The document discusses several sociological theories related to deviance and crime. It summarizes Robert Merton's strain theory, which built on Durkheim's notion of anomie by looking at how strain occurs when there is a disjunction between socially defined goals and the legitimate means to achieve them. It also discusses labelling theory proposed by Howard Becker, how deviants are often labelled by society which can then lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Finally, it summarizes Stanley Cohen's concept of moral panic and provides an overview of sociological perspectives on subcultures and countercultures.

2. 0 Took notion of anomie further by
looking at strain
0 Society defines success (goals and
means)
0 Resource & Opportunities differ
0 If strain:
0 Conformity +/+
0 Innovation +/-
0 Ritualism -/+
0 Retreatism -/-
0 Rebellion -+/-+
Strain - Merton

3. 0 Started with Durkheim – the person is
labelled deviant but really they ‘differ’
to the norms established
0 Developed further by Mead who
argued that we develop our identity
through interactions with others – if
we are called a criminal we see
ourselves as a criminal
0 The Outsiders – Becker look at ‘dope
smokers’. Becker argued that society
applies rules onto people and defines
deviant behaviour.
0 The labelling of people leads to the
deviant using the labelling as a reason
for their behaviour
0 Stereotyping and the self-fulfiling
prophecy
Labelling - Becker

4. 0 Media, labelling and the reaction
to deviance
0 Mods and the Rockers
0 Milk Bar Cowboys
0 Popular reaction to a challenge
to the social order
0 Five stages
0 Concern
0 Hostility
0 Disproportionality
0 Volatility
Moral Panic – Stanley Cohen

5. Case Study: Columbine

6. http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

7. Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold
0 White middle-class ‘normal’ kids
0 Both held racist views about blacks
0 Both had interests in the occult
0 Both had diaries
0 Both had negative experiences in the classroom
0 Both belonged to a group (The Trench Coat Mafia) …

8. http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

9. The Shootings
0 Planned for the 19th of April
0 Happened on the 20th April
0 12 students and one teacher were killed
0 Brought immediate responses from the
media and the President
www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html

10. The Media Reaction
0 Shootings were extensively covered for months after
the event
0 Denver Post had 750 articles on the shootings in the six
months following the incident
0 Denver Post won a Pulitzer Prize
0 The media reaction has been analysed in academic
articles, web-forums, and movies
0 Bowling for Columbine

11. http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

12. http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

13. http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

14. http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

15. http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

16. 0 Build on the work of Marx
0 Society is built on class divisions
0 Progress is the economic
advancement of one class
0 There is a play of power
0 Capitalism doesn’t benefit everyone
0 Gramsci
0 Hegemony allows for cultural
domination
0 The Organic intellectual
0 Bourdieu
0 Social, Cultural and Symbolic Capital
0 Hegemony in socialisation –
symbolic violence (blindess)
Countercultural Theories

17. 0 Subcultural Theories
0 Chicago School (Merton)
0 Thrasher
0 Albert Cohen
0 Gangs – subcultures can be defined
through their delinquent
behaviours
0 Birmingham School (Marx)
0 Phil Cohen
0 Subcultures take on styles
0 Are working-class
0 The style is a voice of resistance and
the taking on of labels
0 Countercultures
0 Recent developments
Countercultural Theories

18. 0 Influenced by the work of
Foucault, Said and Wittigenstein
0 The concept of ‘adolescence’ is a
social construction
0 Inequalities are way deeper than
class
0 Exploring our history can reveal
how the traces of inequalities
remain today
0 Psychology is a deeply
problematic western science
0 Authenticity and identity are key
Postmodern Understandings

19. Case Studies:
Smashproof: Brother
Tru Rez Crew: I’m a Lucky
One
WarParty: Feelin’ Reserved