Download Document

I.
Interconnectedness of Sociological Theories (page 116)
A. Sociological theories seek to uncover the reasons for differences in crime rates
in the social environment.
B. These sociological theories can be grouped into three categories:
1. Strain Theory argues that all members of society subscribe to one set of
cultural values; the values of the middle class.
2. Cultural Deviance Theories claim that the lower class has its own,
different set of values, which tends to conflict with the values of the
middle class.
3. Social Control Theories are based on the assumption that the
motivation to commit crime is a part of human nature. As such, social
control theorists seek to understand why people do not offend.
II.
Anomie: Emile Durkheim (page 116)
A. The Structural-Functionalist Perspective
1. From this perspective, Durkheim introduced the concept of anomie, the
breakdown of social order as a result of the loss of standards and
values.
2. Durkheim believed that as a simple society transforms into a modern,
urbanized society, the intimacy needed to sustain a common set of
norms declines.
3. The decline of the intimacy and solidarity of simple societies results in
anomie.
B. Anomie and Suicide
1. Durkheim introduced the concept of anomie in a discussion of suicide.
2. Statistical analyses revealed that suicide rates increase in periods of
rapid change when people are abruptly thrown into unfamiliar
situations, for better or worse.
3. Anomie can develop whenever the rules that once guided behavior
have changed.
III.
Strain Theory (page 117)
A. Merton’s Theory of Anomie
1. Merton argues that in a class-oriented society, opportunities to get to
the top are not equally distributed, with very few member of the lower
class ever reaching the top.
2. His theory of anomie emphasizes the importance of two elements in
society:
a. cultural aspirations, or goals that people believe are worth
striving for
b. institutionalized means or accepted ways to attain the desired
ends.
28
3. For a society to be stable, these two elements must be fairly well
integrated. Disparity between goals and means fosters frustration,
which leads to strain.
4. Merton’s Strain Theory explains crime in the United States in terms of
the wide disparities in income among the classes.
5. Merton acknowledged that the high rate of deviant behavior in the
United States cannot be explained solely on the basis of lack of means.
6. India is a country that has a more rigid class system than the United
States with more limitations on people’s ability to achieve goals,
without the problems that are present in American society.
7. India does not suffer from the problems that the United States does
because, in India, people learn from birth that all people do not and
cannot aspire to the same things
8. Not everyone that is denied access to goals becomes deviant.
9. Merton proposes five modes of adaptation that explain how people
adapt to society’s goals and means.
a. Conformity
b. Innovation
c. Ritualism
d. Retreatism
e. Rebellion
10. Tests of Merton’s Theory
a. Social Class and Crime
b. Race and Crime
11. Evaluation: Merton’s Theory
a. The concentration of crime in the lower levels of the
socioeconomic hierarchy neglects crime committed by members
of the middle and upper class.
b. Some criticize whether a society as heterogeneous as ours really
has goals on which everyone agrees.
B. Institutional Imbalance and Crime
1. In Crime and the American Dream, Steven Messner and Richard
Rosenfeld agree that the goal of material success is pervasive in
American culture.
2. The American dream encourages high-crime rates by suggesting
that individuals should succeed by any means necessary, even if those
means are illegitimate.
3. At the crux of the problem is the dominance of economic
institutions, as demonstrated by:
a. The devaluation of noneconomic roles and functions.
b. The accommodation of other institutions to economic needs.
c. The penetration of economic norms.
4. Crime will only decrease when noneconomic institutions have the
capacity to control behavior.
C. General Strain Theory
29
1. Robert Agnew revised Merton’s theory to explain more criminal
behavior.
2. General Strain Theory suggests that there are three basic types of
strain-producing events:
a. Strain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals.
b. Stress caused by the removal of a positively valued stimuli from
the individual.
c. Strain caused by the presentation of negative stimuli.
3. This theory acknowledges that not everyone who experiences strain
becomes a criminal.
4. Many are equipped to cope with their frustration and anger. The
capacity to deal with strain depends on personal experiences throughout
life.
5. Theory Informs Policy
a. Head Start
b. Perry Preschool Project
IV.
Cultural Deviance Theories (page 127)
A. Cultural deviance theories attribute crime to a set of values that exist in
disadvantaged neighborhoods.
B. The Nature of Cultural Deviance
1. Deviance is defined as any behavior that members of a social group
define as violating their norms.
2. Cultural deviance theorists argue that our society is made up of various groups and
subgroups, each with its own standards of right and wrong.
3. Those who conform to the standards of cultures considered deviant are
behaving in accordance with their own norms, but may be breaking the
law—the norms of the dominant culture.
C. Social Disorganization Theory
1. This theory focuses on the development of high-crime areas in which
there is a disintegration of conventional values caused by rapid
industrialization, increased immigration, and urbanization.
2. The Park and Burgess Model
3. Shaw and McKay’s Work
a. Their work led to the conclusion that the crucial factor is not
ethnicity but the position of the group in terms of economic
status and cultural values.
b. Cultural transmission indicates that delinquency is socially
learned behavior, transmitted from one generation to the next in
disorganized urban areas.
D. Tests of Social Disorganization Theory
1. Social disorganization theory fell out of favor in the 1970s, but
recaptured the attention of social ecologists in the 1980s and 1990s.
30
2. Ralph Taylor suggested separating the possible consequences of rising
crime rates in neighborhoods into three categories:
a. Psychological and Social Effects
b. Behavioral Effects
c. Economic Effects
E. Evaluation: Social Disorganization Theory
1. This work is criticized for too much focus on how crime patterns are
transmitted, and not how they start in the first place.
2. Does not account for the aging-out phenomenon.
3. Does not explain why most people that live in these areas do not
commit crime.
4. Does not explain why some bad neighborhoods are insulated from
crime.
4. Does not explain middle class delinquency.
F. Theory Informs Policy
1. The Chicago Area Project
2. Operation Weed and Seed
G. Differential Association Theory
1. This theory maintains that people learn to commit crime as the result of
contact with antisocial values, attitudes, and criminal behavior patterns.
2. Sutherland’s Theory has nine propositions that explain the process of
the transmission of values.
H. Tests of Differential Association Theory
I. Evaluation: Differential Association Theory
1. Much of the criticism of differential association theory stems from
misinterpretation.
2. Some question whether this theory explains all types of crime.
3. Differential association theory suggests that there is an inevitability
about the process of becoming a criminal.
J. Theory Informs Policy
1. LEAP
K. Culture Conflict Theory
1. Culture conflict theory states that different groups learn different
conduct norms and that the conduct norms of some groups may clash
with conventional middle class rules.
2. Culture conflict theory focuses on the source of these criminal norms
and attitudes.
31