Transcript Chapter Six:

Chapter Six:
Social Structure Theory:
Because They’re Poor
Objectives









Be familiar with the concept of social structure
Have knowledge of the socioeconomic structure of
American society
Be able to discuss the concept of social disorganization
Be familiar with the works of Shaw and McKay
Know the various elements of ecological theory
Be able to discuss the association between collective
efficacy and crime
Know what is meant by the term “anomie”
Be familiar with the concept of strain
Understand the concept of cultural deviance
Socioeconomic Structure and Crime




People in the United States live in a stratified society
Social strata are created by the unequal distribution
Social structure theorists suggest that social and
economic forces operating in deteriorated lower
class areas push many of their residents into
criminal behavior patterns
A disadvantaged economic class position is a
primary cause of crime
The Underclass



Culture of Poverty: suggests that the
crushing lifestyle of lower-class areas
produces a culture which is passed from one
generation to the next
Apathy, cynicism, helplessness, and mistrust
of social institutions such as schools,
government agencies, and the police mark
the culture of poverty
This mistrust prevents members from taking
advantage of the meager opportunities
Child Poverty




Findings suggest that poverty during early childhood
may have a more severe impact on behavior than
poverty during adolescence and adulthood
Children who grow up in low income homes are less
likely to achieve in school and are less likely to
complete their schooling than children with more
affluent parents
More likely to suffer from health problems and to
receive inadequate health care
Limited chance of earning a college degree
Minority Group Poverty





The burdens of underclass are often felt most
acutely by minority group members
Minorities are denied protections and privileges
offered to many whites
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 25% of
African Americans and 22% of Hispanics live in
poverty as compared to 8% of non-Hispanics whites
and 11% of Asians
Minority children are four times less likely to have
health insurance as other kids
If interracial economic disparity would end, so too
might differences in the crime rate
Social Structure Theories



Social disorganization theory
Strain theory
Cultural deviance theory
Social Disorganization Theory


Branch of social structure theory that focuses
on the breakdown of institutions such as the
family, school, and employment in inner-city
neighborhoods
Types of social disorganization theory:
•
•
Shaw and McKay’s concentric zones theory
Social ecology theory
Concentric Zones Theory




Crime is a product of transitional
neighborhoods that manifest social
disorganization and value conflict
Identifies why crime rates are highest in
inner-city areas
Points out the factors that produce crime
Suggests programs to help reduce crime
The Social Ecology School



The conflicts and problems of urban social life and
communities, including community deterioration,
chronic unemployment, community fear, community
change and cycles of community change
Community Deterioration: disorder, poverty,
alienation, disassociation, and fear of crimes
accounts for urban crime rates and trends
Crime-ridden neighborhoods exert a powerful
influence over behaviors that is strong enough to
neutralize the positive effects of a supportive family
and close social ties.
Collective efficacy
1. Informal social controls: exerted by either
awarding or withholding approval, respect,
and admiration
2. Institutional social control: exerted by
cohesive communities utilizing the
institutions like schools, businesses, stores,
and churches
3. Public social control: the use of external
sources such as more police and political
powerbrokers, and financial government
assistance
Strain Theory


Branch of social structure theory that sees
crime as a function of the conflict between
people’s goals and the means available to
obtain these goals
Types of strain theory include:
•
•
•
The Concept of Anomie
Macro-Level Theory: Institutional Anomie Theory
Micro-Level Theory: General Strain Theory
Anomie Theory




People who adopt the goals of society but lack the
means to attain them seek alternatives such as
crime
Points out how competition for success creates
conflict and crime
Suggests that social conditions, not personality, can
account for crime
Explains high lower-class crime rates
Variety of Social Adaptations
Each person has his or her own concept of the goals
of society and the means at his or her disposal to
attain them; they may develop criminal or delinquent
solutions to the problem of attaining goals.





conformity
innovation
ritualism
retreatism
rebellion
Macro-Level Theory: Institutional
Anomie Theory





Material goods pervade all aspects of American life
Explains why crime rates are so high in American
culture
American Dream, a term employed as both a goal
and a process
The American Dream involves accumulating
material goods and wealth via open individual
competition
Capitalist system encourages innovation in pursuit
of monetary rewards
General Micro-Level Theory:
General Strain Theory





Strain has a variety of sources and causes crime in
the absence of adequate coping mechanisms
Identifies the complexities of strain in modern
society
Expands on anomie theory
Shows the influence of social events on behavior
over the life course
Explains middle-class crimes
Sources of Strain




Failure to achieve positively valued goals
Disjunction of expectations and achievements
Removal of positively valued stimuli
Presentation of negative stimuli
Cultural Deviance Theories


Branch of social structure theory that sees
strain and social disorganization together
resulting in a unique lower class culture that
conflicts with conventional social norms
Types of cultural deviance theory:
. Conduct Norms
• Focal Concerns
• Theory of Delinquent Subcultures
• Theory of Differential Opportunity
Conduct Norms


The concept that the lower class develops a
unique culture in response to the strain
These groups maintain their own set of
conduct norms—rules governing the day-today living conditions within these subcultures.
Focal Concern Theory




Citizens who obey the street rules of lower class life
(focal concerns)
Clinging to lower class focal concerns promotes
illegal or violent behavior
Toughness, street smarts, excitement
Identifies the core values of lower class culture and
shows their association to crime
Millers’ Lower Class Focal Concerns






Trouble
Toughness
Smartness
Excitement
Fate
Autonomy
Theory of Delinquent Subcultures





Status frustration of lower class boys, created by
their failure to achieve middle-class success, causes
them to engage in delinquency
Shows how the conditions of lower class life
produce crime
Identifies conflict of lower class with the middle class
Is a consequence of socialization practices found in
the ghetto or inner-city environment
May include: developmental handicaps, poor
speech, and communication skills, and inability to
delay gratification
Theory of Differential Opportunity




Blockage of conventional opportunities causes lower
class youths to join criminal, conflict, or retreatist
gangs
Shows that even illegal opportunities are structured
in society
Indicates why people become involved in a
particular type of criminal activity
Opportunities for success, both illegal and
conventional, are closed for the most ‘truly
disadvantaged” youth