Exam 2 Flashcards
Culture Conflict Theory
-Thorsten Sellin
-argues that the groups to which each of us belong hold their own conduct norms; crime results from different conduct norms coming into conflict
Subcultures
subdivision within the dominant culture that has its own norms, values, and beliefs
argot
words/terms developed by a subculture
Albert Cohen
-delinquent boys(1955)
-middle class measuring rod
-lower class children cannot get to middle class expectation
Corner Boys
hangs out on the street, eventually gets menial jobs and lives a reasonably conventional lifestyle
College Boys
lower class youth who continue to attempt to succeed via middle-class standards
Reaction Formation
mechanism that relives the anxiety of not being able to get what they want the most; flip the rules
Differential Opportunity Theory
Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin’s view that differential access to illegitimate means helps determine the types of deviance in which poor people engage
Criminal Gangs
neighborhoods where the criminal activity is well-organized
-connection between gangs and shady lawyers, corrupt police officers
-old criminals serve as role models
-subcultural will revolve around yielding illegals sources of income
-ex: classic mafia
conflict gangs
unstable neighborhoods; little criminal organization
-gangs organize around proving toughness and securing turf, indivduals and group respect
-emerge in areas where neither conventional nor criminal role model exist
ex: blood and crips
retreatist groups
double-failure: people who have been unsuccessful in other types of gangs
-no organization
-focused on drug-use, sexual deviance, alcohol abuse
-subculture more than a gang
Subculture of Violence Theory
-marvin wolfgang and franco ferracuti
-argue that young, urban males developed a distinctive subculture
-the subculture condones and expects the use o violence to resolve disputes
-slight arguments/incidents will quickly escalate into violence
Critiques of Subculture of Violence Theory
little evidence of different values regarding violence by class or racial group
- difficult to separate out “subcultural” factors from other factors faced by these groups- harsh economic conditions, poor informal social control, etc.
Miller’s Focal Concerns
Argued that, rather than resutling from conflict with the middle-class, delinqueucy was a result of the lower-class culture itself
Argued that lower-class culture holds values that promote deviant behavior
Focal Concerns and Delinquent Behavior
Since these are valued behaviors/beliefs, people gain status for acting in line with them
-acting according to these focal concerns is likely to bring one into conflict with law
-ex: the outsiders
Human Ecology
Poverty, density, and turnover
Social Disorganization Theory
breakdown of social institutions in an area
-ex: economy, family, education
Hirschi’s Social Control Theory
causes of delinquency
-theory of conformity
-assumes that people are naturally deviant
-source of conformity = social bond
social bond elements
attachment, commitment, involvement, belief
attachment
extent to which an individual has strong bonds to others
-the stronger these bonds, the less likely someone is to deviate
commitment
investment in conventional lines of action
-high aspirations = low deviance
-commitment to institutional means
involvement
time spend in conforming/conventional
-ex: youth programs, church
belief
belief/agreement with societal norms
-accept cultural goals and means
techniques of neutralization
denial of responsibility
-denial of injury
-denial of the victim
-condemnation of the condemners
-appeal to higher loyalties
Containment Theory
Walter Reckless, 1961
-argued that people are “protected” from engaging in deviance by two things - outer containment and inner containment
outer containment
strucatual factors that compel a person to conform
-ex: rules and regulations, belonging to a cohesive group, chances to achieve status/rewards
inner containment
personal controls that compels a person to conform
-ex: a positive self-concept, self-control, sense of responsibility, well-developed conscience
pros with containment theory
explains why most people in bad situations do not commit crimes
cons with containment theory
poorly defined terms; vague terminology
-does not provide any insight into why people commit particular types of crimes
little supportive evidence
general theory of crime
Gottfredson and Hirschi (1985)
- Claim that their theory explain all crimes, at all times and in all places
- the cause of crime is low-self control or the inability to defer gratification
labeling theory
the reactions of other people and the effects of those reactions create deviance
-once a person creates a ‘deviant’ act, he or she is labeled
-outsider status and segregated from society
social interactionists
deviance is relative, therefore acts in themselves are not deviant
-deviance is socially constructed
-deviance involves a process of defining, then enforcing boundaries
social junk
those with dependency issues, chronic unemployment
social dynamite
high levels of anger and potential for violence
rule creators
the ability to define right/wrong and to impose these definitions on others depends on power
rule enforcers
Institutions backed by political organizations, generally those responsible for order in a given area
shaming rituals
Shaming rituals are important for putting master status label on people examples included court material, conviction, excommunication, psychiatric commitment
- help separate deviants from the group
three applied situational theories
applied environmental criminology
- rational choice theories
-applied routine activies theory
applied environmental criminologists
begin with the assumption that some people are criminally motivated
-examine the location of a specific crime and the context in which it occurred in order to understand and explain crime patterns
rational choice
based upon ideas from economics and utilitarianism; people make decisions based upon reward (pleasures) and costs (pains)
-assumes that offenders make “rational” choices about committing a particular crime at a particular place
applied routine activites
argue that for a crime to occur, three conditions must be met; a motivated offender, a suitable target, and an absence of capable guardian
motivated offender
A crime will not occur unless there is someone who wants to commit that crime; does not explain why, just assumes they exist
suitable target
someone or something that has the desired reward that the motivated offender seeks
-something that the offender considers very valuable and easy to take would be an attractive target
capable guardian
someone or something that has the capacity to stop the crime in progress
theories of victimization
Lifestyle theory of Victimization
-Victim Precipitation
-Repeat victimization/hot spots
lifestyle theory of victimization
examine how the chance of victimization is heavily influenced by a person’s lifestyle
Lifestyle Theory of Victimization propositions
probability of personal victimization increases with time spent in public spaces
-likelihood of victimization depends upon demographic similarities to offenders
-likelihood of victimization varies depending upon the time spend amongst non-family members
victim precipitation
coined by Martin Wolfgang
-refers to situations where victims initiate the confrontations that lead to their death
Repeat Victimization/Hot Spots/Geography of Crime
Areas of criminology that focus upon the geographical distribution of crime
- Typically find that crime is very concentrated - most crimes occur within specific areas and most victims have been victimized before
