Chapter 6 Social Structure Theory. Socioeconomic Structure and Crime The U.S. is a stratified society: social strata are created by the unequal distribution

Chapter 6

Social Structure Theory

Socioeconomic Structure and Crime

• The U.S. is a stratified society: social strata are created by the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige. Social classes are segments of the population who share

attitudes, values, norms, and an identifiable lifestyle The poverty rate is 2003 was 12.5 percent Nearly 36 million people live in poverty


• Child Poverty Poverty during early childhood has a more severe impact than

during adolescence Low income children are less likely to achieve in school and more

likely to suffer health problems Social problems in lower-class slum areas are epidemic Nearly 25 percent of children under age 6 live in poverty


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• The Underclass Culture of poverty is passed from one generation to the next Gunnar Myrdal suggested that an “underclass” was cut off from

society Unemployment and underemployment disrupts family life and

creates despair


• Minority Group Poverty 20 percent of African Americans and Hispanics live in poverty 10 percent of Whites live in poverty William Julius Wilson suggests disadvantaged minorities direct

their aggression toward those close to them

Social Structure Theories

Social and economic forces in deteriorated lower-class areas push residents into criminal behavior patterns

Social structure theories include, social disorganization, strain theory, and cultural deviance theory

Each theory suggests that socially isolated people living in disorganized areas are the ones most likely to experience crime-producing social forces

Social Disorganization Theories

Links crime rates to neighborhood ecological characteristics Social disorganization includes low income groups with large

single-parent households and institutions of broken down social control

Residents in crime-ridden areas are trying to leave at the earliest opportunity


• The Work of Shaw and McKay Linked transitional slum areas to the inclination to commit crime Transitional neighborhoods are incapable of inducing residents to

defend against criminal groups Concentric zone mapping identified the inner-city transitional

zones as having the heaviest concentration of crime. Slum children choose to join gangs when values are in conflict

with existing middle-class norms Crime rates correspond to neighborhood structure according to

Shaw and McKay


• The Social Ecology School Community deterioration: Associated with crime Disorder, poverty, alienation, dissociation, and fear of crime are

characteristic of community deterioration Poverty concentration: Economically disadvantaged

neighborhoods have higher rates of serious crimes (concentration effect)

Chronic unemployment: Limited employment destabilizes households


Community fear: Social and physical incivilities increase the fear of crime (i.e. graffiti, prostitutes, dirt, and noise)• Race and fear: Fear by Whites is based on racial stereotypes.

Fear by minorities is greater• Gangs and fear: Open activities of brazen gang activity

creates community fear• Mistrust and fear: A “siege mentality” develops based on

mistrust of the outside world Community change: Communities undergoing rapid structural

changes experience great changes in crime rates (gentrification) Change and decline: Neighborhoods most at risk contain large

numbers of single-parent families and social strain


• Collective Efficacy Cohesive communities develop interpersonal ties and mutual

trust Informal Social Control: Involves peers, families, and relatives Institutional Social Control: Involves schools, churches,

businesses, social agencies Public Social Control: Policing Social support/Altruism: crime rates are lower in areas with a

positive social climate

Strain Theories

• Theories that view crime as a direct result of lower-class frustration and anger. Anomie (from the Greek word a nomos, without norms) – in an

anomic society rules of behavior have broken down because of rapid social change, war, or famine.• Mechanical solidarity: pre-industrial styled societies held

together by traditions and shared values• Organic solidarity: Complex post-industrial societies which are

interdependent for services and needs

Strain Theories

• Theory of Anomie (Robert K. Merton) Merton argued that socially mandated goals are uniform

throughout society and access to legitimate means to achieve those goals is bound by class and status

Some people have inadequate means to attain societal goals. Modes of Social Adaptation

• Conformity• Innovation• Ritualism• Retreatism• Rebellion

Strain Theories

• Evaluation of Anomie Theory Social inequality leads to perceptions of anomie People innovate to resolve goals-means conflict Merton’s theory does not explain why people choose certain

types of crime

Strain Theories

• Institutional Anomie Theory (Steven Messner & Richard Rosenfeld) Update of Merton’s theory describes the “American Dream” as

both a goal and a process Goals refer to material goods and wealth Process involves being socialized to pursue material success Certain institutions have been rendered powerless and obsolete

in controlling anomie such as religious and charitable institutions Economic terms are part of the common American vernacular

Strain Theories

• Relative Deprivation Theory Perceptions of economic and social inequality lead to feelings of

envy, mistrust, and aggression Lower-class people feel both deprived and embittered Minorities feel relative deprivation more acutely than

nonminorities

Strain Theories

• General Strain Theory Robert Agnew GST explains why individuals who feel stress and

strain commit crime Negative Affective States: anger, frustration, and adverse

emotions emerge in destructive relationships

Strain Theories

• Multiple Sources of Stress Criminality is the direct result of negative affective states Failure to achieve positively valued goals Disjunction of expectations and achievements Removal of positively valued stimuli Presentation of negative stimuli Agnew suggests the greater the intensity and frequency of strain

experiences, the more likely criminality will occur

Strain Theories

• Sources of Strain Social sources: Peer and social groups Community sources: Relative deprivation producing negative

affective states in large population segments

Strain Theories

• Coping with Strain Juveniles high in negative emotionality and low constraint are

likely to react with antisocial behaviors Crime provides relief from strain and stress for some people Expectations increase with maturity, which may reduce the

sources of strain

Strain Theories

• Evaluating GST Sources of strain vary over the life course Empirical evidence supports that indicators of social strain are

linked with criminality Gender issues: GST does not adequately account for gender

differences in crime rate. Females may be socialized to turn stress inward, whereas males

turn their frustration outwards through aggression Evidence suggests that people who fail to meet success goals

are more likely to engage in criminal behavior

Cultural Deviance Theory

• Combines the effects of social disorganization and strain to explain criminality Lower classes create an independent subculture with its own set

of rules and values Subcultural norms clash with conventional values


• Conduct Norms Thorsten Sellin suggested criminal law is an expression of the

rules of the dominant culture Culture conflict occurs when the rules expressed in the criminal

law clash with the demands of conduct norms


• Focal Concerns Walter B. Miller identified the focal concerns of the lower-class

environments• Trouble• Toughness• Smartness• Excitement• Fate• Autonomy

clinging to lower class focal concerns promotes illegal or violent behavior.


• Theory of Delinquent Subcultures Albert Cohen suggests lower-class youths protest again the

norms and values of the middle class (status frustration) Teachers, employers, and authority figures set the standards

referred to as middle-class measuring rods Cohen contends lower-class boys will form deviant subcultures

when frustrated


• Formation of the Deviant Subculture Corner boy: Most common response to middle-class rejection,

engages in petty or status offenses College boy: embraces cultural and social values of the middle

class, is ill-equipped academically, socially, and linguistically to achieve

Delinquent boy: adopts values and norms in opposition to middle-class values, engages in short-run hedonism (reaction formation)


• Theory of Differential Opportunity Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin suggested people share the

same goals but have limited means to achieve them Because of differential opportunity, young people are likely to join

gangs• Criminal gangs exist in stable neighborhoods• Conflict gangs develop in areas unable to provide legitimate

or illegitimate opportunities• Retreatist gangs are double failures constantly searching for a

way to get high


• Evaluating Social Structure theories The core concepts appear valid Factors that cause strain produce social disorganization Critics charge lower-class crimes rates are attributable to biases

in the criminal justice system Not all members of a disorganized community respond by

committing crime

Public Policy Implications of Social Structure Theory

• Social structure theory has significantly impacted public policy Public welfare programs Chicago Area Projects War on poverty Head Start, Neighborhood Legal Services, and Community Action

programs

Documents

Chapter 6 Social Structure Theory. Socioeconomic Structure and Crime The U.S. is a stratified society: social strata are created by the unequal distribution