The chapter discusses social structural theories of criminology including Durkheim's theory of anomie, social disorganization theory, strain theory, subcultural theories, and gang theories. It analyzes how social institutions and culture can influence crime rates. The chapter also evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of these social structural theories and their policy implications.

1. CHAPTER FOUR:
SOCIAL STRUCTURAL
THEORIES

2. Chapter Summary
 Chapter Four is a discussion of sociological criminology
based in the social structural school of thought.
 The Chapter begins with an analysis of Durkeim’s theory
of anomie, and how this theory gave way to many other
theories of crime, such as social disorganization and
strain theory.
 After a full discussion of social organization and
strain, the author discusses theories of the criminal
subculture.

3. Chapter Summary
 One prominent subculture is criminal gangs, which the author
explores in detail.
 In the concluding section of the Chapter, the author
analyzes and evaluates the social structural theories of
crime, as well as the policy implications derived from these
theories.
 After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
 Understand functionalism
 Explain Durkheim’s theory of anomie

4. Chapter Summary






Discuss strain and the different theories of strain.
Explain subculture theories
Describe opportunity structures and focal concerns.
Discuss gangs both historically and presently
Analyze and critique social structural theories of crime.
Understand the policy implications of social structural
theories of crime.

5. The Social Structural Tradition
 The task of sociological criminology is to discover why
social animals commit antisocial acts.

6. The Social Structural Tradition
 Social structure:
- how society is organized by social institutions
- family, educational, religious, economic, & political institutions
- stratified based on various roles & statuses.

7. The Social Structural Tradition

Structural theorists are more interested in seeking causes
of group crime rates rather than why particular individuals
commit crimes.
 The consensus or functionalist perspective is
one that views society as a system consisting of
mutually sustaining parts and characterized by
broad normative consensus.
 All the various social institutions have their own
particular specialized social functions to keep
society running smoothly.

8. Sociological Positivism


Causes of crime favored by sociologists in this tradition are
compounds of a variety of social phenomena which are
summarized by terms such as “social disorganization,”
“anomie,” or “group conflict.”
The appreciation of the social context of criminal behavior
is sociology’s greatest contribution to our understanding of
crime.

9. Durkheim, Modernization, & Anomie
 AnomieMeaning “lacking in rules” or “normlessness,” used to
describe the condition of normative deregulation in society.
 Mechanical solidarity exists in small, isolated & self-sufficient
prestate society in which individuals, because they share
common experiences & circumstances, share common values and
develop strong emotional ties to the collectivity.

10. Durkheim, Modernization, & Anomie
 Organic solidarity: Characteristic of modern
societies in which there is a high degree of
occupational specialization.
 Durkheim argued that because crime is found at all
times and in all societies, it is a normal and
inevitable phenomenon.
 Criminals and other deviants are useful in that
they serve to identify the limits of acceptable
behavior.
 All people are said to aspire to maximize their
pleasures, but deficiencies in “natural talent” will
thwart some from attaining their goals
legitimately.

11. Figure 4.1
Zone Map of Male Delinquents in Chicago 1925-1933
Source: Shaw, C., & McKay, H. (1972). Juvenile delinquency in urban areas (p. 69). Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. Copyright © by the University of Chicago Press. Reproduced with permission. All rights
reserved.

12. The Chicago School of Ecology
Shaw & McKay: the majority of delinquents always came
from the same neighborhoods regardless of the ethnic
composition of those neighborhoods.

13. The Chicago School of Ecology
 The first criminological theory to be developed in the
United States was the Chicago school of human ecology.
Clifford Shaw & Henry McKay
 Social ecology—describes the interrelations of human
beings and the communities in which they live.
 Early social ecologists viewed the city as a super organism
with “natural areas” differentially adaptive for different
ethnic groups.

14. Social Disorganization
 Social disorganization: The breakdown, or serious dilution, of the
power of informal community rules to regulate conduct.
 The mix of peoples with limited resources, bringing with them a wide
variety of cultural traditions sometimes at odds with traditional
American middle-class norms of behavior, is not conducive to
developing and/or maintaining a sense of community.

15. Figure 4.2
Diagrammatic Presentation of Ecological Theory
Influx of native and
foreign immigrants
into cities looking for
work and
congregating
in poorest areas
Value conflict and
decrease in formal
and informal social
controls lead to
SOCIAL
DISORGANIZA
-TION
Deterioration of
neighborhood and
development of
delinquent
values
Delinquency
and crime

16. Social Disorganization
 A neighborhood in the process of losing its sense of
community = a transition zone.
 Social disorganization = the loss of neighborhood
collective efficacy.
 Collective efficacy: The shared power of a group of
connected and engaged individuals to influence an
outcome that the collective deems desirable.
 The same things that predict the loss of collective
efficacy are the same things that predict social
disorganization.

17. Social
Disorganization
 Ecological fallacy:
We cannot make inferences about
individuals & groups on the basis of
information derived from a larger
population of which they are a part.
 How do we know that differences in
delinquency rates result from the
aggregated characteristics of
communities rather than the
characteristics of individuals
selectively aggregated into
communities?

18. Strain Theory:
Robert Merton’s Extension of Anomie
Theory
 Robert Merton: Strain theory views crime as a normal
response to the conditions that limit the opportunities for
some individuals to obtain the economic success for which we
are all supposed to strive.
 Anomie = structural-cultural disjunction and strain, the way
people adapt to life in the context of anomie.

19. Figure 4.3
Diagrammatic Presentation of Anomie/Strain Theory
Cultural and Structural Context
Middle-class
success goals
shared by all
members of
society
Limited access to
legitimate means
(education, jobs)
for some
Disjunction between
goals and means
(the ideal and
the reality)
ANOMIE

20. Social-psychological response
Individuals adapt to anomie by accepting or rejecting goals & means
GOALS
MEANS
Accepts
Rejects
Rejects
Accepts -------> CONFORMITY (nondeviant)
Accepts -------> RITUALISM
(deviant, noncriminal)
Rejects --------> RETREATISM (deviant, social dropout,
could be criminal)
Rejects ------ > INNOVATION (deviant, criminal)
Rejects --------> REBELLION
(deviant, wants to
substitute new goals
and means)
Accepts
Rejects
MODE OF ADAPTATION TO ANOMIE

21. Modes of Adaptation
 Five modes of adaptation that various people adopt in response
to social pressure
 Conformity: Accept the success goals of
American society, and the prescribed means of
attaining them
 Ritualism: Rejects the cultural goals, but does
not adapt in a criminal manner.
 Innovation: Accepts the validity of cultural
goals, but rejects the legitimate means of
attaining them.

22. Modes of Adaptation
 Retreatism rejects both the cultural goals, and the
institutionalized means of attaining them; they are in society
but not of it.
 Rebellion reject both the goals and the means of capitalist
American society, but unlike retreatists, rebels wish to
substitute alternative legitimate goals and alternative
legitimate means.

23. Institutional Anomie Theory



Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld: Institutional
Anomie Theory (IAT) places the blame for the high crime
rate in the United States unequivocally on the doorstep of
the much-vaunted American Dream and its capitalist
underpinnings.
High crime rates are intrinsic to the basic cultural
commitments and institutional arrangements of American
society.
Institutional Balance of Power: Subjugation of other
institutions.

24. Institutional Anomie Theory


American culture tends to devalue the non-economic
function and roles of other social institutions.
The answer to the high crime rate in the United States is
decommodification, which refers to social policies intended
to free social relationships from economic considerations
by freeing the operation of the other social institutions
from the domination of the economy, or to at least gain a
certain degree of balance.

25. Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory
 Robert Agnew laid the foundation for a general strain
theory.
 Strain results from the removal of a positively valued
stimuli or the presentation of negative stimuli.
 We all experience multiple strain throughout our
lives, but the impact of strain differs according to its
magnitude, recency, duration, and clustering.
 The most important fact is not strain per se, but how one
copes with it.

26. Subcultural Theories:
Albert Cohen & Status Frustration
 Distinct criminal subcultures might develop, particularly
among lower-class individuals because these are the people
expected to feel the bite of blocked opportunity more
sharply.
 Albert Cohen’s book Delinquent Boys proposed a mechanism
by which lower-class youths adapt to the limited avenues of
success open to them
 Short-run hedonism: The actor is seeking immediate
gratification of his or her desires without regard for any
long term consequences.

27. Subcultural Theories:
Albert Cohen & Status Frustration
 Much lower-class crime and delinquency is expressive
rather than instrumental.
 Though no fault of their own, young people lack
access to middle-class avenues of approval and
self-worth. Because they cannot adjust to what
Cohen calls middle-class measuring rods, they
experience status frustration.
 The real problem for Cohen is status
frustration, not blocked opportunity. Lowerclass youth desire approval and status, but
because they cannot meet middle-class
criteria, they become frustrated.

28. Cloward & Ohlin’s
Opportunity Structure Theory
 One of the most influential extensions of strain theory
has been Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin’s opportunity
structure theory, outlined in their book, Delinquency and
Opportunity.
 To obtain and take advantage of the most rewarding
illegitimate opportunities, aspiring delinquents often need
an “in.”
 Gang types that develop from the frustration generated
by blocked opportunities: Criminal gangs, Conflict
gangs, Retreatist gangs.

29. Walter Miller’s Theory of Focal Concerns
 Gangs are not a reaction to status deprivation
 Miller asserted that lower-class behavior and values must
be viewed on their own terms.
 Six focal concerns that are part of a value system and a
lifestyle that has emerged from the realities of life on the
bottom rung of society
 Trouble confers status if it is the right type
of trouble.
 Toughness is very important to the status of
lower-class males.

30. Walter Miller’s Theory of Focal Concerns
 Smartness refers to street smarts and is the ability
to survive on the streets using one’s wits.
 Excitement is the search for fun.
 Fate is a belief that the locus of control is external
to oneself and a belief in “lady luck.”
 Autonomy means personal freedom.
 The hard-core lower class lifestyle typified by these
focal concerns catch those engaged in it in a web of
situations that virtually guarantee delinquent and
criminal activities.

31. Youth Gangs

(a)
(b)
(c)
Malcolm Klein defines a youth gang as:
“any denotable adolescent group who
are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by
others in the neighborhood,
recognize themselves as a denotable group, and
have been involved in a sufficient number of
delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent
negative response from neighborhood residents
and/or law enforcement agencies.”

32. The Increasing Prevalence of Gangs
 Gangs are more prevalent in the
United States today than ever
before.
 It is the neighborhood of the
marginalized and underclass
that the most fertile soil for
the growth of gangs exist.

33. Why do Young People Join Gangs?



Joining a gang has almost become a survival imperative
in some areas where unaffiliated youths are likely to be
victimized.
Gang membership provides means of satisfying
belongingness needs.
Gangs functions for many of its members as (1)
family, (2) friendship group, (3) play group, (4)
protective agency, (5) educational institution, & (6)
employer.

34. Girls in Gangs
 Females are a minor part of the modern gang scene.
 Girls join gangs for many of the same reasons that boys
do.
 Three basic types of female gang involvement
 All-female gangs
 Mixed gender gangs
 Female auxiliaries of male gangs
 The vast majority of females gang delinquency consists of
non-violent property and status offenses.

35. Evaluation of Social Structural Theories



Ecological theory brought home one of the most universal
demographic characteristics of crime, namely, its
concentration in socially disorganized areas inhabited by
economically deprived people.
Strain theories claim to explain particular types of crimes
in terms of their prevalence in society, and not why one
individual becomes criminal and another does not.
General strain theory has been criticized as reductionist
because of its emphasis of attempting to explain how people
subjectively perceive and react to strain.

36. Evaluation of Social Structural Theories
General strain theory has been criticized as
reductionist because of its emphasis of attempting
to explain how people subjectively perceive & react
to strain.
Subculture theories augment both ecological and
anomie/strain theories by introducing the idea of
subculture.

37. Evaluation of Social Structural Theories
Focal concerns has attracted charges of racial
insensitivity.
 Social disorganization Chicago Area Project:
Treating communities from which offenders came.
Shaw & McKay organized a number of programs
aimed at generating or strengthening a sense of
community within neighborhoods.

38. Table 4.1
Summarizing Social Structural Theorie
Theory
Key Concepts
Strengths
Weaknesses
Poverty concentrates people of
different cultural backgrounds
and generates cultural conflict.
The breakdown of informal
social controls leads to social
disorganization, and peer group
gangs replace social institutions
as socializers.
Explains high crime
rates in certain areas.
Accounts for
intergenerational
transmission of deviant
values and predicts
crime rates from
neighborhood
characteristics.
Cannot account for
individuals and groups
in the same
neighborhood who are
crime free or why a
few individuals
commit a highly
disproportionate
share of crime.
Anomie
(Durkheim)
Rapid social change leads to
social deregulation and the
weakening of restraining social
norms. This unleashes
“insatiable appetites,” which
some seek to satisfy through
criminal activity.
Emphasizes the power
of norms and social
solidarity to restrain
crime and points to
situations that weaken
them.
Concentrates on whole
societies and ignores
differences in areas
that are differentially
affected by social
deregulation.
Anomie/Strain
(Merton)
All members of American
society are socialized to want
to attain monetary success, but
some are denied access to
legitimate means of attaining it.
These people may then resort
to crime to achieve what they
have been taught to want.
Explains high crime
rates among the
disadvantaged and how
cultural norms create
conflict and crime.
Explains various means
of adapting to strain.
Does not explain why
individuals similarly
affected by strain to
not react (adapt)
similarly.
Social
Disorganization

39. Table 4.1
Theory
Summarizing Social Structural Theories
Key Concepts
Strengths
Weaknesses
Institutional
Anomie
America is literally organized
for crime due to its
overweening emphasis on the
economy and material success.
All other institutions are
devalued and must
accommodate themselves to
the requirements of the
economy.
Explains why crime
rates are higher in
America than in
other capitalist
societies. Points to
decommodi fication
as crime reduction
strategy.
Concentrates on
single cause of
crime. Should
predict high rates
of property crime in
America rather
than violent crime,
but the opposite is
true.
General
Strain
There are multiple sources of
strain, and strain differs along
numerous dimensions. Strain is
the result of negative emotions
that arise from negative
relationships with other as well
as from sociocultural forces.
Individual characteristics help
us to cope poorly or well with
strain.
Reminds us that
strain is
multifaceted and
that how we cope
with it is more
important than its
existence. Adds
individual
characteristics to
theory.
Criticized by
structural theorists
as reductionist
because it fails to
explore structural
origins of strain.

40. Table 4.1
Theory
Summarizing Social Structural Theories
Key Concepts
Strengths
Weaknesses
Subcultural
Much delinquency is short-run
hedonism rather than utilitarian.
Lower-class youths cannot live up to
middle-class measuring rods and thus
develop status frustration. They seek
status in ways peculiar to the
subculture. Subcultural youths do not
have equal illegitimate opportunities
for attaining success. Those who do
join criminal gangs; those who don’t
join retreatist and conflict gangs and
engage in mindless violence and
vandalism.
Extends the scope of
anomie theory and
integrates social
disorganization theory.
Focuses on processes
by which lower-class
youths adapt to their
disadvantages and
shows that illegitimate
opportunities are also
denied to some.
Explains the patterned
way of life that
sustains delinquent
values and goals.
Explains subcultural
crime and delinquency
only. There is some
question as to whether
a distinct lower-class
culture exists in the
sense that it is
supported by
proscriptive values
that require antisocial
behavior.
Focal
Concerns
Lower-class youths live their lives
according to the focal concerns of the
neighborhoods they find themselves in.
These focal concerns lead to conflict
with the mainstream culture because
they generate antisocial behavior.
Identifies the core
values of lower-class
culture and how they
generate and
perpetuate antisocial
behavior.
Explains only lowerclass antisocial
behavior. Ignores the
structural origin of
the focal concerns.

41. Policy and Prevention:
Implications of Social Structural Theories
Strain theory
If the cause of crime is a disjunction between cultural values
emphasizing success for all and a social structure denying
access to legitimate means of achieving it to some, then the
cure for crime is to increase opportunities or to dampen
aspirations.
Cloward & Ohlin developed a delinquency-prevention
project, known as “Mobilization for Youth” which concentrated
on expanding legitimate opportunities for disadvantaged youths.

42. Policy and Prevention:
Implications of Social Structural Theories
 The policy recommendation flowing from
institutional anomie theory would be those that
tame the power of the market via
decommodification.
 Any policy recommendation derived from
subcultural theory would not differ in any
significant ways from those derived from
ecological or anomie/strain theories.