Social organizational or macro sociological theories Social structure theories macro Social institutions economy family church etc Social stratification set of inequality ex class gender race Culture shared set of attitudes values and goals Durkheim 1890s Anomie strain father of socialism 4 types of suicide egotisitic weakening commitment to group values and goals altruistic over commitment to group values fatalistic high regulation oppressive discipline ex slavery anomic rapid social change weak regulation Structural functionalism society complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability Social solidarity weakens as society modernizes Mechanical solidarity shared activities strong social bonds extended large families Organic solidarity small families weak social bonds more complex large population Strain Anomie started by Durkheim Strain stress frustration are product of failed aspirations norms are violated to alleviate strain Strain leads to anomie which is a temporary state and disjunction between aspirations and ability to achieve goals Crime and Social Ecology Chicago School viewed society as social organism interested in context not concentration Concentric zones zones grow and each gradually invades the adjacent pattern of invasion dominance and succession Social Disorganization Theory Shaw and McKay 1942 social disorganization is the inability of a community to regulate itself to meet needs of its members studied male delinquency in Chicago in specific areas sparse local friendship networks unsupervised teens Cultural transmission tradition of delinquent behavior is handed down from one generation to the next Low SES residential mobility and ethnic heterogeneity lead to cultural disorganization structural disorganization which leads to loss of family and community control delinquent traditions and views and eventually crime Limitations social disorganization is not measured depends on police or court records Collective efficacy willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good social cohesion and trust Wilson Kelling 1982 Broken windows theory if a window is left broken more will follow if people don t care the neighborhood goes downhill keeping standards up keeps things from going downhill Informal social controls informal social control exercised through everyday relationships and institutions is more effective than legal sanctions Crime and Social Structure Social Structural Strain Theory Merton 1983 Durkheim claimed that humans naturally have desires that must be socially controlled while he claims that the desires are socially generated Ends means disjuncture the attainment of wealth has become such an overwhelming concern that little satisfaction is derived from playing it honestly Protestant work ethic middle class values honesty is the best policy means American dream universalism but has blocked opportunities anomic and disjuncture between ends and means Modes of adaption 1 Conformity always do what is culturally specified no matter what means and ends are positive Innovation inability to achieve cultural goals so they cheat means ends 2 3 Ritualism abide by rules but abandon goals means ends 4 Retreatism don t follow goals and don t means to reach goals means ends 5 Rebellion rejects goals and means of society means ends Differential Opportunity Theory Cloward Ohlin 1960 Different than Merton s because they said as the opportunity to be successful by legitimate means varies so too does the opportunity to be successful by illegitimate means Different illegitimate opportunities available to potential delinquents will produce different types of crimes Gang subcultures 1 Criminal young child learns from organized older gang members around him theft frustration 2 Conflict no role models to teach them resort to violence because of 3 Retreatist social dropouts usually go to drugs or alcohol Underground Economies Venkatesh 2006 Underground economy economy that was interrelated but distinct from the political economy not enough jobs for Blacks so they worked for off the book waged jobs like janitors shoe shiners etc Hustling whatever can be done to make ends meet Legitimate and underground economies depend on each other ex shop owners would let underground people have people over after hours Institutional Anomie Theory Messner Rosenfeld 1995 explains violent crime crime is from cultural commitments and social structure American dream success competitive individualism achievement anomic 4 key social institutions 1 Economy resources Dominance 2 Political mobilize and distribute 3 Family maintain and replace morality 4 Education technical training Institutional balance of power mutual dependence among social institutions but are not perfectly equal and balanced General Strain Theory Agnew 1992 more general topics besides aspirations ex popularity athleticism not only attributed to class strain causes negative emotions and crime is a solution Sources of strain loss of positive stimuli presence of noxious stimuli and failure to achieve positive goals Characteristics of strain if strain is unjust it causes anger if it is high in magnitude or severity it is more likely to result in a criminal response low social control leads to crime criminal outcome happens when criminal activity is seen as a way to reduce strain Normative coping mechanisms cognitive telling yourself that the goal isn t that important or that the outcome isn t that bad emotional turning to social support or behavioral adaptions working out meditating Social process or micro sociological theories Social processes any identifiable pattern of interaction Socialization how do people interact with their environment Learning Theories Differential Association Theory Subculture conflict theories some subcultures are characterized by their own conduct norms these are contrary to those of the larger culture and therefore is seen as crime in the larger society but not for the smaller Sutherland 1940s people act like their peers most juvenile delinquency happens in groups 9 principles of DA criminal behavior is learned learned through communication with others occurs in intimate personal groups learn techniques motives drives and attitudes definitions of the legal code are learned delinquency excess of definitions unfavorable varies in frequency duration proximity and intensity same as any other learning criminal behavior is not explained by needs and values Criticisms testability
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