Albert Cohen : Subcultures - Crime and Deviance (Functionalist)

Question 1

What does subculture theory explain?

Answer 1

Juvenile delinquency and adult crime in terms of the values of a particular sub-culture.

Question 2

What did Albert Cohen study?

Answer 2

Juvenile delinquency among working-class boys in the USA.

Question 3

What did Cohen argue?

Answer 3

• Juvenile delinquency is carried out by groups rather than individuals. Young males learn to become delinquents by joining gangs in which delinquent behaviour is the ‘done thing’. Delinquency involves being part of a delinquent sub-culture among boys’ gangs in urban neighbourhoods if large cities.
• Cohen linked juvenile delinquency to the education system. He argued that schools are based on middle-class values and expectations. Working-class boys cannot compete on equal terms with middle-class boys to get status and qualifications through education.
• Working-class boys experience status frustration in trying but failing to meet middle-class expectations at school. Being part of a delinquent sub-culture enables these boys to gain status within their group and hit back at a school system that has branded them as failures.

Question 4

What are some criticisms of Albert Cohen?

Answer 4

• Cohen’s work shows a middle-class bias. He assumes that working-class delinquents start out by accepting middle-class aspirations such as education success.
• Cohen focuses on delinquent boys in gangs. Feminists question how far his explanation applies to girls.