MIDTERM 1 - Theories Flashcards
Juvenile age
12-18 yrs inclusively
Dependent and neglected
Kids who are being abused
Delinquents
Kids that commit crimes
Walter Miller
Right - Left
Right
Delinquents are responsible for their acts
Left
Society creates delinquency
Sociological theories of juvenile delinquency
how does society influence juvenile delinquency
Psychological theories of juvenile delinquency
what are the internal factors that influence juvenile delinquency?
Descriptive research
Gives us information on juveniles that break the law
Testing delinquency theories
Juveniles have been exposed to certain factors that cause them to be delinquent or non-delinquent
Evaluation of delinquency programs
Show that delinquents have gone through programs, which cause them to be less delinquent
+ adaptation to specific cases
Anomie definition
State of normlessness
Anomie theorists
Merton & Durkheim
Merton on anomie
Looked at deviant and non-deviant behavior
Society has set of values, which are taught to everyone
Some parts in our society block certain individuals from being successful
Ppl who are blocked find illegitimate ways to reach their goals
Merton’s Theory
Strain/Frustration/Gap
Goals definition
Wants and ambitions that society teaches the individual
Norms definition
Rules, which tell us the legitimate way of pursuing these goals
Institutionalized means definition
Actual resources available to the individual
Strain definition
Gap between the means and your goals
Modes of adaptation
Conformity Innovation Ritualism Retreatism Rebellion
Conformity
Accepts the goals (+) accepts the means (+)
Innovation
Accepts the goals (+) rejects the means (-)
Ritualism
Give up on goals (-) accepts the means (+)
Retreatism
Reject goals (-) reject means (-)
Rebellion
Give up on goals and means (-) but substitute w/ new goals and means (+)
Strain Theory criticism
Doesn’t explain preference for certain crimes
Assumption is that everyone in society has the same goals
Juvenile subcultures theorists
Richard Cloward & L. Ohlin
Juvenile subcultures
Criminal subculture
Conflict subculture
Retreatist subculture
Criminal subculture
Money, power, social status
Training ground to learn how to commit crimes
Close connections to adults
Conflict subculture
Specialize in violence
Commit acts of violence > gain status > develop self-image
No strong ties w/ adults
Retreatist subculture
Drug related Have moral inhibitions to commit criminal acts Often rejects form 2 other subcultures Want to be coolest ppl around Drugs for themselves (not to sell) Non-violent
Juvenile subcultures criticism
Sometimes one juvenile doesn’t fit in one category (don’t necessarily specialize in one type of crime)
Edwin Sutherland
Theory of Differential Association
Propositions
- Criminal behavior is learned
- Criminal behavior is learned in interaction w/ other persons in a process of communication
- The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs w/in intimate personal groups
- When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes: techniques of committing the crimes & the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations and attitudes
- The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from the definitions of legal codes as favourable or unfavourable
- The person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favourable to violation of law over definitions unfavourable to violation of law
- Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity
- The process of learning criminal behavior by association w/ criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning.
Proposition 1
- Criminal behavior is learned
Proposition 2
- Criminal behavior is learned in interaction w/ other persons in a process of communication
Proposition 3
- The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs w/in intimate personal groups
Proposition 4
- When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes: techniques of committing the crimes & the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations and attitudes
Proposition 5
- The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from the definitions of legal codes as favourable or unfavourable
Proposition 6
- The person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favourable to violation of law over definitions unfavourable to violation of law
Proposition 7
- Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity
Proposition 8
- The process of learning criminal behavior by association w/ criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning.
Differential association criticism
Vagueness of definition
Juveniles commit irrational and spontaneous crimes
Drift Theory theorist
David Matza
Drift definition
Condition of limbo between a conventional lifestyle and a criminal lifestyle w/ no strong attachment to either
Techniques of neutralization theorists
Gresham Sykes and David Matza
Techniques of neutralization
- Denial of responsibility
- Denial of injury
- Denial of a victim
- Condemnation of condemners
- Appeal to higher loyalties
- Denial of responsibility
“Not my fault”, Did criminal behavior because of circumstances out of their control
- Denial of injury
Trivialization of actions. “Nobody got hurt”
Deny they’re causing injury to anyone
- Denial of a victim
Victim deserved it/had it coming
- Condemnation of condemners
The ppl who condemn me are worse than I am
- Appeal to higher authorities
Group effects: “I was w/ my friends and they made me do it”
Neutralization criticism
Don’t know if neutralization comes before or after the behavior
Labelling theory theorist
Charles Horton Cooley
Labelling theory
We develop a conception of ourselves by participating in activities w/ our primary group
Primary group criterias
Responses to the whole person
Communication is deep and intensive
Your personal satisfaction is imp: need to get satisfaction w/ members of your primary group
The looking-glass self
Develop your self-image through members of your primary group
See yourself through the eyes of the members of your primary group
Self-fulfilling prophecy
We do what other ppl expect us to do
See what other ppl think of us and become it
General assumptions of labelling theory
Variety of causes or influences Initial or primary deviation Official label of delinquent/deviant Delinquent/deviant self-image Continued involvement in delinquency/deviance
Labelling theory criticism
Not everyone takes on what ppl believe them to be
Primary and Secondary deviance theorist
Edwin Lemert
Primary deviation
Individual’s behavior
Secondary deviation
Society’s response to behavior
Social reaction
Moral indignation of others towards deviance & action directed towards its control
Psychoanalytic theory theorist
Freud
Id
Represents the unconscious biological drives and instincts for sex, food, and other life sustaining necessities
Present at birth
Follows pleasure principle
Pleasure principle
Immediate gratification w/out concern for rights of others
Ego
Develops early in life
Guided by reality principle
Learning self-control
Reality principle
Child learns to take into account what is practical and conventional at the moment
Superego
Develops as a result of incorporating w/in the personality the moral standards and values of parents, community and others
Development of the conscience > feelings of guilt
Conflicts between id, ego and superego (if unresolved) result in
Abnormal personality development
Crime and delinquency seen as
Behavioral manifestation of abnormal personalities
Underdeveloped superego
Not strong enough to control or curb id drives
Ppl do what they want w/out concern for consequences or feelings of others
Overdeveloped superego
Ego experiences so much anxiety and guilt that a person may engage in crime because unconsciously wants to be punished
Ppl have poorly developed social skills, poor reality testing, gullibility, & excessive dependence
Social learning theory theorist
Bandura
Social learning theory criticism
Fails to account for differences in cognition
Cognitive theory theorist
Piaget
4 main periods
Sensorimotor period (0-2 yrs)
Preoperational period (2-7 yrs)
Concrete operational period (7-11 yrs)
Formal operational period (11- adulthood)
Sensorimotor period
(0-2 yrs)
Preoperational period
(2-7 yrs)
Concrete operational period
(7-11 yrs)
Formal operational period
(11- adulthood)
Symbolic interactionism theorists
Mead & Matsueda
Unit of analysis (symbolic interactionists)
Transaction that takes place in interaction between 2 or more individuals
Delinquent behavior is explained in terms of (symbolic interactionists)
Interaction between the self & others
Interaction that is mediated by language
Mead: role taking
Key to social control
Matsueda: role taking
Projecting oneself into the role of others & appraising the situation, oneself in the situation & possible lines of action
Possible line of action for delinquents
Take each other’s role through verbal & nonverbal communication
Fitting their lines of action together into joint delinquent behavior
Theory of the self & delinquent behavior
Matsueda
Theory of the self & delinquent behavior features
1) The self is formed by how an individual perceives that others view him/her & thus is rooted in symbolic interaction
2) The self is an object that “arises partly endogenously w/in a situation, & partly exogenously from prior situational self being carried over from previous experience”
3) The self as an object becomes a process that has been determined by the self at a previous point in time & by prior resolutions of problematic situations
4) Delinquent behavior takes place partly because habits are formed & partly because the stable perception of oneself is shaped by the standpoint of others
Feature 1
1) The self is formed by how an individual perceives that others view him/her & thus is rooted in symbolic interaction
Feature 2
2) The self is an object that “arises partly endogenously w/in a situation, & partly exogenously from prior situational self being carried over from previous experience”
Feature 3
3) The self as an object becomes a process that has been determined by the self at a previous point in time & by prior resolutions of problematic situations
Feature 4
4) Delinquent behavior takes place partly because habits are formed & partly because the stable perception of oneself is shaped by the standpoint of others
