crime + deviance: strain + subcultural Flashcards
what is Merton’s strain theory?
says deviance is a result of a strain between the goal the a culture encourages individuals to achieve and what the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately
how does the American Dream link to the strain theory?
the ideology of the “American Dream’ tells Americans that society is meritocratic when in reality not everyone has equal opportunities
how does strain lead to deviance?
strain causes frustration creating pressure to turn to illegitimate means (strain to anomie)
what are Merton’s 5 deviant adaptations to strain?
-conformity
-innovation
-ritualism
-retreatism
-rebellion
what is conformity?
individuals accept the culturally approved goals + strive to achieve legitimately
typically m/c who have good opportunities
what is innovation?
individuals accept the goal of money success but use illegitimate means to achieve it
what is ritualism?
individuals give up on trying to achieve the goals but have internalised legitimate means so they end up following the rules
what is retreatism?
individuals reject both the goals + legitimate means and becomes drop outs
what is rebellion?
individuals reject the existing society’s goals and means but replace them with new ones in a desire to bring about revolutionary change
why is merton’s strain theory criticised?
-it takes official crime statistics at face value which one represents w/c crime
-too deterministic, w/c experience most strain yet they don’t all deviate
Marxists say it ignores power of ruling class to make + enforce laws that only criminalise the poor
-assumes value consensus that everyone strives for money success
-only accounts for utilitarian crime
-ignores group deviance
what is Cohens theory of status frustration?
w/c boys experience status frustration due to facing anomie in m/c dominated school system and fail to succeed so are at bottom of official status frustration
what does status frustration lead to?
the boys resolve their frustration by rejecting mainstream m/c values and turn to boys in the same situ, forming a delinquent subculture
how does Cohen criticise Merton’s explanation for deviance?
1) merton sees deviance as an individual response ignoring that much deviance is committed in a group
2) merton focuses on utilitarian crime ignore crimes with no economic motive
what is alternative status hierarchy?
having failed in legitimate opportunity structure, the boys create their own illegitimate opportunity structure where they can gain status through peers through delinquent actions
what do Cloward + Ohlin focus on?
attempt to explain why different subcultural response due to not only unequal access to legitimate opportunity structure but also unequal access to illegitimate opportunity structures
