MKT/421 Week One

Week Three Read Me First

Social Structure Theories and Social Process Theories

Conflict Theories

Introduction

The focus for this week will be several sociologically-based theories of crime causation: social structure, social process, social development, and social conflict. As with last week, the objectives for this week require familiarization with the central tenets of each of the theories and review of the various forms of these theories.

This Week in Relation to the Course

Theories that are sociological in nature yet attribute causes of crime to various aspects of the social system will be studied this week. Some of these theories point toward social structure and the frustrations felt regarding its functionality while other theories emphasize the relationships between the individual and society. Other theorists view the bond between the individual and society as one which can be weakened, allowing criminal behavior to be learned. Finally, you will learn now some theorists assume no bond exists at all. From this view, defining other peoples’ behavior as criminal is simply a way of control their behavior.

Discussion of a Key Point, Thread, or Objective

Anomie Social learning theory

Broken windows thesis Reintegrative shaming

Chicago School of Criminology Social bond

Defensible space Bourgeoisie

Relative deprivation Gender gap

Social disorganization Liberal feminism

Cohort analysis Participatory justice

Desistance Pluralist perspective

Dramaturgical perspective Restorative justice

Culture conflict theory Distributive justice

Strain theory Containment theory

Differential association theory Labeling theory

Social control theory Social process theory

Conflict perspective Consensus theory

Critical criminology Radical criminology

Practical Applications and Questions

Sociological theories have dominated the criminological landscape for most of the twenty first century. There are many theories, and it is difficult to be familiar with all of the perspectives. Some industry professionals have suggested that it is time to integrate some of the theories due to the plethora of theoretical work,. Consider what might be good ways to consolidate some of these theories.

How Tools, Readings, and Simulations Help Solidify Concepts

Ch. 6 refers to theories that explain crime in terms of the institutional structure of society. Within this group of theories, there are three main types:

·  Social disorganization theory

·  Strain theories

·  Culture conflict perspectives

Theories that relate to social disorganization are identified with the Chicago School of Criminology. Beginning in the early 1900s, faculty at the University of Chicago Sociology Department, began to study the city of Chicago and particular neighborhoods within it. They developed and applied an interesting theory called concentric zone theory. In applying this theory, they found that rates of offending remained fairly constant over time in an area they called the zone of transition. It appeared that just about all immigrant groups that moved into this zone adopted the prevailing level of crime for this location. This finding suggested to them that the community that existed in particular neighborhoods, rather than defects in individual offenders, had a major influence on criminal behavior.

The finding that the existing community, with its values and norms, was important to understanding crime rates continues to spur a great deal of interest. Your text discusses the interest in crime mapping, geographic information system technology, and the broken windows thesis.

Strain theories view delinquency and crime as adaptive behavior used by frustrated people in undesirable social environments. A key figure in this viewpoint is Robert Merton. He used the term anomie to describe the situation where people are frustrated by their inability to achieve legitimate goals with approved means. This situation leads to adaptation techniques. Merton outlined five modes of adaptation that people typically choose, with crime being one of them. More recent views on strain theory have added the notion of relative deprivation. This addition maintains that it is not only the poor in a society that feel frustrations because of their deprived status, but the more affluent can experience these feelings as well.

Culture conflict theories (or cultural deviance theories) view crime as a clash of values between groups of people over the values and beliefs into which they have been socialized. Sometimes these clashes are major, as when a group challenges the values of the larger society. Sometimes the clash only concerns subcultural groups fighting among themselves. Following this line of thinking, researchers have spent a great deal of time studying gangs and their attitudes as examples of culture clashes.

Ch. 7 discusses two groups of theories: social process and social development. From the social process perspective, everyone has the potential to be a criminal, but criminality is not an innate human characteristic. The following five types of social process theories each emphasize social interaction a little differently:

·  Learning theories suggest that criminal behavior, like any other kind of behavior, is learned. A key figure from this point of view is Edwin Sutherland and his theory of differential association.

·  For social control theorists, instead of questioning why people commit crime, they feel the remarkable issue is why most people obey the law. Those who support the social control viewpoint point to factors such as containments or control mechanisms that people have within them that largely prevent them from becoming criminals. Some suggest that low self-esteem is a factor that can allow a containment to be breached. Others point to a lack of self-control as a basis for breaking the containment.

·  Labeling theory looks to society and the process whereby it reacts to deviance instead of looking at the process by which the offender becomes a criminal,. Another way of saying this is that the labeling theorist examines the process by which society defines an act as deviant. Some labeling theorists argue that there is no act that is inherently deviant because society must first define it to be so. The components of the criminal justice system, as well as schools, are important institutions in the process of defining an act as deviant or criminal and the offender worthy of labeling.

·  Reintegrative shaming is interested in the process by which offenders are brought back into the fold of society. Stigmatic shaming, which is the concern of labeling theory, destroys the bond between the offender and society. Reintegrative shaming strengthens the bond.

·  The dramaturgical perspective indicates that each person plays a variety of social roles simultaneously. The focus is on the process by which people maintain those roles. At times when discrediting information comes to light and the flow of interaction is challenged, the individual’s performance may have to be changed substantially.

Before moving to the next theory group, the text discusses social process theory’s effect on social policy and offers a critique.

Social development theorists view life as a process. They analyze the impact of stages and events that occur during life. The life course perspective found, for example, that marriage and job stability are two important events that have the ability to reduce the amount of offending later in life. Other theorists have studied why most antisocial children do not become adult offenders.

Dual taxonomic theory discusses how positive developmental pathways can be achieved during adolescence so that criminality is reduced. Other theorists have studied cohorts of juveniles and found that a small number are actually causing the majority of delinquent acts. This kind of research is long-term (longitudinal) and follows individuals over significant periods of their lives.

Ch. 8 deals with social conflict theories. Conflict theories assume there is no consensus on what is right or wrong and that conflict is inevitable. The law is simply a tool of the powerful to control the less powerful. Your text also reviews two other analytical perspectives on what holds society together. Consensus theorists assume there is a common body of values and beliefs that keeps society together. Similar to a conflict view, the pluralist perspective believes that modern society is composed of many different values that are in conflict with each other, but they also believe there is agreement that the law can be a peace-keeping tool for resolving disputes.

A pivotal figure in the early development of conflict theory was Karl Marx. In the 1800s, he predicted that capitalist society would eventually end in class warfare because of its inherent inconsistencies. Modern radical criminology continues to emphasize the power of the wealthy and politically well-organized to control the majority.

Other conflict theory viewpoints include: left-realist criminology, feminist criminology, postmodern criminology, and peacemaking criminology. Each viewpoint suggests that if conflict is reduced, there will be a reduction in crime. How reductions will be made is a matter of great dispute, even among conflict theorists. Some theorists want to replace the entire capitalist economic system with a more equitable system, while others urge the use of conflict resolution techniques instead of the criminal justice system.

Summary

This week, you examined theories that are sociological in nature, but which attribute the causes of crime to different aspects of the social system. Some of the theories point to the structure of society and find that many are frustrated by the way it functions. Others look at how the bond between the individual and society can be weakened, thereby lessening containments and allowing criminal behavior to be learned. Some theorists do not view the weakening of social bonds as a one-way street that cannot be corrected. They look at the stages that occur in everyone’s life and how these stages can be times when bonds are restrengthened. Finally, this week, you have looked at theories that do not assume that a bond exists between the individual and society. Instead, the theories view the use of power to control peoples’ behavior as the keystone of society. From this viewpoint, designating other peoples’ behavior as criminal is just another way of legitimizing control over their behavior.