Crime and Deviance - Functionalism and Subcultural Theory Flashcards

Question

Opportunity / status hierarchies - Cohen

Answer 1

Legitimate opportunity in the status hierarchy - Learning at school -> qualifications -> working -> promotions (status) -> take on a management role (leadership and more status) -> train others - This is a legitimate acquiring of skills that is praiseworthy in mainstream culture Illegitimate opportunity in the status hierarchy - Failure at school -> unqualified and so innovate, become deviant and learn deviant skills and knowledge -> employment into criminal activity (utilitarian crime due to pay) -> gang leader (status) -> Big criminal network leader (organised crime and gang networks) -> recruitment - What occurs in the socially approved status hierarchy is deviantly inverted in the illegitimate status hierarchy and they mirror one another in the acquirement of status

Answer 2

1) Do members of subcultures consciously invert norms and values - does this theory make it seem too intentional; postmodern sociologists Lyng and Katz argue that it is more likely the individual is influenced by boredom or is seeking a ‘buzz’ - however, it could be countered that delinquents can be conscious of how deviant acts may provide access to rewards and status in the group 2) Cohen does not address why working class boys form these groups and not girls - if the reason of deviance is frustration at low status, many feminists would suggest that in 1950s America, you would expect girls to be the ones forming deviant subcultures as they face even more frustration 3) However, he does successfully develop Merton’s strain theory to provide an explanation for non-utilitarian crimes, and therefore Merton and Cohen offer a functionalist explanation for a wide range of deviant behaviour

Answer 3

- Working class boys are socialised into a number of distinct values that together meant they were more likely than others to engage in delinquent or deviant behaviour; Miller described these as ‘focal concerns’ (ways we socialise boys) and these are values which can lead to greater deviance and/or criminality The focal concerns - FATEST 1) Excitement - they seek out excitement, particularly when not at work 2) Toughness - they wish to prove they are tough / ‘hard’ 3) Smartness - they use wit (smart remarks) 4) Trouble - linked to excitement and toughness, they will find themselves in trouble 5) Autonomy - they wish to be independent and not reliant on others 6) Fate - they believe that their future is already decide; what they do won’t influence it - For example, seeking excitement might lead to non-utilitarian crime; toughness, smartness and trouble might result in fighting - autonomy might lead people to take matters into their own hands rather than asking for help;fatalism might mean that they do not consider the consequences of their actions as the future is already written

Answer 4

1) Cannot believe in social solidarity as a functionalist if there is an assumption that the lower classes have different norms and values 2) Miller just talks about boys without really considering gender; feminist critics have pointed out that these focal concerns might just be masculine values rather than lower-class ones 3) Indeed, as suggested by Matza, perhaps we all share such ‘deviant’ values but learn not to act on them - boys could be socialised with these focal concerns and not be deviant

Answer 5

- Like Merton, they argued that there was a "legitimate opportunity structure" (what Merton had meant by the socially-acceptable means to achieving social goals), but they also identified an alternative "illegitimate opportunity structure" which was available through gang membership. - However, just as not all people could easily access the legitimate opportunity structure and material success (Merton's concept of strain), there could also be a strain in relation to illegitimate opportunity structures. - Because someone is unable to become wealthy through working hard and gaining qualifications does not mean that they will easily find a criminal path to wealth and success. - Some people live in locations where an existing criminal subculture already exists while others do not. Furthermore, the types of subcultures available vary and people’s responses to blocked opportunities differ. - This goes some way to explaining why not all those who find legitimate opportunity structures blocked turn to crime.

Answer 6

Combined the theories of Merton and Cohen to explain the different kinds of criminal subcultures they identified; developed three types of deviant subcultures within the illegitimate opportunity structure 1) Criminal subculture - organised crime where career criminals can socialise youths into their own criminal career that might result in material success 2) Conflict subculture - gangs organised by young people themselves, often based on claiming territory from other gangs in so-called ‘turf wars’ 3) Retreatist subculture - those who are unable to access either legitimate or illegitimate opportunity structures might drop out altogether but might do so as a group rather than individually; these groups might abuse drugs for example

Answer 7

1) Not 3 distinct subcultures - although Cloward and Ohlin’s three forms of subculture seem distinct, most criminal gangs would have elements of two or more of these subcultures; for example, drug use is likely in all three groups, and turf wars often happen between all groups as well 2) Don’t tackle the root cause of why people are denied legitimate opportunities; Cloward and Ohlin write about working class crime and predominantly about males, but do not tackle wider issues relating to social class or gender, and they do not question why in a meritocratic society, working class youths are generally denied access to legitimate opportunity structures 3) Doesn’t explain female crime - they also do not explain how girls, who are also denied access to these structures, do not react in the same ways boys do

Answer 8

We all share delinquent values: - Most people are however able to keep these suppressed, and most young people commit crime as they are less able to suppress and haven’t learned how to do this, and therefore people are neither conformist or deviant; instead, people are able to ‘drift’ between both throughout their lives - Matza suggests that the proof of existence of these subterranean values (underground) comes from people trying to neutralise their deviant acts - If people really had a different set of values when they behaved deviantly, they would believe their deviant behaviour was appropriate / correct - However, people quickly seek ways to justify their behaviour or question their responsibility in terms of mainstream values - Therefore, according to Matza, they must understand and share those values, and he suggests people use a number of different techniques of neutralisation Technique: 1) Denial of responsibility - ‘it wasn’t me’ 2) Denial of injury - ‘it didn’t hurt’ 3) Denial of victim - ‘you deserved it’ 4) Condemnation of the condemners - ‘you’re just as bad’ 5) Appeal to higher loyalties - ‘I did it for my friends etc’

Answer 9

1) Techniques of neutralisation are excuses; they could simply be used as an attempt to avoid censure or punishment, rather than to ‘drift’ back into mainstream values 2) Some of these techniques of neutralisation may be deviant values; the belief that victims are partly responsible for their victimhood, or that higher loyalties justify crimes might well be examples of the deviant norms and values of a criminal subculture - However, Matza is correct that many people may be delinquents when they are young and then go on to lead respectable lives as adults (e.g. politicians or bank managers) and in such cases, it is not that they have been socialised into a different, minority set of norms and values, and their ability to conform to mainstream values when they mature shows that they were socialised into their value consensus as those who did not participation in deviant behaviour in their youth

Answer 10

- Cultural criminology - eval of right realism, focuses on how committing crime actually makes people feel and the thrill of the act as an escape from a grey existence - Crime is a reaction against the mundane - Katz argues that people get drawn into crime because it is seductive, and crime is just one way people enjoy leisure time in a postmodern society (London Riots 2011) - Lyng - Edgework; crime is a means whereby people could get a thrill by engaging in risk-taking behaviour and going to the edge of acceptable behaviour and challenging what is considered to be acceptable - Crime happens precisely because rules exist, and increased surveillance simply creates more law breaking due to more thrilling challenges