1. Homework review
1. According to Durkheim, what are the four characteristics of crime?
Inevitable- Crime will always exist
Universal- Crime exists in every society
Relative- What is seen as criminal behaviour varies from society to society- crime is a social construct.
Functional- Crime serves a purpose in society but when the level is manageable.
2. In what ways can crime be functional?
limited amount of crime helps to either bond society together in shared outrage against the crime or create social change by challenging outdated laws. Too much crime and social order crumbles, too little and social change doesn’t take place.
3. How does Merton explain crime?
Merton’s strain theory suggests that crime happens because society has shared goals (goal consensus) but not everybody has the same means to achieve these goals, leading to:
conformity( accepting the goals and trying to reach them through hard work) , innovation (crime to achieve the goals) ritualism (accepting you won’t get the ‘American dream’ and not trying) retreatism (giving up on the goals and ever achieving and dropping out of society, turning to drink/drugs) and rebellion (seeking to change the accepted goals e.g. terrorism/ trying to overthrow a government)

2. Task- Read the exam question, source and answer
Task- Read the exam question, source and answer. We will then be discussing how it can be improved.

3. So what can we add/ change?

4. American Subcultural Theory
Robert Merton was accused of not being able to explain non-material crime
So subcultural theory developed to explain such crime in terms of subcultures.
The main proponents were:
Albert Cohen
1955
Cloward and
Ohlin
(1960)
Walter B.
Miller
(1963)
Subcultural theories of crime and deviance
11/01/2019

5. Albert Cohen (1955) Status Frustration Reaction Formation
Youths rebound from conventional failure (e.g. in schooling).
Faced with failure they choose a delinquent subculture.
Subcultural theories of crime and deviance
11/01/2019

6. Cloward and Ohlin (1960) BUT
Like Robert Merton they explain working-class crime in terms of goals and means.
But they disagree with Merton that delinquents share the same values/goals as the rest of society.
BUT
Cloward and Ohlin
see lower working-class
delinquents as sharing
their own deviant
subcultural values.
So they develop an illegitimate career structure
Because of ‘blocked opportunities’ they cannot get on legitimately
Subcultural theories of crime and deviance
11/01/2019

7. Cloward and Ohlin (Continued)
Cloward and Ohlin identified 3 types of delinquent subculture:
Criminal
Subculture
Conflict
Violent
Subculture
Retreatist
(drug)
Subculture
Subcultural theories of crime and deviance
11/01/2019

8. Critique of Cloward and Ohlin
Not everyone gets sucked into
Illegitimate career structure
Women have
more blocked
opportunities
than men
Fails to consider
white-collar crime
Which group of sociologist would this upset?
Subcultural theories of crime and deviance
11/01/2019

9. Law making, according to Functionalists, reflects the VALUE CONSENSUS
What is Value Consensus?
Does the law reflect this?
Who does Marxist see the law as serving?
6 minutes- knowledge checker