Social Considerations, MacroLevel Analyses and the Growth of American Criminology

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• V.
• Social Considerations, Macro-Level Analyses and
  the Growth of American Criminology

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A. Introduction

• 1. the intellectual revolution
  recognizing the value of
• examining the broader human
  experience and the inclusion
• of all social interactions
• 2. creation and development of the
  social sciences
• anthropology, economics, psychology,
  sociology, as well as
• communications
• 3. in the United States, the 2
• intellectual centers of this
• new age were in Cambridge, MA
• at Harvard University

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4. Harvards focus, derived from Webers
construction of the Bureaucracy, became
known as Structural
Functionalism a. leader was Talcott
Parsons (1902-1979) b. structure / form
is what guides / dictates any
organization c. roles are more
important than the people who affect
them gt status is relevant and
critical d. every society is
constructed by 3 components
1) the individual 2) the
relationship/s between individuals
3) societys culture
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5. and in Chicago, IL at 1126 E. 59th
Street Department of
Sociology a. the Chicago perspective
derived more from the emergence of
psychology, became known as
Symbolic Interactionism b. all
social interactions are preceded by the
expectations
and meanings that the actor/s bring to it
(anticipation and definitions)
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• c. people interact through a process of
  shared symbols
• d. genesis of the social examination of
  crime (criminology),
• the so-called Chicago School
• 1) advanced a social ecology
  perspective
• a) people are social organisms
• b) Invasion Succession
  Dominance
• c) e.g., ethnic enclaves

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B. Social Strain Theories

• 1. most social science explanations begin
  here
• gt the earliest modern theories
• 2. revolves around the question How do
  people improve the
• quality of their lives?
• a. seek tranquility
• b. what happens to people as they seek
  to advance themselves
• 3. what happens to those whose ability to
  improve themselves,
• reach their goals, is strained

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• 4. proponents
• a. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
• 1)
  anomie the condition of a society or
• 
  group with a high degree of
• 
  confusion and contradiction
• 
  in its basic social norms
• 
  (1897)
• 2)
  confusion leads to deviance
• 3)
  crime is simply another social behavior
• 
  a) it is normal
• b) there would be crime
  (deviance) in a community of
• saints

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• b. Robert K Merton (1910-2003)
• 1) created the American
  version
• of anomie
• ...a state of
  dissatisfaction (strain)
• that arises when
  discrepancies exist
• between social aspirations
  and the
• ability / means to realize
  these aspirations
• (1938)
• 2) the common American goal
• gt monetary gain
• 3) when faced with an
  inability to achieve what we desire,
• situations that strain and
  conflict, we adapt ourselves in
• a prescribed (standard) manner

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• 1) conformity
• a adapting to
  societys inconsistencies and unfairness
  rationally
• b the response of
  most of us
• 2) innovation
• a recognizing the
  unfairness and doing something about it
• b the criminal
  response
• 3) ritualism
• a recognizing the
  unfairness and decrying it as unfairness
• b the disgruntled
• 4) retreatism

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• c. Robert Agnew (1953 - )
• 1) General Strain Theory (1992)
• a) along with societal
  blockage, people
• get upset because of
  lifes
• stresses/ strains
• b) when people get upset
  they may act
• badly
• 2) General Crime Theory
  (2005)
• a) Web of Crime
  interconnectedness
• of lifes domains
  creates crime opportunities
• b) individuals domains
• 1 self biology,
  personality

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• 3 school holistic
  experience
• gt poor school
  environments, bad grades / teachers, lack of
• incentive to do
  well
• 4 peers kinship
  groups
• gt gangs, bad
  friends, lack of incentives to make good
• decisions
• 5 work employment
  opportunities
• gt lack of job
  skills, ineffective supervisors, lack of
• achievement
  incentives

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• d. Richard Rosenfeld and Steven Messner
  Crime and the
• American Dream (1994)
• gt institutional
  strain theory
• 1) all American
  institutions are
• dominated
  (obsessed) by
• economics
• a) family,
  school, government
• (1950- ) (1951- )
• b)
  non-economic enterprise is devalued
• 2) crime rates are likewise
  directly linked to the dominance of
• the economy over these
  institutions
• 3) economic stresses directly affect crime
  across all socio-
• economic conditions

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• 4) the pursuit of the American Dream
  (monetary
• comfort) legitimizes the adage
• Its not how you play the game but
  whether you
• win or lose!
• 5) (monetary) success is the ultimate
  measure of
• social worth

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• d. Richard Cloward
  (1926-2001)
  
  
• and Lloyd Ohlin
  (1918 - )
• 1)
  differential opportunity (1960)
• 2)
  urban settings are replete with unequal access
  and
• 
  opportunity which generates strain and promotes
• 
  various social
  pathologies
• 
  e. comment
• 
  1) explanations
  are based on
• 
  
  controversial assumptions
• 
  
  2) by and
  large strain
• 
  ignores
  women

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• f. Thorsten Sellin (1896-1994)
• 
  culture conflict theory (1938)
• 1) questioned
  the influence of individual
• cultures
  as a precursor to crime
• 2) what
  happens when conflicting cultures
• clash,
  are strained?
• 3) raises the
  question of the normality
  
• of crime
• 4) if crime is a product of
  the social conditions that
• produces it, then
  societys social, political, economic
• and environmental
  institutions also need to be
• examined
• 5) who defines crime?

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• g. subcultural explanations
• 1) Albert Cohen (1955)
  Delinquent Boys the Culture of
• 
  the Gang
• gt when
  groups of young men are denied mainstream status,
  they
• form alternative social
  systems to achieve this unfulfilled status
• 2) Marvin Wolfgang and
  Franco Ferracuti (1967)
• The Subculture
  of Violence
• 
  a) def "a normative ... group ...
  smaller than the whole
• 
  society...(having) value judgments or a social
• 
  value system which is apart...and a part of a
• 
  larger or central value system"
• 
  b)
  affiliations to which individuals belong and
  that
• govern
  conduct norms

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C. Social Ecology Theories

• 1. the Department of Sociology at the
  University of Chicago
• a. treated the city as an urban
  laboratory
• b. introduced ethnography as a
  legitimate data collection
• strategy
• 2. The Chicago Perspective
• a. Robert Park (1864-1944) and
• Ernest Burgess (1886-1966)
• 1) the Concentric Zone
• Theory (1925)

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• b. Clifford
  Shaw (1895-1957) and
• 
  Henry McKay(1899- )
• Social
  Disorganization and
• Crime Areas
  (1942)
• 1)
  the social environment MUST
• be the
  focus of all social behavior
• 2)
  values, norms, acceptable behavior,
• 
  interpersonal expectations are all passed along
  from
• generation to generation often
  without thought or examination
• 3) certain highly transitory, unstable
  environments
• create alienation, instability,
  and social trauma
• 4) Chicago Area Project first
  community based juvenile delinquency
• prevention project (needs-based
  service organization)

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Uncertainty / Confusion / Conflicting Social
Norms
RAPID CHANGE
CRIME
Weakened Social / Informal Controls
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• c. Walter Miller (1920-2004) (1958)
• 1) Lower Class Culture as a
  Generating Milieu
• for Gang Delinquency
• 2) why the prevalence of crime in
  lower class
• neighborhoods in spite of the
  ethnic / cultural / racial
• composition of the residents?
• gt answer must lie in the
  lower class culture itself
• 3) certain behavioral
  characteristics are predisposed to
• the lower class
• 4) lower-class focal concerns

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• a) trouble chronic
  anxiety that all behavior is under scrutiny
  
• 
  obsessive fascination with avoiding or getting
  into it
• b) toughness
  fronting, posturing hyper-masculinity
• 
  attraction of physical prowess machismo
• c) smartness quick
  wittedness cunning status gained through
• 
  verbal acuity not intellect or book smartness
• d ) excitement
  thrill-seeking risk-taking as a measure of
  status
• 
  and lifes philosophy
• e) fate luck or
  trust in luck since so much of life is out of
• ones
  control, no need to worry about it
• 5) values, characteristics
  shared by all lower class
• residents, and a catalyst for
  gang membership

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D. Social Learning Theories

• 1. overview
• a. all behavior is learned through
  various processes
• b. crime is simply another learned
  behavior
• c. learning occurs in many different
  ways
• 2. advocates and explanations
• a. Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950)
• and later Donald Cressey
  (1919-1987)
• 1) Differential Association (1947)
• 2) initially a specific crime
  theory,
• social scientists embraced it
  as the
• quintessential explanation

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• 4) the theory
• a) crime is learned
• b) crime is learned through
  interactions with others
• c) learning is enhanced
  through intimate personal groups
• d) techniques,
  motives/drives, rationalizations, and attitudes
  are
• also learned
• e) rationalizations are
  learned along with attitudes that are
• favorable or unfavorable
  to the law
• f) through cost-benefit
  analysis, if attitudes are favorable to law
• isolation over
  unfavorable attitudes, crime is more likely
• gt this is the link to
  crime

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• h) crime, like any other
  behavior, can be learned and
• i) crime is an expression of
  needs and values, as is any other
• social experience
• 5) summary
• a) behavior is best learned
  through face-to-face interactions with
• specific others
• b) learning depends on
  intensity and duration
• c) learning involves
  techniques, motives, attitudes, and
• definitions
• d) learning a preponderance
  of definitions favorable to crime
• (norm violation), one
  will be more likely to engage in crime

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• b. Albert Bandura (and later Richard Walters)
  
• Social Learning Theory (1961)
• 1) a behavioral / cognitive
  psychological
• explanation of aggressive
  behavior, aggression,
• (crime, violence) arguing it can
  be instilled as
• a moral / value structure
• 
  
  (1925 - )
• 2) human behavior is a product of
  reciprocal determinism
• a) as the
  environment influences the individual, the
  individual
• likewise influences the
  environment
• b) personality is a product of a
  process that assesses the value of the
• attempts to influence it
• gt i.e., people process,
  assess, and utilize information variably and for
• their own unique
  purposes

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• 3) learning is made up of 4 components
• a) attention
• b) retention
• c) reproduction
• d) motivation
• aggression is simply a learned
  behavior
• a) role modeling
• gt acquisition of behavior
• b) operant conditioning
• gt reward-punishment

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• c. Daniel Glaser (1965) Differential
• 
  Identification
• 1) mattering the status with whom
  the
• association
  is made is relevant
• 2) who is the model?
• d. Ronald Akers
  (1986) Social Learning
• 
  Theory
• 
  1) brings together, Sutherland and Glaser

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b) crime has no unique or special
motivation, it is simply another
learned behavior c) those we most
intimately associate with are most likely
to influence us d) modeling
is the best form of learning e)
learning coupled with reward (i.e., operant
conditioning) is the most
effective method gt Benthams
felicitous calculus pleasure / pain

principle e. comments and
criticisms
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E. Social Control Theories

• 1. overview
• a. basic control theory question Why
  dont you commit crime?
• b. answer because you are controlled
• 2. proponents and explanations
• a. Gresham MReady Sykes and David Matza
  (1957)
• Drift and Techniques of
  Neutralization

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• 1) neutralization revolves around the
  concept of drift
• a) Q why do good people do bad
  things?
• b) a post hoc process of
  rationalization
• 1 hmmm, I wonder why I did
  that?
• 2 in order to
  maintain self-identity, actors neutralize their
  
• behaviors
• c) coupled with Harold
  Garfinkels (1956)
• Successful Degradation
  Ceremonies

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Physical Illness
Treatment
Mental Illness
Normal Behavior
Suspicion
Crime
Societal Response
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• 2) the techniques
• a) denial of responsibility
• gt forces beyond my
  control
• b) denial of injury
• gt no one was really
  hurt
• c) denial of victims
• gt ...they had it coming
• d) condemnation of the
  condemners
• gt everyone does it
• e) appeal to higher
  authorities
• gt I did it for my
  homies, para mi familia

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• b. Walter Reckless (1961) Containment
  Theory
• 1) humans are controlled /
  contained by two factors
• 2) outer containment
• a) social norms
• b) significant others
• c) the law
• 3) inner containment
• gt individual psyche

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• c. Travis Hirschi (1969)
• Elements of the Social Bond

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• 1) a synthesis of anomie,
  social disorganization, differential
• association /
  identification, and culture conflict
• 2) individuals having a strong
  BOND to the conventional order are less
• likely to commit crime /
  delinquency
• 3) the elements
• a) attachment emotional
  regard (affection) for others
• b) commitment pursuit
  of conventional ideals
• gt acceptance of
  prosocial values
• c) involvement
  investment of time / effort in the pursuit of
  cultural
• 
  ideals
• 
  gt engaging in prosocial activities

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F. Summary

• 1. as social science evolved, social
  factors the family, work,
• the economy, the environment,
  education, etc., were all
• considered contributors and precursors
  to criminality
• 2. examination of human interaction with
  each other and those
• things each of us contacts were critical
  factors
• 3. consideration of the impact these
  interactions is valuable
• 4. creation of those methodologies that
  give us the best
• information to assess those outcomes
  also developed