1. Social Structure Theory: Because They’re Poor
Chapter Six:
Social Structure Theory:
Because They’re Poor

2. Economics and Crime
Social structure theorists suggest that social and economic forces operating in deteriorated lower class areas push many of their residents into criminal behavior patterns
A disadvantaged economic class position is a primary cause of crime

4. Social Structure Theories
Social disorganization theory
Strain theory
Cultural deviance theory

6. 1. Social Disorganization Theory
breakdown of institutions such as the family, school, and employment in inner-city neighborhoods
They lose control and then there is disorganization.

8. Concentric Zones Theory
Shaw & McKay 1920s & 1930s
transitional neighborhoods that manifest social disorganization and value conflict
Identifies why crime rates are highest in inner-city areas
Points out the factors that produce crime
Suggests programs to help reduce crime

10. Social Ecology Theory
The conflicts and problems of urban social life and communities, including fear, unemployment, deterioration, and siege mentality, influence crime rates
Accounts for urban crime rates and trends

11. Concentration effect ~ as working and middle-class families flee inner-city poverty areas, the most disadvantaged population is consolidated in urban ghettos
Collective efficacy ~ social control exerted by cohesive communities, based on mutual trust; social control may be informal, institutional, or public

12. 2. Strain Theory
Branch of social structure theory that sees crime as a function of the conflict between people’s goals and the means available to obtain these goals

13. Anomie Theory
People who adopt the goals of society but lack the means to attain them seek alternatives such as crime
Points out how competition for success creates conflict and crime
Suggests that social conditions, not personality, can account for crime
Explains high lower class crime rates

14. Merton’s Variety of Social Adaptations
Goals Means
conformity
innovation
ritualism
retreatism
rebellion

15. Institutional Anomie Theory
Material goods pervade all aspects of American life
Explains why crime rates are so high in American culture
Schools, Churches, Business, Media

16. How Social Institutions are Undermined
Non-economic functions and roles have been devalued
During conflict, non-economic roles become subordinate and accommodate economic roles
Economic language, standards, and norms penetrate non-economic realms

17. Relative Deprivation Theory
Crime occurs when the wealthy and poor live close to one another
Explains high crime rates in deteriorated inner-city areas located near more affluent neighborhoods

18. Agnew’s General Strain Theory
Strain has a variety of sources and causes crime in the absence of adequate coping mechanisms
Identifies the complexities of strain in modern society
Expands on anomie theory
Shows the influence of social events on behavior over the life course
Explains middle-class crimes

20. 4 Sources of Strain Failure to achieve positively valued goals
Disjunction of expectations and achievements
Removal of positively valued stimuli
Presentation of negative stimuli

21. 3. Cultural Deviance Theory
Branch of social structure theory that sees strain and social disorganization together resulting in a unique lower class culture that conflicts with conventional social norms
Types of cultural deviance theory:
Focal concern theory
Theory of delinquent subcultures
Theory of opportunity

23. Focal Concern Theory
Citizens who obey the street rules of lower class life (focal concerns) find themselves in conflict with the dominant culture
Identifies the core values of lower class culture and shows their association to crime

24. Millers’ Lower Class Focal Concerns
Trouble
Toughness
Smartness
Excitement
Fate
Autonomy

25. Theory of Delinquent Subcultures
Status frustration of lower class boys, created by their failure to achieve middle-class success, causes them to engage in delinquency
Shows how the conditions of lower class life produce crime
Identifies conflict of lower class with the middle class

26. Theory of Opportunity
Blockage of conventional opportunities causes lower class youths to join criminal, conflict, or retreatist gangs
Shows that even illegal opportunities are structured in society
Indicates why people become involved in a particular type of criminal activity
Presents a way of preventing crime

27. Social Structure Theories and Public Policy
Crime rates decrease when families receive supplemental income through public assistance programs
Crime reduction through the improvement of community structure