Subcultural Theories

• Albert Cohen: Status Frustration

  • Working class boys try to gain status within school and fail, thus suffer from status frustration
  • Some boys find each-other and form a subculture
  • Status is gained within the subculture by breaking mainstream rules
• Walter Miller: Focal Concerns

  • Saw the lower working class as a subculture with its own set of unique values
  • Working class culture emphasised six focal concerns which encouraged criminal behaviour amongst working class youth
  • Three examples of these concerns were toughness, excitement and smartness
• Charles Murray: Underclass Theory

  • Key features - long term unemployment, high rates of teen pregnancies and single parent households
  • Means children are not socialised into mainstream norms and values
  • The underclass is 20 times more criminal than the rest of society