Topic 5a: Age and crime: sub-cultural explanations Flashcards
Albert cohen- the delinquent subculture (func subculture theory) - Functionalist subcultural theory
‘lower-class’ boys strove to emulate middle class values and aspirations, but lacked the means to attain success. This led to status frustration a sense of personal failure. The result was that they rejected patterns of ‘acceptable’ behaviour which they could not be successful within. In an attempt to gain status they ‘invert’ traditional middle class values - behaving badly and engaging in a variety of anti-social behaviour.
Functionalist subcultural theory - Cloward and Ohlin - Illegitimate opportunity structures
They argued that Merton had failed to appreciate that there was a parallel opportunity structure to the legal one called the illegitimate opportunity structure which had three possible adaptations or subcultures:
Criminal- where there is a thriving local criminal subculture, with successful role models and a hierarchy that you can work up
Conflict - there is no local criminal subculture to provide a career opportunity. Groups brought up in this sort of environment are likely to turn to violence usually against other similar groups.
Retreatist- a more individual response and occurs where the individual has no opportunity or ability to engage in either of the other two subcultures. The result is a retreat into alcohol or drugs.
Functionalist subcultural theory - eval
assumes there is a common value system to deviate from. Marxists don’t agree they see these values as imposed by the ruling class. Sub-cultural theories don’t explain why people decide, either to, or not to, participate in deviant sub-cultures. Some sub-cultural theories are criticised for understating the concepts of class, race and gender and over focusing on working class males and fail to highlight deviant subcultures in other sections of society. Brake argues from a Marxist perspective against cohen. He says that working class youth were more criminal because they were more likely to be in a position to show resistance to capitalism than older people.
Scraton and Gordon (neo Marxist subculture theory) - ethnic subcultures
policing, media coverage and political debates all centre around the issue of ‘race’ being a problem. Ethnic minorities have always been on the receiving end of discrimination leaving them in a worse socio-economic position than the ‘white’ majority. In response to this, ‘cultures of resistance’ have emerged, in which crime is a form of ‘organised resistance’ which has its origins in the anti-colonial struggles and is political.
Hebdige (youth subcultures (neo Marxist subculture theory)
looked for the meanings behind the punk rockers in the late 1970s. He argues that punks set out to deliberately shock the establishment and society by adopting a style which re-used ordinary objects like bin-liners and safety pins as well as deviant symbols such as the swastika and sexual bondage gear to symbolically resist the dominant cultural values of British society of the time.
Marxist subculture theory eval
Recent postmodern approaches reject their explanation for behaviour. Katz, for example argues that crime is seductive - young males get drawn into it, not because of any process of rejection, but because it is thrilling In a similar manner, Lyng argues that young males like taking risks and engaging in edgework as he puts it. By edgework, he means going right to the edge of acceptable behaviour and flirting with danger.
Lea and Young as Left Realists (scraton and gordon) point out that the majority of crimes are actually ‘intra-racial’ and This cannot therefore reflect a political struggle against the white majority. Secondly, they accuse them of ignoring the very real harm that crime does to its victims.
Left Realism and subcultural theory
Lea and Young’s - This draws partially upon the Marxist subcultural approach and more heavily from the ideas of Merton. Subcultures develop amongst groups who suffer relative deprivation and marginalisation. Specific sets of values, forms of dress and modes of behaviour develop which reflect the problems that their members face. However, whereas the Marxist subcultural writers seek to explain the styles of dress, and forms of language and behaviour as forms of ‘resistance’ to capitalism, Lea and Young do not see a direct, ‘decodable’ link.
. Left Realism and subcultural theory 2
For Lea and Young, one crucial element of subcultures is that they are still located in the values of the wider society. Subcultures develop precisely because their members subscribe to the dominant values of society, but are blocked off (because of marginalisation) from success.
The outcome of subculture, marginalisation and relative deprivation is street crime and burglary, committed largely by young males.
. Left Realism and subcultural theory eval
Matza, an interactionist argued that there were no distinctive sub-cultural values, rather that all groups in society utilised a shared set of subterranean values but most of the time, most people control these deviant desires But when they do emerge, we use techniques of neutralization to provide justification for our deviant actions, these
Denial of responsibility- the offender denies that it was their fault.
Denial of victim - the offender claims that the victim was in the wrong.
Denial of injury - where the victim was not or harmed by the crime.
Condemnation of condemners - where the offender feels a sense of unfairness of being picked on for something others have done and not been punished for.
Appeal to higher loyalties - where the rule or law had to be ignored because more important issues were at stake.
Intro
Approximately 50% of all crimes are committed by young people – statistical evidence shows that the older a person gets, the less likely they are to commit crime. Much of the sociological work relating to young people and offending is known as ‘subcultural theory’. It includes research into youth groups who have their own set of norms and values. It is also worth noting that most of these groups also happen to be male and working class.
Conclusion
Sub-cultural theory is overwhelmingly male sub-cultural theory. The assumptions underlying the vast bulk of the writings we have looked at within this tradition have been discussing masculine behaviour. However, as Collison points out, they may well have missed the significance of this. In order to explain male offending behaviour, it is important to explain the nature of being male in our society and what links masculinity itself has to crime.
