Subcultural theory Flashcards
Who are the 5 kay subcultural theorists?
1- Cohen
2- Cloward and Ohlin
3- Miller
4- Matza
5- Messner and Rosenfield
What is meant by subcultural theory?
A smaller group of people who have different norms and values to the main culture
Why does Merton adopt a subcultural approach with his ‘strain theory’?
Identifies different groups that people could follow
What theory does Cohen propose?
Status furstration
Cohen: Status frustration
WC boys experience status frustration as they are unable to achieve status by legitimate means as it is dominated by the MC
- problem with adjusting to this low status given to them by mainstream society
Cohen: Status frustration
How do they resolve this?
Reject mainstream MC values and turn to other boys in the same situation, forming and joining a delinquent subculture
Cohen: Status frustration
Alternative status heirarchy
Boys win status from their peers through their delinquent actions- creating their own illegitimate opportunity
- one function their subculture offers them
Inverted- flip it, not going to school, fighting
Cohen: Status frustration
Strengths
Offers an explanation of non-utilitarian deviance, ideas of status frustration, value inversion and alternative status hierarchy help to explain non-economic delinquency such as vandalism and truancy
Cohen: Status frustration
Weaknesses
Assumes that WC boys start off sharing MC success goals, only to reject these when they fail
X ignores the possibility that they didn’t share these goals in the first place and so never saw themselves as failures
Cohen: Status frustration
Similarities to Merton’s strain theory
Agrees that deviance is largely a lower class phenomenon
Cohen: Status frustration
Differences to Merton’s staring theory
Merton sees deviance as an individual response to strain, largely ignores crime with no economic motive
What theory do Cloward and Ohlin propose?
Illegitimate opportunity structures
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
Not everyone who fails by legitimate means, such as schooling, then have the equal chance of becoming a successful drug dealer
- people may not have the opportunity to learn that trade and practise it
- different neighbourhoods provide different different illegitimate opportunities
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
What are the 3 deviant subcultures?
1- Criminal
2- Conflict
3- Retreatist
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
1- Criminal subcultures
Provide youths with an apprenticeship for a career in utilitarian crime
- arise in neighbourhoods with longstanding, stable crime culture
- Young people associate with adult criminals, train them, role models
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
2- Conflict subcultures
High population turnover
- loosely organised gangs, violence provides release for young men’s frustrations
- alternative source of status, winning ‘turf’
- prevents stable, criminal, professional network
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
3- Retreatist subcultures
Any neighbourhood
- don’t succeed in becoming criminal
- both legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures
- fail both, turn to R based on illegal drug use
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
Strengths
They provide and explanation for different types of subcultures
criminal, conflict, retreatist
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
Weaknesses
X ignore crimes of the wealthy
X overpredicts the amount of WC crime
X ignore wider power structure (make/reinforce law)
Strain theories assume everyone starts off sharing the same mainstream success goal
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
Similarities to Merton’s strain theory
Agree that WC youths are denied legitimate opportunities to achieve money success and their deviance stems from this
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate opportunity structures
Differences to Merton’s strain theory
Note that not everyone in this situation adapts to it by turning to crimes such as theft and different subcultures react differently
What theory does Miller propose?
Working class ‘focal concerns’
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
What are the 6 focal concerns?
1- Smartness
2- Trouble
3- Excitement
4- Toughness
5- Autonomy
6- Fate
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Smartness
A person should both look good and also be witty with a ‘sharp repartee’
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Trouble
‘I don’t go looking for trouble but’
- accepting life involves violence
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Excitement
It is important to seek out thrills on the lookout for fun
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Toughness
Being physically stronger than others is good, important to demonstrate this
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Autonomy
It is important not to be pushed around by others
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Fate
Individuals have little choice to overcome the wider fait that awaits them
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Strengths
Explains youth crime
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Weaknesses
X can’t generalise to whole WC
X assumes all WC boys share the same vales- stereotypes
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Similarities to Merton’s strain theory
Due to the status of WC, boys often turn to deviance and break the law
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Differences to Merton’s strain theory
Miller believes that they aren’t intending to break the law they are inevitable due to the focal concerns they hold
What theory does Matza propose?
Subterranean values
Matza: Subterranean values
What do they mean by drift?
People are neither conformist nor deviant
- choose to adopt both behaviour and pick as and when throughout their lives
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
What do they mean by techniques of neutralisation?
Ways of justifying their behaviour and questions their responsibility inn terms of mainstream values
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Examples of techniques of neutralisation
- denial of responsibility- it wasn’t me
- denial of injury- it didn’t hurt them
- denial of victim- they deserved it
- condemnation of condemners- you are just as bad
- appeal to higher loyalties- I had to help my family
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Why is this theory different from other subcultural theories?
He acknowledges people have more choice over their behaviour, choose to drift, free will, not deterministic
- doesn’t hold stereotypes, everyone has them
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Strengths
Acknowledges people are not bound to one category
Miller: Working Class focal concerns
Weaknesses
X assumes people don’t take responsibility of their actions
What theory do Messner and Rosenfield propose?
Institutional anomie theory
Messner and Rosenfield: Institutional anomie theory
Obsession with money success and ‘winner takes it all’ mentality exerts pressure towards crime by encouraging an anomic cultural environment
- people adopt an ‘anything goes’ in the pursuit of wealth
- economic goals valued above all
- undermines other institutions
Societies based on free-market capitalism and lacking adequate welfare provision, high crime rates are inevitable
Messner and Rosenfield: Institutional anomie theory
How do Downey and Hansen support this?
Survey of crime rates and welfare spending in 18 countries
- societies that spent more on welfare had lower rates of imprisonment
- backs up m n Rs claim that societies tat protects the poor from the worst excesses of the free market have less crime
Messner and Rosenfield: Institutional anomie theory
Why does this support the Marxist theory?
Savelsburg applies strain theory to post-communist societies in Eastern Europe
- saw a rapid rise in crime after the fall of communism in 1989
- attributes this rise to communisms collective values being replaced by new Western capitalist goals of individual ‘money success’
- communism vs capitalism
Gender evaluation
Thrasher
Little research is carries out into female gang activity, assume women don’t join gangs
US 1920s- only 6/1313 gangs were female
- female ganga activity is ‘auxiliary in nature’, limited role, exist to serve male members (social and sexual service)
Gender evaluation
Campbell
NY girl gangs- 3 gang members exp- limited choices available WC inner city
Gender evaluation
Laidler and Hunt
Interviewed 141 female gang members
- conformed to traditional gender roles- not labelled negatively
- not to sleep with too many men
Social class evaluation
Korem- focus on MC, 7yr research in the UK, US other
- affluent MC boys forming gangs in increasing numbers
- divorce or too busy working to spend time with child
- gang becomes substitute family
- argues family problems are a better predictor than low incomes as to why boys join gangs
Masculinity evaluation
Male subcultural theory, discusses masculine behaviour
Masculinity evaluation
Collison
May have missed the significance of this
- links masculinity to crime
Masculinity evaluation
Connel
Existence of hegemonic masculinity- aspire/conspire to
Masculinity evaluation
Willow
best seen within the context of a changing economic social structure
- traditional WC men values fit physical work in industrial setting, now gone
- inappropriate for contemporary unemployment, greater for YM completely excluded
Postmodern evaluation
Do not look for the rational reason why subculture may have developed- reject
Postmodern evaluation
Katz
Crime is seductive, YM get drawn to it, thrilling
- not a process of rejection
Postmodern evaluation
Lyng
YM like taking risks engaging in edgework
- going right to the edge of acceptable behaviour and flirting with danger
Gangs and subcultures evaluation
YOUGOV
6-9% of YP claim to belonged to a gang
2% carry/ever carry a knife
widespread media coverage
