Topic 6: Subcultural explanations of crime

Question 1

Deviant and criminal subcultures as functional

Answer 1

Albert Cohen,
Venkatesh,
Cloward and Ohlin,
Miller,
Matza

Question 2

Miller (functional deviant/criminal subcultures)

Answer 2

working class boys attracted to criminal subcultural deviance as they are socialised into norms and values called FOCAL CONCERNS

FATEST
Fate
Autonomy
Trouble
Excitement
Smartness
Toughness

Question 3

Matza on criminal youth subcultures as functional

Answer 3

Young males more likely to experience drift. Conventional to subterranean
DRIFT THEORY: juveniles sense obligation to law and mostly follow, yet when strained they drift to crime

Techniques of neutralisation to justify criminality:
Denial of responsibility
Denial of injury
Denial of victims
Appeal to higher loyalties
Condemnation of condemners

Question 4

Deviant/criminal subcultures as a rebellion against capitalism?

Answer 4

Gramsci
Hebdige
Scraton
Sivanandan

Question 5

Deviant/criminal subcultures as a reaction to patriarchy? (conform or deviate from)

Answer 5

Cieslik and Pollack
Harding
Heidensohn
McRobbie and Garber
Adler
Jackson
Messerschmidt
Haenfler

Question 6

Heidensohn

Answer 6

patriarchy controls females in both public (work, media, education) and private (family, primary socialisation, conjugal roles)

Question 7

deviant/criminal subcultures as being linked to socialisation and dependency?

Answer 7

Charles Murray
Tony Sewell
Marsland

Question 8

Marsland crime

Answer 8

WELFARE DEPENDENCY has undermined underclass’s sense of commitment, obligation, responsibility and independence.

They become lazy and resort to crime 😴

Welfare state and benefits system creates culture of dependency, creating + maintaining underclass

LEWIS: ‘new paternalism’ underclass of infantilised ppl unable and unwilling to help themselves. Marshmallow test (present time orientation)

Question 9

Murray on crime

Answer 9

UNDERCLASS (below class structure, extreme poverty + long term unemployment)
— lack moral values 😈 (espec marriage 💍 and family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦)
— parents pass down deviant criminal values to children
— more likely to be single mothers 👩‍👦who dont bring up kids properly (fatalism, resignation, deviance)

Michael Gove: underclass children beyond hope. This group should be sent to manual work not education. “poverty of discipline, poverty of soul”

So, cycle of poverty handed down generations

Question 10

Sewell on crime

Answer 10

Media shaped ethnic identities.

African-Caribbean male youth: rap stars = role models, resulting in HYPER-MASCULINE and GANGSTA values.
Results in under-achievement in school and EXCLUSION rates ^

Rap stars compensate for lack of father figure (50% Black British families r single parent)

Encouraging CRIME, CONSUMER CULTURE, HYPERSEXUALITY, GANG CULTURE, MISOGYNY etc.