subcultural

• Status-Frustration


  Where individuals are unable to achieve status in conformist ways, eg. doing well at school
• Cohen - Status frustration

  Argued that some crime/deviance was not always economically motivated but often done for the thrill of the act, eg. vandalism.

  Claimed that working-class children do want to do well, but find themselves struggling against their middle class counterparts - Status frustration.

  The result is the rejection of these middle class values and the emergence of a subculture or a delinquent gang.

  The gang gives its members a sense of status, achievement and a way of hitting back at the system that has labelled them failures.

  They are rude, disrespect property and don't control their actions in and around school.
• Strengths of Cohen - Status frustration

  We're able to understand the deviant behaviour of the group rather than the individual which is a failure of functionalist theory, eg. Merton's strain theory.

  Provides an explanation for why working-class boys do underachieve in the education system and for crime that doesn't include a financial incentive.
• Weaknesses of Cohen - Status frustration

  Fails to account for the fact that most working class 'boys' who have been deprived of status don't join delinquent subcultures and actually strive to make the most out of their situation.

  Many working class boys are actually conforming within the educational system, even if they aren't coming out of the other end as 'successful'. The end result may be low skilled/paid work but 'not' a deviant/criminal lifestyle.
• Cloward and Ohlin - Illegitimate opportunities


  Supported the concept of a delinquent subculture but disagree with Merton, stating he failed to appreciate the illegitimate opportunities available.

  These 'illegitimate opportunity structures' run parallel in any society to 'legitimate opportunity structures'.

  Those who are denied legitimate means pursue illegitimate means.

  Three types of illegitimate opportunities exist:

  1. Criminal - organised criminal opportunities in stable working areas for aspiring offenders

  2. Conflict - socially disorganised areas with high rates of population turnover that result in a lack of cohesion

  3. Retreatism - failed in mainstream and both criminal and conflict subcultures.
• Strengths of Cloward and Ohlin - Illegitimate opportunities

  Gang culture is increasingly appearing in run down areas of the UK and possibly explain the riots of 2011, and are being linked to conflict subcultures/the overrepresentation of drug addicts/alcoholics in some retreatist neighbourhoods.
• Weaknesses of Cloward and Ohlin - Illegitimate opportunities

  There is clearly an overlap - criminal subcultures may deal drugs inside retreatist subcultures - 'retreatist subcultures may be too simplistic.

  Drug use is common and widespread and not isolated to particular areas or even criminogenic areas.

  Challenges the view that areas have 3 distinct criminal 'zones
• Independent subcultures


  Groups that have received a different set of values
• Focal concerns


  Values that place working-class youths at risk of crime
• Miller - independent subcultures with focal concerns


  Argues that the values of working class youths are independent of other social groups in society & are the result of a different socialisation process.

  'Acting out' and exaggerating the working class values that they have adopted.

  Working-class youths have developed a series of focal concerns.

  This means values that provide meaning to their lives outside of the menial jobs they may have.
• Examples of focal concerns

  Being masculine which sees violence as acceptable

  Being anti-authority

  Living out these focal concerns whilst getting them into trouble, helps to alleviate the boredom of school or factory jobs.
• Strengths of Miller - independent subcultures with focal concerns

  Parker's study of the Liverpool gang

  'The boys aren't looking for any trouble' but should anyone think they aren't tough, or can't take their drink like men then a fight ensure.

  They work hard to maintain some freedom in their daily lives beyond the control of teachers/foremen.
• Weakness of Miller - independent subcultures with focal concerns


  Some feminist critics have pointed out these focal concerns might be masculine values not lower class ones.

  Alternative view - Many of these 'concerns' are those of working class girls and therefore might be features of working class values or youths in general.

  Matza - Perhaps we 'all' share such 'deviant' values, but learn not to act on them.
• General evaluations - Matza, Drift theory

  Argued that perhaps we 'all' share such 'deviant' values but learn not to act on them. Argues that most young working class youth experience status frustration, but don't become delinquent & only a small minority do.

  Lots of youths drift in and out of delinquency but eventually grow out of it as they get older.
• General evaluation - Hirschi, Bond theory


  Asks not why but rather 'why don't people commit crime'. His answer is that deviance occurs when an individual's attachment to society is weakened due to social bonds that hold people to society.

  Youths don't offend because they don't want to disappoint their parents or others, eg. teachers. Pressure to conform makes the cost of crime too high. This is the rational component of the social bonds.

  Evidence for Hirschi's work firstly comes from Japan = values a high level of attachment to their families and communities and also has one of the lowest levels of recorded crime.
• General evaluations - Postmodernists

  Subcultural theory falls down for looking for a rational explanation of crime and deviance. Crime doesn't have just one rational explanations.
• General explanation - Lyng


  People are driven by 'edgework' = attracted by flirting with danger/risk-taking behaviour but not dull blown criminality - challenges the view that youth crime is caused by membership of a distinct group with it's own identity.