1 - c+d - social deprivation

• Subculture


  A culture within a culture that has different values and ways of behaving from the mainstream culture
• Cohen's subcultural theory

  • Cohen studied working class boys who became delinquent due to feelings of status frustration caused by lack of academic success and opportunities
  • Cohen identified 3 types of working class boys: corner boys, college boys, and delinquent boys
  • They turn to a 'upside down' counterculture that rejects mainstream values and norms in an alternative status hierarchy
• Cloward and Ohlin's (1960) Delinquency and opportunity


  • They support Merton's explanation of working class crimes in terms of blocked opportunities
  • They argue working class youths are attracted to the illegitimate opportunity structure that differs from the mainstream due to blocked opportunities
  • They identify 3 types of subcultures: criminal, conflict, and retreatist
• Status frustration


  Denial of status causes strain on academic and social attainability due to a common 'problem of adjustment',
• Social control theory 


  Hirschi (1969) was heavily influenced by Durkheim's theory of 'anomie' where people look after their short-term interests with no concern to others. He asked why people don’t commit crime, instead of why they do. This is because of strong social bonds of attachment. Typically there is not one victim in middle class crime so there is no moral guilt. Companies are ruthless about their profit.
• Strain between cultural goals vs means to achieve them


  Merton says there is a disjunction between want of success and relative lack of legitimate opportunity. This doesn't mean people give up on success as this is humanly impossible due to socialisation therefore people find other means towards their desired ends
• Most crime statistics show working class are more likely to be formally punished for petty crimes or more detectable crimes (middle class white collar crimes are harder to detect).
• Poverty and social deprivation is more common in working class and they are targeted by police due to labelling, stereotyping and prejudice.
• Informal social control where middle class youths are let off easier by parents, teachers and cautions by police. Whereas, working class are seen as criminal, middle class is just 'acting out'.