Anomie (Macro) and Strain (Micro) Theories (Vold Chapter 8)1) Macro- Anomie (normlessness) a) Robert King Merton i) Background(1) Birth name: Meyer Robert Schkolnick(a) Changed name to get away from Jewish Heritage (2) From the slums of Philly to Harvard during the Great Depression(3) Said crime was aimed at getting endsii) “Social Structure and Anomie”(1) influential paper, contrasts against biological(2) something in inherent in social structure that leads people to commit crime(3) Anomie assumptions (a) Criminal motivation not inherent; must be explained(i) Social forces produces pressure to obtain (ends)1. Everyone is expected to meet this standard (ii) There are weak regulations on how this imperative is to be met(means)1. Access to legitimate means is limited go to illegitimate means to get what they need (b) A cardinal American virtue- ambition, promotes a cardinal American vice- deviant behavior (achieve at all costs)(i) Cardinal: main, primary, most important, vitalb) AdaptationsCulture Goal Institutionalized (legit) meansConformity +understands goals+legitimate means- jobsInnovation +criminal is an innovator(i.e. Al Capone)-different route to obtain goals Ritualism -don’t buy the idea that youneed to make money+work anyway Retreatism -don’t buy the idea that youneed to make money-purpose of life is not the conformist idea(mentally ill, and drug abusers)*Rebellion want to redefine/ operate on different assumption ofhow world should operate usher out socialstructure and pose their + +own (i.e. Castro)c) Albert Cohen, Delinquent Boys i) Juveniles engage in delinquency that is (1) Non-utilitarian, malicious, and negativistic (just acting out, not rational)ii) Status frustration(1) Many youth cannot measure up to middle class standards in school iii) Stress caused by difference between ascribed and achieved status(1) Ascribed: that which is bestowed(2) Achieved: that which is earned iv) Solution:(1) Creating alternative subcultures that defy conventional expectations(2) Collective response to individual problemd) Cloward and Ohlin, Delinquency and Opportunity i) Gang adaptations defined by neighborhood characteristics(1) Criminal(a) Could flourish in organized crime n’hoods(b) Fights(2) Conflict(a) Little or no legitimate opportunity structure (b) Earns money (3) Retreatist(a) “Double failures”- focus on drug subcultures(b) Abuse drugs together- no good for fighting or earning moneye) Policy solutionsi) Mobilizing for youth- part of the war on povertyii) Program organized by Lloyd Ohlin emphasized(1) Improving education(2) Creating work opportunities(3) Organizing low-class communitiesiii) Dramatic failure(1) Unable to overcome opposition(a) Vietnam war- money when there2) Criticisms of Early Anomie Theory a) Does just as good a job of explaining conformityb) 50’s and 60’s booming economy yet more crimei) Means to obtain ends are growing- yet still crimec) Low expectations and low aspiration are associating with crime- contradicts Mertoni) High expectations and high aspirations should lead to crime according to Merton3) Crime and the American Dream (what makes America so criminal aspiration of money earn earn earn crimea) Institutional anomie theory b) Messner and Rosenfeld argue thati) Achievement orientation dominates(1) Self worth determined by net (financial) worth- non monetary aims diminished(2) Earn at ANY cost(3) No stopping point to earning (never successful enough) ii) Individualism is the means(1) Success to be earned by oneself (all credit of success goes to the individual)(2) Others are competitions (success of one comes at costs of others- standing in the way)(a) Rather than cooperation/coordination(3) Everyone expected to compete4) Restraints a) Social institutions are designed to maintain norms and values in order to regulate conduct (not sufficient to curb desire to achievei) Economy(1) Live in a world of scarcity(2) How much to healthcare? Tax?ii) Polity/electorate(1) How much power should each group have?(2) How exercise power?iii) Education(1) Regulate future behavioriv) Family b) Currently there is an institutional imbalance in poweri) Say the economy dominates- primary institution that defines our behavior5) 3 stage process of economic ascendency a) Devaluation i) Homeowner, not homemaker, has valued roleii) Education is means toward an end(1) No such thing as learning for learning sake- learn job economyb) Accommodation i) Employers resist family leave (sacrificing family to get money in job)ii) Schooling sought to get good job c) Penetration (economics establishing its supremacy)i) Believe government is good if run like a businessii) Movement of women into workforceiii) Teaching to the test in schools (measure of not having learning, but closing the achievement gap)(1) Everyone be above average- “no child left behind act”General Strain Theory (GST)- Micro1) Generala) Individual pressured into crimeb) 3 sources of strain (broader focus then Merton) i) Prevent or threaten to prevent the achievement of positively valued goalsii) Remove or threaten to remove the achievement of positively valued goalsiii) Present or threaten to present negatively valued stimuli(1) Just happens unhappy frustrationc) Crime is one alternative to alleviating frustrationi) Make me feel better about negative stimuli ii) Crime is solution to addressing problem d) This results from negative emotions, primarily anger2) GST elaboration (why do some people respond to anger with criminal behavior)a) Crime/delinquency more likely is strain isi) High in magnitudeii) Unjustiii) Associated with low self controlb) Types of straini) Objective (1) Commonly recognize as being wrongs (death, fired for no reason, etc)ii) Subjective (1) Specific/ unique to you- not commonly recognized (getting rejected from a team, etc)iii) Vicarious (1) Felt by those in your immediate surrounding (feel their paid)- indirectly affectediv) Anticipated (1) Think might happen to you- haven’t materialized but still a stressor (company is downsizing)c) Neighborhoodsi) Why do neighborhoods have higher crime?ii) People with these strains are particular concentrated in specific places/ neighborhoodsLearning Criminal Behavior (Brown Chapter 8)1) Edwin H. Sutherland a) Main pointsi) Social process oriented theory contrasts with structural theories (e.g. social disorganization, anomie)ii) Not limited to explaining lower class crimeiii)
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