Non Cumulative Names Robert K Merton 12 17 2013 Strain Theories Anomie in American Society o Argued that many of the appetites of the individuals are not natural but rather originate in the culture of American society o The social culture of American society limits the ability of certain people in the society to engage in nonconformist rather than conformist conduct Utilitarian nature of crime o Cultural Imbalance the imbalance between the strong cultural forces that valued the goal of monetary success and the much weaker cultural forces that valued the institutional means of hard work honesty and education o The explanation focused on the distribution of legitimate opportunities in the social structure the ability to achieve wealth through institutional means Concentrated in higher classes and relatively absent in the lower classes Neighborhoods and Crime poverty combined with residential mobility is associated with higher levels of violent crime Argued that when there are many social relationships among community residents there is less crime social capital Lack of social relationships results into anonymity Karl Marx Conflict criminology Critical Theorist o Reject positivism Marxist Theory of Values o The value is inherent in or related to the amount of time it takes to produce a product o Societies progress through class struggle Upset with middle management workers moving capital from one enterprise to another example occupy Wall Street movement o What does the 1 do for us Challenges social contract theory o Thomas Hobbes individuals opted into a social contract resigned bit of freedom in exchanges for protection Ownership of the means productions o Not offered to everybody exclusive club o Inequality o Marxist inspired criminology attempts to answer the question of what society OUGHT to look like Ought to be fair and square equal access to resources No incentive to engage in unlawful behavior equal opportunity Always pointing out the problems Addressing institutional imbalances Social Process Theorist Differential Association symbolic interactionism cultural transmission and culture conflict o The process by which a person learns the criminal behavior patterns found in the community o Individuals assign criminal conduct in terms of the emergence of value Edwin H Sutherland systems o 9 Principles of Differential Association o Sociological hallmark process of dialogue Not limited to explaining lower class crime Crime is normal rather than pathological o Crime is expected Adopting characteristics associated with crime o Crime is learned in interaction with others Dominates the field during his lifetime Ronald Akers Social Learning Theory learning is the result of exposure to both conforming and criminal behavior and definitions assumes that criminal behavior does not differ as behavior can be explained by four key elements o Differential Associations o Definitions o Differential Reinforcement o Imitation Howard Becker the 1960 s Definitions apply to one s own attitudes including orientations rationalizations definition of the situation and other evaluative aspects of right and wrong include both general and specific beliefs Akers has made the argument that rational choice theory is no more than a variant of social learning theory and that it has nothing to offer Labeling Theorist One of the more prominent proponents of labeling theory to emerge during o The Outsider s Studies in the Sociology of Deviance o One successful strategy for redefining or creating deviance is to cultivate a moral panic a public perception of behaviors or groups of people that greatly exaggerate their potential for harm to the larger society Secret Deviants and the Falsely Accused o Some individuals are labeled deviant even though they have never committed a deviant or criminal act o Falsely Accused by grouping the vast assortment of criminals together we wind up with a quite heterogeneous collection of people Four different types of Deviants and Non Deviants o Conformists and Pure Deviants both accurately perceived by society in terms of their actual behaviors o Falsely Accused have been identified as deviants or criminals perhaps due to their sex age race social status peer group affiliations or physical appearance o Secret Deviants what we know from self report studies comprise a large group many criminal violations are never brought to the attention of the police These individuals are able to avoid detection or witnesses may fail to impose a criminal or deviant label on the actions Master Status Concepts Terms Condemnation and Redemption Scripts Labeling Theory how do ex inmates adopt to conformity Condemnations Scripts Criticism o Resignation to fate o You cannot define your future you have no effect o Sense of being victimized by circumstances and state You are the victim o Substance abuse is to assume control they are doomed for failure anyway o When a persister active ex convict who continues to commit crime continues to commit crime and blames their inability to turn their life around on their lack of opportunities for employment and other obstacles and claim that is the reason they can t live a deviance free life Redemption Scripts Recovery o Near missionary zeal for serving a purpose AA adopt conformity in another way o Use that to advance someone else out of that particular line of lifestyle o Past is recast as a prelude to their new calling it is rena o Deeper insights of what went wrong with their life o Autobiography is changed o Going about the process of redefining early transgressions o Identity is now rebuilt on their work live and relations with others o When a desister inactive ex convict who turns away from the life of crime has a change of heart and no longer believes they need to commit crime and leaves behind those influences that led them to commit crime Institutional Anomie Theory devaluation accommodation penetration Strain Societal Level Messner and Rosenfeld explained that high levels of crime in American society by pointing to the American Dream a broad cultural ethos that entails a commitment to the goal of material success to be pursued by everyone in society under conditions of open individual competition The redistribution of legitimate opportunities may actually increase if society implements an emphasis on the goal of monetary success at the expense of following the institutional means o Policies to strengthen these institutions in their relations to the economy
View Full Document
Unlocking...