Sociological Theories:Emphasis on Social Structure

Chapter 6

Early Theorist

Cartographic School – 1820 to 1880Founders – Quetelet and GuerryFirst social scientist to use objective mathematical techniques to study the influence of:

Age, sex, season, climate, heterogeneity, education, poverty and drink-

On the propensity to commit crime.

Cartographic School

Quetelet & Guerry concluded:…that crime must be a regular feature of social life.…that crime must be rooted in social arrangements, and..…if those arrangements could be identified, crime could be eliminated.

Early Theorist

Emile Durkheim – 1858-1917Publication of Suicide in 1897Individual behavior vs socialcultural forces within society. (Social solidarity)Egoistic suicideAltruistic suicideAnomic suicide

Emile Durkheim

Crime is functional for society – How?Anomie..…is the breakdown of social norms or the dissociation of the individual from the collective conscience (general sense of morality of the times.)

Emile Durkheim

Anomie is the cause of crime…Lack of regulation-…the collective conscience is unable to regulate human desires.Lack of integration-…individualism is promoted to such a degree that people become selfish (egoistic), no longer care about the welfare of other human beings.

Congruence Theory

Congruence theory-…maintain that the social system is in a state of harmony when it provides realistic means for achieving the prescribed success-goals.…delinquency and criminality occur because access to legitimate means for achieving success-goals is limited, the social system is said to be unbalanced.

Congruence Theory

Basic Assumptions:Normally, there is conjunction between the goals and means so that society is fairly well integrated.Individuals, generally, are productive conformists who, through learning and socialization, internalize the socially prescribed goals and means.

Congruence Theory

Basic Assumptions: Cont’dMost criminality and delinquency is the result of strain or the imbalance of the person’s cognitive system.The reaction to certain forms of deviant behavior depends upon how much of a threat to the established order society views the behavior.

Social Disorganization Theory

Tonnies- Transition of societiesCommunal Society/Gemeinschaft

Associational Society/Gessellschaft

Ferdinand Tonnies

Communal/GemeinschaftThere is a minimal division of labor and no specialization of roles.The family in the most important unit in the society.Most social relationships are personal and tend to be long-lasting.Behavior is regulated mainly by custom and tradition.

Ferdinand Tonnies

Associational/GessellschaftThere is a high division of labor and specialization.Family influence is replaced by other major social institutions.Social relationships are impersonal and short-lived.Social behavior is governed by law rather than custom.

Social Disorganization Theory

Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay-The Ecology of Crime-…crime is a product of the decaying transitional neighborhood-Diagram the Concentric Zone Model –

Causes of Social Disorganization

Successive changes in the composition of the population.Disintegration of the existing culture.Diffusion of cultural standards.Industrialization of the area.

Social Disorganization

Results in:Dissolution of neighborhood culture and organization.Breakup of conventional neighborhood traditions and institutions.The effectiveness of the neighborhood as a unit of control and a medium for the transmission of the moral standards of society is reduced. (Consequences)

Social Disorganization

New Means of Social Control:FamilySchoolsChurch…with the dissolution of these institutions, social is primarily left up to the…?Police

Anomie/Strain Theory

Robert K. Merton-(Durkheim)…every society includes cultural goals and institutional means (norms) about how to reach those goals.“Aberrant behavior may be regarded sociologically as a symptom of dissociation between culturally prescribed aspirations and socially structured avenues of realizing these aspirations.” #5 of Assumptions

Anomie/Strain Theory

#10…reactional patterns of environmental circumstances presented to the individuals are: (Adaptations to anomie)ConformityInnovationRitualismRetreatismRebellion

Subculture Theories

Subculture_…is a group of people within a society that have a style of living that includes features of the dominant culture and cultural elements not found in the dominant culture.Such as?

Subculture Theories

Walter B. Miller-Lower-class subculture & delinquency –Focal Concerns:TroubleToughnessSmartnessExcitement

Subculture Theories

Lower-class subculture – Focal Concerns: FateAutonomy

Subculture Theories

Richard Cloward & Lloyd Ohlin:Differential Opportunity Theory-Neighborhoods characterized by CriminalSubculture.Neighborhoods characterized by Conflict Subculture.Neighborhoods characterized by RetreatistSubculture.