"The Truly Disadvantaged" & "The Stick-up Kids" Discussion Post (Chapter 6)

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CRIMINOLOGY THE CORE Seventh Edition

Chapter 6 Social Structure

Theory

Economic Structure, Part 1

• Stratified Society – People grouped according to economic or social class – Unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige

• Social Class – Segment of population whose members share similar

economic level, attitudes, values, norms, and identifiable lifestyle

Economic Structure, Part 2

• Problems of the Lower Class – Culture of poverty – Underclass

• Child Poverty – Less likely to achieve in school – More likely to drop out – More likely to suffer from health problems

Economic Structure, Part 3

• Minority Group Poverty – White privilege benefits Caucasians over non-white

people – Black Lives Matter (BLM) aims to reduce institutional

violence and perceived systemic racism toward black people

• Social Structure and Crime – Social structure theory – Views disadvantaged economic class position as a

primary cause of crime

Social Structure Theories

• The social structure perspective encompasses three independent yet overlapping branches – Social Disorganization Theory

§ Institutions of social control have broken down – Strain Theory

§ Strain – Cultural Deviance Theory

§ Subculture

Social Disorganization Theory, Part 1

• Links crime rates to neighborhood ecological characteristics – Crime rates are highest in transient, mixed-use, and

changing neighborhoods where fabric of social life has become frayed

– Residents in crime-ridden neighborhoods flee at earliest opportunity

Social Disorganization Theory, Part 2

• The Work of Shaw and McKay – Transitional neighborhoods

§ Area undergoing shift in population and structure – Concentric zones – What is the legacy of Shaw and McKay?

The Work of Shaw and McKay

Social Disorganization Theory, Part 3

• The Social Ecology School – Community disorder – Community fear – Siege mentality – Community change – Poverty concentration

Social Disorganization Theory, Part 4

• Collective Efficacy – Mutual trust – Intervene in supervision of children – Maintenance of public order

• Forms of Control – Informal social control – Institutional social control – Public social control

• What are the effects of collective efficacy?

Social Disorganization Theory, Part 5

Theory Major Premise Strengths Research Focus

Shaw and McKay’s concentric zones theory

Crime is a product of transitional neighborhoods that manifest social disorganization and value conflict.

Identifies why crime rates are highest in slum areas. Points out the factors that produce crime. Suggests programs to help reduce crime.

Poverty; disorganization.

Social ecology theory

The conflicts and problems of urban social life and communities (including fear, unemployment, deterioration, and siege mentality) influence crime rates.

Accounts for urban crime rates and trends.

Social control; fear; collective efficacy; unemployment.

Strain Theories, Part 1

• Crime viewed as a direct result of frustration and anger among lower socioeconomic classes

• Theory of Anomie – Social adaptations

§ Conformity § Innovation § Ritualism § Retreatism § Rebellion

– Evaluation of anomie theory § Social inequality leads to perceptions of anomie

Strain Theories, Part 2

• Institutional Anomie Theory – American dream

§ Goal § Process

• Relative Deprivation Theory – Envy, mistrust, and aggression resulting from perceptions

of economic and social inequality

Strain Theories, Part 3

• General Strain Theory (GST) – Negative affective states

• Multiple sources of strain – Failure to achieve positively valued goals – Disjunction of expectations and achievements – Removal of positively valued stimuli – Presentation of negative stimuli

• Consequences of strain • Coping with strain • Evaluating GST

General Strain Theory

Strain Theories, Part 4

Concept Summary 6.2 Strain

Theory Major Promise Strengths Research Focus

Anomie theory

People who adopt the goals of society but lack the means to attain them seek alternatives, such as crime.

Points out how competition for success creates conflict and crime. Suggests that social condition, and not personality, can account for crime. Explains high lower-class crime rates.

Frustration; anomie:; effects of failure to achieve goals.

Institutional anomie theory

Material goods pervade all aspects of American life.

Explains why crime rates are so high in American culture.

Frustration; effects of materialism.

Relative deprivation theory

Crime occurs when the wealthy and the poor live close to one another.

Explains high crime rate in deteriorated inner-city areas located near more affluent neighborhoods.

Relative deprivation.

General strain theory

Strain has a variety of sources. Strain causes crime in the absence of adequate coping mechanisms.

Identifies the complexities of strain in modern society. Expands on anomie theory. Shows the influence of social events on behavior over the life course. Explains middle-class crimes.

Strain; inequality; negative affective states; influence of negative and positive stimuli.

Cultural Deviance Theory, Part 1

• Combines effects of social disorganization and strain – Members of the lower socioeconomic class create an

independent subculture with its own set of rules and values

– Subcultural norms often clash with conventional values

Cultural Deviance Theory, Part 2

• Focal Concerns – Promotes illegal or violent behavior – Toughness – Street smarts – Excitement

• Cultural Transmission • Gang Culture

Cultural Deviance Theory, Part 3

• Theory of Delinquent Subculture • Delinquent Boys by Albert Cohen • Status frustration • Middle-class measuring rods • Formation of deviant subcultures

– Reaction formation

Cultural Deviance Theory, Part 4

• Theory of Differential Opportunity – Criminal gangs – Conflict gangs – Retreatist gangs

Cultural Deviance Theory, Part 5 Concept Summary 6.3 Cultural Deviance Theories

Theory Major Promise Strengths Research Focus

Miller’s focal concern theory

Citizens who obey the street rules of lower-class life (focal concerns) find themselves in conflict with the dominant culture

Identifies the core values of lower- class culture and shows their association to crime.

Cultural norms;focal concerns.

Cohen’s theory of delinquent subculture

Status frustration of lower- class boys, created by their failure to achieve middle- class success, causesthem to join gangs.

Shows how the conditions of lower- class life produce crime. Explains violence and destructive acts. Identifies conflict of lower class with middle class.

Gangs; cccculture conflict; middle- class measuring rods; reaction formation.

Cloward and ohlin’s theory of opportunity

Blockage of conventional opportunities causes lower- class youths to join criminal, conflict, or retreatest gangs.

Shows that even illegal opportunities are structured in society. Indicates why people become involved in a particular type of criminal activity. Presents a way of preventing crime.

Gangs; cultural norms; culture conflict; effects of blocked opportunity.

Social Structure Theory and Public Policy

• Public assistance or welfare • Improving community structure in inner-city high-crime

areas • War on poverty programs – Head Start, Neighborhood

Legal Services, Community Action Program • Communities That Care (CTC) model