Subcultural explanations of crime

Question 1

Cloward & Ohlin

Answer 1

-illegitimate opportunity structure
-not everyone had the same opportunity to legitimate opportunities
-parallel structure to the legitimate opportunity structure= the illegitimate opportunity structures

Question 2

3 possible subcultures in the illegal opportunity structure

Answer 2

-criminal (apprenticeship for career in utilitarian crime-arise in areas w/ long standing/ stable criminal culture)
-conflict (loosely organised gangs-areas with a high population turnover, violence is a release for mens frustration from blocked opportunities)
-retreatist (double failures so turn to alcoholism)

Question 3

etv of Cloward & Ohlin

Answer 3

-pos= illegitimate opportunities are available since there’s organised crime
-neg=large scale organised crime is limited, difficult to have 3 distinct categories, ignore crimes of the wealthy

Question 4

Cohen

Answer 4

-looked at non-utilitarian crime
-focused on wc boys bc they face anomie in mc schl systems
-interested in the fact that much offending was not economically motivated e.g. vandalism
-w/c boys exp status frustration (couldn’t achieve mc values). Which resulted in the rejection of acceptable behaviour, so gang behaviour is attractive to them as getting their crimes witnessed increases their status

Question 5

pos etv of chohen

Answer 5

-influential in studies of delinquency, gangs, subcultures
-explains non-utilitarian crime

Question 6

Box (& neg etv of cohen)

Answer 6

-Box= Cohen assumes w/c boys share m/c goals. Ignores possibility that they never initially desired these goals and thus never failed at them
-only attempts to explain male delinquency
-basis explanation on success/ failure at school but ignores relationships outside schl
-most delinquents aren’t stringly committed to their subculture