Chapter 6
Social Structure Theory
Criminology 9TH Edition
Larry J. Siegel
© 2003 Wadsworth Publishing Co.
Questions
What is a stratified society?
What is the culture of poverty?
How do these two issues affect
class, race, and culture?
Social Structure Theories
Criminal Behavior Patterns
Are Affected By:

Places - Places not people cause crime, i.e.,
deteriorated lower-class areas.

Socioeconomic placement in society can influence
the potential for criminal behavior, i.e., unable to
attain social or economic success.
Social Structure Theories:
The Underlying Premise

The real crime problem is a lower class
phenomenon.

Those that live in equivalent social environments
tend to behave in a predictable fashion. If the
environment did not affect human behavior, then
crime rates would be dispersed equally across the
social structure.
The Three Branches of
Social Structure Theory
Social Disorganization Theory
Social Disorganization Theory:
Concentric Zone Theory
MAJOR PREMISE
STRENGTHS
Crime is a product of
transitional neighborhoods
that manifest
social disorganization
and value conflict.
Identifies why crime rates
are highest in slum areas.
Points out the factors
that
produce crime. Suggests
programs to help
reduce crime.
Shaw and McKay’s
Concentric Zones Map of Chicago
Factors That Affect Crime
The Social Ecology School

Transitional neighborhoods

Community deterioration

Poverty concentration

Employment opportunities

Community fear, i.e., race, gangs, mistrust.

Community change

Collective efficacy, i.e., informal, institutional, and public
social control
Question
According to social disorganization theory,
how does fear
affect a ‘disorganized’ neighborhood?
Strain Theories
Crime is a direct result of the
frustration and anger of the lower-class
to achieve culturally defined goals,
i.e., wealth, success, power;
however,
the means to acquire these goals
are stymied by the stratification
of class and status in society.
The Basic Components
of Strain Theory
Anomie

Durkheim: Norms have broken down because of
rapid social change, i.e., traditions and values.

Merton: Culturally defined goals and socially
approved means for obtaining them have broken
down, i.e., education and hard work.

Messner and Rosenfeld: The American Dream as
a goal and a process. Crime becomes the
strategy for attaining wealth.
Question
Why would Durkheim suggest that crime
may be beneficial to society?
Strain Theory: Anomie
Major Premise
People who adopt the goals of
society but lack the means to attain them
seek alternatives, such as crime.
Strengths
Points out how competition for success creates
conflict and crime. Suggests that social conditions
and not personality can account for crime.
Can explain middle- and upper-class crime.
Elements of General Strain Theory
Strain Theory:
General Strain Theory
Major Premise
Strain has a variety of sources.
Strain causes crime in the absence
of adequate coping mechanisms.
Strengths
Identifies the complexities of strain in modern
society. Expands on anomie theory.
Shows the influence of social events
on behavior over the life course.
Sources of General Strain
(Individual)

Social: peer or social group.

Community factors: ecological, i.e., goals,
economic deprivation, interaction of frustrated
idividuals.

Negative affective states: failure to achieve goals
or expectations, the loss of positive stimuli, i.e.,
friend or family member; and, presentation of
negative stimuli, i.e., abuse. Causes: fear, anger,
depression, frustration, and disappointment.
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
Questions
How would trait theories interact
with strain theories?
Could strain theories explain chronic offending?
If so, in what way?
CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY
I
Combines the Effects of:
STRAIN
and
SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION
Question
What are the elements of
cultural deviance theory?
Elements of Cultural Deviance Theory
Cultural Deviance Theory:
Sellin’s Culture Conflict Theory
STRENGTHS
Identifies the aspects of
lower-class life that
produce street crime.
Adds to Shaw and
McKay’s analysis.
Creates the concept of
culture conflict
MAJOR PREMISE
Obedience to the norms
of their lower-class
culture puts people in
conflict
with the norms
of the dominant culture.
Questions
According to Walter Miller,
what are the “focal concerns”
or values that affect lower-class culture.
How do these “focal concerns” affect
the lower-class and crime?
Cultural Deviance Theories
Are Social Structure Theories
Valid or Invalid?
Those who believe
they are valid point to:


high crime and
delinquency rates in
inner-city slums



Those who believe the
are invalid point to:

lower-class crime rates
may be artifacts of bias
each branch seems to
support and amplify the
others

a significant number of
people living in the
slums are not criminal
appearance that the
concepts may be
interdependent

it’s questionable
whether a distinct
lower-class culture
actually exists