Cultural and subcultural theories of crime

Question 1

What is juvenile crime associated with according to Cohen

Answer 1

However, he argued that juvenile delinquency is uniquely non-utilitarian (not committed for profit)
Instead, it is associated with short-term hedonism (instant pleasure seeking)

Question 2

What did Cohen suggest working class boys face when they can’t achieve the same goals as middle class boys and how did they overcome this

Answer 2

However, they lack the means to achieve these goals and would feel inferior if he tried to achieve them. This leads to status frustration.
To overcome this, instead the boys reject mainstream goals and develop an alternative value system whereby they can achieve status through deviant acts e.g. being tough, fighting, stealing, joyriding etc.

Question 3

What did Cloward and Ohlin believe

Answer 3

Cloward & Ohlin believe Merton’s argument that working classes found it more difficult than other groups to achieve the goals of society.

Question 4

What were Cloward and Ohlin’s 3 types of society

Answer 4

Criminal subcultures depend on the presence of criminal role models to socialise young people into a criminal subculture.

Conflict subcultures arise when there is little access to either legitimate or illegitimate opportunity structures.

Retreatist subcultures: exist when there are neither legitimate or illegitimate means available so people drop out altogether e.g. through drug use.

Question 5

What does Miller believe

Answer 5

Unlike other subcultural theories Miller does not see society as based on a mainstream set of values that everyone agrees with (and attempts to obtain via legitimate/illegitimate means) e.g. value of success
Instead, Miller sees society as consisting of different classes, each with a distinct set of values

Question 6

What are Millers 6 focal concerns of working class boys

Answer 6

Excitement, toughness, smartness, trouble, autonomy and fate

Question 7

What does Matza believe

Answer 7

argues people drift in and out of criminality at different times depending on whether they are able to apply techniques of neutralisation.

Question 8

What are Matza’s techniques of neutralisation

Answer 8

1. Denial of Responsibility -’it wasn’t my fault’
2. Denial of Injury – ‘I didn’t hurt anyone’
3. Denial of Victim –’they deserved it, it was their fault’
4. The Condemnation of the Condemners –’they’re out to get me’
5. Appealing to Higher Loyalties – I had help someone out…

Question 9

What did Matza call criminal values

Answer 9

Subterranean values

Question 10

What did Matza suggest led young people into crime

Answer 10

A shift from a mood of fatalism to a mood of humanism
Mood of fatalism - this is when individuals (particularly young people) feel powerless . they need to take action which will induce a mood of humanism.

Mood of humanism - this is when individuals prove to themselves that they can influence the world around them. This can lead to deviant activity.

Question 11

What do cultural criminologists believe

Answer 11

modify sub-cultural explanations of crime and deviance to fit late-modern / postmodern society

often more ethnographic in approach

focus on irrationality, emotion and self expression as the cause of crime

delinquent subcultures are often seen as expressing identity, resistance, power struggles or a product of the stresses of late modern/post-modern lifestyles.

cultural explanations breath new life into criminology and urge sociologist to think about a range of new topics in late-modern/postmodern society

Question 12

What is an evaluation of Matza

Answer 12

It is by no means certain that juveniles are actually able to drift into and out of deviance in this way. What happens, for example, when a juvenile is punished / stigmatised - is it possible to then simply re-enter “conventional society” on the same terms as prior to the stigmatisation? Labelling theories such as Becker argue that deviants take on a ‘master status’ which is difficult to shrug off. (more in this next week)

Matza doesn’t adequately explain why juvenile delinquency is primarily a male phenomenon - where does females figure in this picture?

Matza lacks evidence to support the idea of mood of fatalism and mood of humanism - it is difficult to operationalize and measure these.

Question 13

What does Katz argue

Answer 13

Katz argues it’s not possible to generalise about the specific characteristics of a criminal –

Question 14

What does Katz’s research focus on

Answer 14

we can explain crime by considering what makes it attractive to individual criminals, what lures people in. Katz focuses on emotion.

Question 15

Why does Katz believe most crime occurs

Answer 15

He argues most crime is done for thrill seeking and to alleviate the boredom of youth

Question 16

What does Lyng argue crime is a result of

Answer 16

Edgework

Question 17

What is edgework

Answer 17

pushing the boundaries of society to engage in activities that go right to the edge of acceptable behaviour.

Question 18

What does Lyng argue Edgework does

Answer 18

He argues that Edgework is a way of escaping the confines of the modern world.

Question 19

Who does Lyng argue enjoys edgework

Answer 19

Young people

Question 20

What is a positive of edgework theory

Answer 20

Explains non-utilitarian crime and white collar crime equally effectively

Question 21

What is a negative of edgework theory

Answer 21

however theses concepts are difficult to operationalise and test so research may lack validity

Question 22

What does Presdee suggest carnivals do

Answer 22

In traditional societies ‘carnival’ represented an opportunity for rule breaking and letting off steam.

Question 23

What does Presdee suggest has happened to carnivals

Answer 23

These have all but disappeared in late modern society, so people find alternative ways of thrill seeking and excitement through transgression – rule breaking – e.g. binge drinking, fighting etc.

Question 24

What is authorities response to transgressive behaviour

Answer 24

Authorities try to control this more and more

Question 25

What does authorities response lead to in Presdee’s eyes

Answer 25

which leads to people feeling more repressed and therefore more need for transgressive behaviour.

Question 26

What is a consequence of Presdee’s theory

Answer 26

Activities which can’t be controlled and regulated sometimes become seen as the norm

Question 27

What does Young describe as the vertigo of late modernity

Answer 27

describing the pressure people experience to be socially mobile. Postmodern society has led to greater social divisions and greater anxiety about social positioning.

Question 28

What does Young say society is increasingly based on

Answer 28

individualism, insecurity and intolerance.

Question 29

What are the consequences in Young’s theory

Answer 29

The collective consciousness has broken down. Crime occurs throughout society. Hate crime and violent crime are on the increase and crime generally becomes nastier.

Question 30

What is Nightingale’s paradox of inclusion

Answer 30

the idea that the more excluded people are the more they seek to be included through consumption of material goods.