Group of individuals who
share the same norms and
values, they have a distinct
identity often manifested in
clothing/music etc as a
symbolic meaning, they are
often criminal/distorted and
can be m/c or w/c
Example of a study = James Patrick (1973) - "A Glasgow Gang
Observed" which used a mix of covert and overt PO
E.g. Mods and the Rockers
Differ from mainstream society
and are NOT a new phenomenon
Albert Cohen (1955) - The Delinquent Subculture
Sctuctural
Functionalsim/develped
Merton's Strain Theory
Crime is a collective response
Status frustration from peers due to
blocked opportunity therefore
people innovate
Cannot access legitimate success goals
Explains non-utilitarian crime
Cloward and Ohlin (1965) -
Delinquency and
Opportunity
Developed ideas of Merton and Cohen
Meton and Cohen failed to explain the 3 types of
subculture including conflict (i.e. socialised life of crime
- Patrick (1983) - 'A Glasgow Gang Observed', criminal
(i.e. apprentice criminals) and retreatist (i.e. petty
criminals)
Taylor, Walton and
Young (1973)
Critical of Merton, Cohen,
Cloward and Ohlin for assuming
that all members of society are
committed to materialistic success
goals.
Matza (1984)
Interpretivist approach,
people have free will to drift in
and out of crime
BUT, how can the concept of drift be operationalised (i.e. defined?)
However, Matza ignores that if
youths wish to create their own
identity then why commit crime in
the first instance. Secondly , we
live in a wider framework/structural
location of economic, social and
political circumstances which often
forces people into crime
(DETERMINISM)
Miller (1962)
Crime is not a reaction against m/c success goals/values but
part of a distinct subculture passed on from one generation to
the next.
Looks at focal concerns e.g. toughness, trouble,
masculinity and excitement.
Subterrenean Values - Surface values that underpin society
E.g. the dominant middle
class
Subcultures emphasise alternative
values
Neutralization
Techniques
Denial of responsibility,
denial of a victim/injury,
appealing to higher
(moral) loyalities e.g.
Islamic freedom fighters
in the name of
Allah/Jihad (Holy War)
Marxism
Working class gangs, resistant to
capitalism, e.g. Willis' the Lads,
symbolically embracing, class
conflict
There are also affluent middle class gangs
Women and ethnicity
Often excluded from these theories
Gender blind - links to
malestream sociology
Methods - Smith and Bradshaw (2005)
- Longitudinal Study
Studied gang membership and teenage offending
using methods such as questionaaires,
semi-structured interviews, parental questionaires
and public documents/
20% of respondents report member of a gang at 13 but by 17 this fell to 5%