SOCIAL
STRUCTURE
THEORIES
Early Development and Strain Models of Crime
Week Seven (Part One)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
•
Review the early theories of social structure
•
Describe Durkheim’s contribution to the progression of social
structure theories
INTRODUCTION
•
Structural theories allows one to look at things from a macrolevel perspective.
•
Structural theories look at how structures can impact groups of
people.
•
Looks at group differences rather than individual differences
Auguste Comte
Andre-Michel Guerry
Adolphe Quetelet
EARLY EUROPEAN THEORISTS
DURKHEIM AND THE CONCEPT OF
ANOMIE
(Alt Shift X, 2014)
DURKHEIM AND THE CONCEPT OF
ANOMIE
Compares human beings to animals
Animals  live based on spontaneous needs
Humans  insatiable appetite; we always want more; we are greedy
Self-interest alone cannot solve this issue. We need the state to come in and
regulate
DURKHEIM AND THE CONCEPT OF
ANOMIE
•
We need social norms
•
With rapid change, regulatory mechanism of society breaks
down causing anomie.
•
Anomie = normlessness due to a lack of social regulation
SOCIAL
STRUCTURE
THEORIES
Early Development and Strain Models of Crime
Week Seven (Part Two)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
•
Explore Merton’s strain theory
•
Examine variations of Merton’s theory
•
Cohen’s theory of lower-class status frustration and gang formation
•
Cloward and Ohlin’s theory of differential opportunity
•
Agnew’s general strain theory
MERTON’S STRAIN THEORY
The focus is on achieving the “American Dream”
We are all socialized to believe that the goal is material wealth
Socialized concept of means of achieving goal is hard work
Strain: Differential emphasis placed on material goals and de-emphasis of
importance of the means.
MERTON’S STRAIN THEORY
Ideal society: Equal emphasis on the conventional
goals and means.
Adaptations to strain: Variations in dealing with the
revelation of the economic structure as adaptations to
strain.
(Shortcutstv, 2015)
(Shortcutstv, 2015)
COHEN’S THEORY OF LOWERCLASS STATUS
Factors emphasized by middle-classmeasuring-rod.
Status frustration: Develop a system of values
that is contrary to middle-class standards.
COHEN’S THEORY OF LOWER-CLASS STATUS
FRUSTRATION AND GANG FORMATION
•
Tendency to reject middle-class values is the primary cause of
gangs.
•
Not all lower-class males resort to crime and join a gang in
response to this structural disadvantage.
• The delinquent boy, the college boy, and the corner boy.
CLOWARD AND OHLIN’S THEORY
OF DIFFERENTIAL OPPORTUNITY
•
Emphasized three different types of gangs based on
characteristics of social structure.
•
Criminal, Conflict, and Retreatist gangs.
GENERAL STRAIN THEORY
•
Includes larger range of behavior and does not rely on American
Dream to explain strain.
•
Assumes that people of all social class and economic positions
deal with strain.
Emphasis on two additional categories:
 Presentation of noxious stimuli.
 Removal of positively valued stimuli.