CHAPTER 10 Flashcards
What two theoretical perspectives have guided sociological scholarship on the relationship between crime and social structure?
Which does strain theory fit into?
- Consensus perspective: most people share similar values; morality is universal, customs persist, and the law represents a codification of societal values
- Conflict perspective: criminal law reflects the interests of the powerful groups that create and enforce those laws
*Strain theory fits into the general consensus perspective
What is the general definition of strain theory?
Social institutions all contribute to the smooth running of society
Crime occurs when something unusual happens that affects these institutions
This results in strains, stresses, and frustrations that affect behaviour
Explain Durkheim’s contributions to strain theory - The Functions of Crime and Anomie
Durkheim - wrote Division of Labour in Society
Said that social solidarity - shared goals and shared norms - are essential to most societies
- without norms, societies will function poorly
Popularized the concept of anomie to explain crime in urban societies - ANOMIE = an absence of clear societal norms and values
During periods of rapid social change, social solidarity and social cohesion is reduced - lack of sense of community and collective conscience leads to a breakdown in society and an increase in suicide and crime
Explain Merton’s contributions to strain theory (what did he link to anomie)?
***link between class and crime - lower classes more often imprisoned
Linked social structure to ANOMIE - used the term to refer to a situation in which ppl adopt deviant means to achieve goals beyond their means (gap between aspirations and means)
The culture defines and prescribes aspirations to members of society
ex. in America, material wealth and money and status are seen as universal goals –> the means of achieving these aspirations (schooling or jobs) are SOCIALLY STRUCTURED
**access to these means (schooling or jobs) is difficult for poor and minority ppl
*****The STRAIN resulting from the gap between goals and the means to achieve them may result in deviance and crime
(society encourages ppl to want things but makes it difficult for certain groups to get them = results in crime)
What is micro-anomie (Merton)
What are self-enhancing values and self-transcending values? (Konty)
Micro-anomie = the individual is in a state of anomie - they place more emphasis on self-interest than collective values
Self-enhancing values: emphasize social status, prestige, dominance, and personal success
Self-transcending values: emphasize appreciation, tolerance, protection, and the welfare of others
**Students who favoured self-enhancing values over self-transcending values were more likely to have reported criminal and deviant acts
What is Bernard’s theory of strain and anomie?
(what is instrumental crime)
Asserts that the focus on micro-anomie is a misinterpretation of Merton’s theory of strain –> see’s strain/anomie as features of social structures
Cultures that overemphasize monetary success and underemphasize the means to get it will have high rates of instrumental crime (crime committed with a specific goal in mind, like money or power)
If legitimate opportunities to achieve monetary goals are unevenly distributed, instrumental crime will also be unevenly distributed
Explain Messner and Rosenfeld’s theory of anomie?
They emphasize institutional anomie - refers to societies and cultures that emphasize monetary success but place less emphasis on the means for achieving that success
- encourages ppl to use illegal means to obtain money and status (corporations and white-collar crime)
- indirectly encourages crime by emphasizing the economy above all other institutions
Describe Canada’s response to crimes of the powerful
Canadian government’s response to abuse of power by the corporate elites is very weak
In North America, economic institutions remain dominant, and have overwhelmed other systems (like family, education, and politics) that traditionally help curb criminal tendencies
- this results in higher levels of serious crime compared to countries in which the institutional balance of pwr leans toward NONeconomic institutions
Explain the importance of reducing crime by changing the behaviour of the elite
Hackler suggests that a reduction in the unethical behaviour of corporate executives and other powerful ppl would lead to a reduction in all crime, including street crime
Must target the frequent acts of immorality that make up the bulk of the morality curve - we want to move the morality curve to the left
Explain the generalizing of Merton’s strain theory to other cultures
Merton’s theory can fit more than economic institutions, it can give us ideas about how to reduce the harm caused by privileged predators
ex. Cheng: in China, pressure on scholars to become wealthy leads to unethical behaviour, which is passed on to students
Just rules, respect for the law, and ethical behaviour by society’s leaders all influence the potential for crime for everyone in that society.
Explain Agnew’s theory of strain as a feature of individuals
When are strain more likely to lead to delinquency?
Agnew considered strain on individuals and the resulting impact on delinquency
Strain can direct but it can also be anticipated (ex. one anticipates being attacked on the way to school so they skip school)
Strains are more likely to lead to delinquency if they…
1. are high in magnitutde
2. are unjust
3. are linked to low social control
4. the resulting crime pays off
5. strains that are resolved through contact with people who are involved with crime are more likely to persist
What did Durkheim emphasize to prevent crime?
Restraints on human aspirations
What did Merton emphasize to prevent crime?
Explain relative deprivation and absolute deprivation
Merton’s focus was on expanding opportunity structures (opportunity is shaped by the way a society or institution is organized or structured)
Merton accepted the idea that crime was unevenly distributed and higher in impoverished neighbourhoods (whereas Durkheim would’ve predicted more even distribution)
* entire community wasn’t anomic, specific individuals who wanted wealth but couldn’t achieve it were
Therefore, anomie shifted from normlessness to relative deprivation (deprivation measured in relation to others around you rather than against an absolute standard)
Absolute Deprivation: the inability to sustain oneself physically and materially.
Explain Cloward and Ohlin’s theory of illegitimate opportunity structures
What’s the usefullness of this theory?
Emphasized that people under strain cannot become any kind of criminal they choose; they are limited by the illegitimate opportunities available to them.
Juveniles undergoing strain could be led to 3 different types of gangs or subcultures:
1. Criminal - profit-oriented crimes
2. Conflict - gang violence as a means of attaining status
3. Retreatist - substance abuse
Race or the city where you live may also influence oppt. structures
There is little evidence that the three types of delinquent subcultures exist, but the theory is useful in pointing out that not everyone can be a successful criminal and that we need to look at the factors that determine what deviant activities some people engage in
What are some other deviant adaptations to illegitimate opportunities that go beyond traditional types of crime
Examples are “tearoom” activity, street life, prostitution
Explain Anderson’s theory of the Code of the Street (individual strain theory adaptation)
Barriers to participate in mainstream society persist for young black males
The lack of opportunity for legitimate employment leads to strain
In turn, this can lead to crime, gangs, and involvement in underground economy - “code on the street” that involves toughness and a demand for respect
Drug trade offers economic opportunity and is organized around the code of the street
To achieve respect and acquire the money that enhances respect, young people must display a willingness to use violence.
Explain the good and bad of Durkheim’s strain theory variation
Good: Durkheim shifted the focus away from psychological and genetic variables toward sociological ones, which are now dominant in theories of crime
- at the time, his insights were radical
Bad: Durkheim was wrong in viewing premodern societies as relatively crime free
What are subcultures
what does this emphasize/prove
Subculture: A group or people who share a distinctive set of cultural beliefs and behaviours that differs in some significant way from that of the larger society.
Subcultures emphasize that aspirations are not universal; success can mean different things to different people. - goals differ which means there will be different forms of crime and deviance
Explain Hagan and McCarthy’s theory of marginal opportunity structures
They show how employment—a source of social and human capital, in contrast to criminal capital—can reduce involvement in crime.
Explain the good and bad of Merton’s strain theory
Helped account for social class differences in crime
Didn’t account for gender differences
How have recent scholars used anomie theory?
Used it to explain deviance in dictatorship countries that are moving in the direction of democracy
Explain the convergence of strain theory and other theories
Strain theory, differential association, and control theory complement one another
- all three can reinforce one another and have a reciprocal impact
Their policy implications can be similar, including:
- enabling the disenfranchised to participate more fully in soceity
- increasing legitimate opportunity structures and decreasing illegitimate ones
Explain Braithwaite’s theory of Greater Class Mix
Suggests that cities with relatively large numbers of lower-class people living in predominately middle-class areas and relatively large numbers of middle class people living in predominately lower class areas have relatively low crime rates.
The implication is that societies should avoid having slums with high numbers of lower class individuals = a greater class mix in neighbourhoods
This applies to property crime and also if there is a culture of violence rooted in racial and economic inequalites
Explain Braithwaite’s theory of Reducing Upper-class crime
- too much power corrupts, and this produces crime
- powerful ppl abuse their occupational power
- upper-class crimes arise from an unprincipled overcommitment to success goals
- greater economic equality and distribution of influence among ppl would modify somewhat those factors that lead to crime
Explain the policy implications that strain theory has had
Crime prevention projects have used strain theories to change opportunity structures:
- have provided legitimate opportunities for young ppl in poor areas through schooling and job training
- early childhood education programs
- less coercive justice system, for example, through reintegrative shaming rather then the disintegrative shaming currently used
- aim to reduce the gap between rich and poor
Durkheim’s anomie theory emphasized _______ and that_________ prevented crime
Merton shifted focus to ____________
social cohesion and social restraints
opportunity structures
What are some criticisms of strain theory?
- there is an episodic and sporadic nature of deviance
- maturational reform - strain shoudn’t/doesn’t go down with age but crime rates do
- women have lower rates of crime despite having blocked opportunities
- white collar crime isn’t caused by poverty
- youth with high aspirations are less likely to deviate regardless of their expectations
Explain Cohen’s theory of the middle class measuring rod
Emphasized the role of school
Schools and other institutions judge youth according to a ‘middle class measuring rod’ that lower-class youth are ill-prepared to meet
Failure leads to a collective reversal of middle class standards –> groups of boys collectively develop other standards such as toughness, rudeness and destructiveness that are easier to meet (‘reaction formation’)
Obtains status from the gang of peers, not from middle class judges like teachers
- as they achieve status in the group, their outside status becomes lower which causes them to turn even more to the group for support
Describe the example of strain theory in modern college admissions
Culture goal for the upper-class of getting a degree from Harvard or Yale (even though this is a misleading fixation about status)
Legitimate means to do this like hiring people to write application letter, expensive coaching for SAT, expensive private schools, etc.
When these aren’t enough, they’ll turn to illegitimate means like bribery and lying
ex. Hollywood actors and other wealthy ppl paying to have ppl cheat to get their children into prestigious schools
