and imitation.
  • Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory: Criminal behavior is learned through social interaction, not through reading or media.
  • Glaser’s Social Identification Theory: Individuals identify with groups they perceive as favorable and adopt their behaviors.
  • Aker’s Social Learning Theory: An extension of differential association, emphasizing the role of reinforcement and imitation.

Control Theories

  • Social Control Theory: Focuses on why people conform to rules rather than why they break them.
  • Assumptions: People are inherently prone to deviance, and social bonds prevent them from engaging in crime.
  • Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory: Four elements of social bonds: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.
  • Nye, Reiss, Toby, Reckless: Early contributors to control theory.
  • Matza’s Drift Theory: Individuals drift in and out of delinquency due to weakened social controls.
  • Gottfredson & Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime: Low self-control, developed in early childhood, is the primary cause of crime.

Chapter 9: Labeling Theory and Conflict Theories

Labeling/Social Reaction Theory

  • Identity is shaped by how society labels individuals.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Labels can lead individuals to behave in ways consistent with those labels.
  • Tannenbaum’s Dramatization of Evil: Labeling youth as criminals after their first offense can solidify their deviant identity.
  • Rosenhan’s”Being Sane in Insane Place”: Demonstrated the”stickines” of labels and their impact on perception and treatment.
  • Lemert’s Primary and Secondary Deviance: Primary deviance is initial rule-breaking, while secondary deviance occurs after being caught and labeled.
  • Becker’s Outsiders: Examined how those in power define and label deviance.
  • Chambliss’ Saints and Roughnecks: Showed how labeling and social class impact perceptions of and responses to delinquency.

Marxist Theories

  • Emphasize the role of economic inequality and class conflict in crime.
  • Law as an Instrument of Oppression: Law is seen as a tool used by the ruling class to maintain their power and control.
  • Bonger’s Criminality and Economic Conditions: Capitalism creates egoism and competition, leading to crime.

Neo-Marxist Theory

  • Quinney’s Class, State, and Crime: The state serves the interests of the capitalist ruling class, and criminal law maintains the existing social and economic order.

Conflict Theory

  • Sellin’s Culture Conflict Theory: Conflict arises from differing cultural norms and values.
  • Vold’s Group Conflict Theory: Groups compete for power and resources, and conflict arises from these struggles.

Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative

  • Focuses on racial injustice and challenging biases in the criminal justice system.

Chapter 10: Feminist Criminology

Gender Ratio Problem

  • Women are underrepresented in crime statistics compared to men.

Feminist Perspectives

  • Liberal Feminism: Focuses on gender discrimination and advocates for equal rights and opportunities for women.
  • Marxist Feminism: Views women’s oppression as rooted in capitalism and patriarchy.
  • Radical Feminism: Calls for a radical restructuring of society to eliminate male dominance.

Gendered Pathways

  • Men and women have different pathways to delinquency and crime, influenced by societal expectations and opportunities.

Chapter 11: Life Course Perspective

Sampson & Laub’s Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control

  • Emphasizes the importance of life events and transitions (turning points) in shaping criminal trajectories.

Moffitt’s Dual Taxonomy of Offenders

  • Adolescent-Limited Offenders: Most common type, offending is temporary and related to adolescent development.
  • Life-Course Persistent Offenders: Small group (4-8%) responsible for a disproportionate amount of serious crime, influenced by neurological and social factors.