SUBCULTURAL T

HEORIES

RE

VI S

I ON

– M

I LL I E

PR

I CE

MILLER – FOCAL CONCERNS

• Miller does not see the deviant behaviour occurring due to the inability of the lower class groups to achieve success. Instead, he explains crime in terms of the existence of a distinctive lower class subculture.

• According to Miller, lower class subculture has a number of focal concerns which are major interests and involvements.

• They include a desire for excitement and thrills, an emphasis on toughness and a concern with outwitting others

• these concerns are exaggerated by lower class young men because of their desire for status in their peer groups.

• young men act out these concerns of lower class subculture and in doing this they often break the law.

Toughness = can lead to fighting

Excitement = joyriding/robbery

smartness = hustler or conman

EVAULUATION OF MILLER

Evaluation of Miller on his own:

• Miller seems to be saying that the involvement in lower class culture is so deep and exclusive that contacts with agents of middle class dominated institutions, especially schools have no impact, suggesting that this group live their lives isolated from mainstream society

Evaluation of Miller with other people:

• Matza disagrees with millers theory as he says that we all have the same values (subterranean, conventional)

MATZA- TECHNIQUES OF NEUTRALISATION

Techniques of neutralisation

• Matza suggests that delinquents justify their own crimes as exceptions to the rule.

• They are thus able to convince themselves that the law does not apply to them on this particular occasion. Deviance becomes possible when they use techniques of neutralisation. Matza identified five justifications of neutralisation... (how to make the situation go away, justification for them committing the crime – making it acceptable):

1. denial of responsibility – they would say that they are just obeying orders e.g. it was my upbringing , or I was drunk when I did it.

2. denial of victims – they had it coming to them – the person concerned was not a victim but someone who deserved to be punished. race crimes

3. denial of injury – nobody was really hurt e.g. stealing from those who could not afford it, ‘borrowing a car’ for joyriding

4. appeal to higher loyalties – self righteous justification (the appeal to the higher causes) e.g. ‘I cant leave my friend in a fight’

5. condemning the condemners – those who condemn the delinquent are themselves wrongdoers (the whole world is picking on us)

MATZA - SUBTERRANEAN & CONVENTIONAL VALUESMatza claimed that delinquents are similar to everyone else in their values and voice similar feelings of outrage about crime in general as the majority

of society

• Matza says that everyone has 2 types of values found throughout society:-

1. Subterranean values (unconscious values) - values of sexuality, greed and aggressiveness. These are however, generally controlled, but we all hold them, and we all do them. but it is the extent that we express them

2. Conventional values – roles such as a father or your occupation

Matza thus suggests that delinquents are simply more likely than most of us to behave according to subterranean values in ‘inappropriate’ situations.

MATZA- DELINQUENCY & DRIFT

Delinquency and drift:

The final element in Matza’s explanation for delinquency is drift. If we all hold subterranean values, and could all justify our actions if necessary, why is it that only some young people commit crime?

Matza suggests that youth is a period in ‘no man’s land’, not yet adult but no longer a child

Youths feel that they lack any control over their own lives, and they long to gain some power over their destiny

However, there is no deviant career, the youth is not committed to the way of life of crime, and he or she ‘tends to drift in and out of crime’ for instance, when a decent job opportunity presents itself.

EVALUATION OF MATZA-

Evaluation of Matza on his own:

It makes no attempt to group delinquency in a wider framework of economic and social circumstances that drive male working class youths into greater levels of delinquency than anyone else. (poverty, relative deprivation, marginalisation?)

criticism of drift: In the US, most men in gangs do not drift in and out of crime. It is a lifestyle that continues with them throughout the ages

Evaluation of Miller with other people:

according to Cohen 2003, techniques of naturalisation don’t necessarily indicate a commitment to conventional norms and values they may simply be an excuse for criminal behaviour

COHEN – STATUS FRUSTRATION

• Cohen studied why working class boys tend to commit crime.

• Cohen argued in the 1950s that a lot of crime and delinquency could be explained as status frustration. Cohen for example, argued that the poor, unable to gain an academic education and entry to a profession and the socially approved ways of gaining status, so instead to seek status in illegitimate ways - that is, through crime.

• Cohen came up with several ideas and a process as to why this class of boys are deviant:

Deferred gratification, immediate gratification, present time orientated

Because of material deprivation, labeling etc.

Through gangs etc.

EVALUATION OF COHEN

Evaluation of Cohen on his own:

the question arises of why are they not committing financial crimes for material goods? Why are they committing non-utilitarian crime (crimes that have no benefit)

Evaluation of Cohen with other people:

Cohen says that people commit crime because of status – but however Murray says it is because of money and financial reasons.

Cohen says that boys commit crime for status – but however Merton says people commit crime to achieve the American dream.

MERTON – THE STRAIN THEORY

He argued that society may be set up in a way that encourages too much deviance.

What is the strain theory?: Merton believed that when societal norms or goals place pressure on the individual to conform they force the individual to either work within the structure society has produced, or instead, become members of a deviant subculture in an attempt to achieve those goals.

Merton's main concern was that societies such as the United States do not provide the means (access to education, employment, etc.) to achieve cultural goals (the American Dream, nice house, nice cars etc)

When individual's are faced with a gap between 'what ought to be' and 'what is', that person will feel strained and have a choice between five modes of adaptation:

MERTON'S 5 MODES OF ADAPTATIONConformists :Confor

mists are people who believe in

normative means for attaining goals

legitimately. They follow the rules of

society. E.g. businessman

Ritualists are individuals who stop

trying to achieve goals but believe in

using legitimate means for attaining goals. (follow rules) e.g. someone who

stays in a dead end job

Innovators are those individuals that accept

the cultural goals of society but reject the

conventional methods of attaining those goals.

They Use different ways to achieve those goals

(criminal) e.g. drug dealer

Retreatists are individuals who reject both the

cultural goals and the accepted means

of attaining those goals. E.g. alcoholics,

hermits Rebels not only reject both the established

cultural goals and the accepted means of

attaining those goals. But they substitute new goals

and new means of attaining those goals to bring about revolutionary change and create a new

society. E.g. Nazi party

EVALUATION OF MERTON

Evaluation of Merton on his own:

o Some people do not accept goals like financial success and may actually value job satisfaction or helping others more.

o Not all people will turn to crime – many will keep trying to gain success through legitimate means

Evaluation of Merton with other people:

o Merton says how boys commit crime to achieve the American Dream – but however Cohen says that boys commit crime for status

CLOWARD AND OHLIN -ILLEGITIMATE OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURES

Cloward and Ohlin aimed to explain forms of juvenile delinquency that Merton and Cohen did not. They show that W/C delinquency is not simply concerned with material gain.

They wanted to look at how status can be achieve through illegitimate routes.

The types of subcultures (ways people gain status):-

Criminal subculture – this tends to develop in areas where an illegitimate opportunity structure is present. (utilitarnism crime – crimes with a benefit)

Conflict subculture – this tends to develop in areas where an illegitimate opportunity structure is absent. Delinquents form conflicting gangs out of frustration at the lack of available opportunity structure.

Retreatist subculture – Emerges among those who have failed to succeed either by legitimate means or by subcultures. They tend to retreat to drug and alcohol abuse.

EVALUATION OF CLOWARD AND OHLIN

Evaluation of Cloward and Ohlin on there own:

Not everyone would fall into these three subcultures

Like Merton and Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin, ignores crimes of the wealthy and the wider power structure and over predict the amount of W/C crime

Cloward and Ohlin tend to box off the subcultures they identify and ignore the overlaps between them. E.g. gangs involved in the conflict subculture often deal drugs and make large sums of money in the process.