[1.2] Subcultural strain theories Flashcards
What do subcultural strain theories argue?
They argue that deviance is the product of a delinquent subculture with norms that are different from those of mainstream society.
What do subcultures do?
Provide an alternative opportunity structure for those who are denied the chance to achieve by legitimate means.
What does Cohen (1955) agree with Merton about?
He agrees that deviance is a largely lower class phenomenon, caused by their inability to achieve mainstream goals.
On which grounds does Cohen (1955) criticise Merton?
Merton ignores the fact that most deviance is committed in groups and also ignores non-utilitarian crimes which have no economic motive.
Who does Cohen focus on the deviance of?
Working class boys.
What does Cohen argue that working class boys face in the school system?
Anomie, as the system is middle class dominated.
What do working class children experience?
Material and cultural deprivation.
What do working class boys suffer which causes them to join a delinquent subculture?
Status frustration.
What are subculture values characterised by?
Spite, malice, hostility and contempt for those on the outside.
What do delinquent subcultures do?
Invert the values of mainstream society, and praise the reversal of the values.
What do subcultures offer?
An alternative status hierarchy, in which delinquents can achieve in.
What do delinquents win from their peers through their delinquent behaviour?
Status.
What is a strength of Cohen’s theory of status frustration?
It explains non-utilitarian crime such as vandalism.
What does Cohen ignore?
The possibility that not everyone shares the same values at the outset.
What did Cloward and Ohlin (1960) develop the concept of?
Three subcultures, which respond in different ways to the lack of legitimate opportunities.
What do Cloward and Ohlin suggest is the reason for the different ways that different subcultures react?
The lack of access to legitimate opportunity, but also the lack of access to ILLEGITIMATE opportunities.
What are the three subcultures that Cloward and Ohlin identified?
Criminal, conflict and retreatist.
Describe criminal subcultures.
They provide youths with an apprenticeship for a career in utilitarian crime.
Describe conflict subcultures.
They are found in areas with high population turnover, where the development of a stable criminal subculture is prevented.
Describe retreatist subcultures.
This subculture consists of those who failed to make a success of themselves in criminal subcultures.
Evaluate Cloward and Ohlin’s three subcultures.
- They ignore the crimes of the wealthy.
- They explain different types of working class deviance, something which others fail to do.
- South (1997) suggests they distinguish too sharply between the different subcultures, drug users are from a mix of conflict and criminal subcultures.
- This theory assumes everyone shares the same goals to begin with.
What do recent strain theorists suggest?
They suggest that young people may pursue a variety of goals other than money and success, such as popularity and autonomy from parents.
What does Messner and Rosenfeld’s (2001) institutional anomie theory focus on?
The American dream.
What does the American dream’s obsession with success exert pressure on people to do?
It puts pressure on people to lean towards crime, where people adopt an ‘anything goes’ mentality in the pursuit of wealth.
