MACROLEVEL

1
IV.

• MACRO-LEVEL
• EXPLANATIONS OF
• CRIME

2
A. Introduction

• 1. considerations of the broader human
  experiences
• and social interactions
• 2. includes the social sciences
  anthropology,
• economics, psychology, sociology,
  as well as
• communications
• 3. reminder definition of a theory
  criteria used to
• assess a theorys worth

3
B. Social Strain Theories

• 1. most social science explanations
  begin here
• gt the earliest modern theories
• 2. responds to 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

4

• 3. proponents
• a. Emile Durkheim (1897)
• 1) anomie the condition of
  a society or group
• with a
  high degree of confusion and
• 
  contradiction in its basic social norms
• 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

5

• b. Robert K Merton (1938)
• 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
• 2) the common American goal
• gt monetary advantage
• 3) when faced with an
  inability to achieve what
• we desire, situations
  that strain and conflict,
• we adapt in a prescribed
  manner

6

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

7

• 2 the disgruntled
  
• d) retreatism
• 1 rejecting the
  unfairness and rejecting
• any solution
  to it
• 2 the social
  drop-out / addict
• e) rebellion
• 1 rejecting the
  unfairness and creating
• a strategy to
  replace it
• 2 the radical
• gt we all respond to strain with one of
  these adaptations

8

• c. Thorsten Sellin (1938)
  culture conflict theory
• 1) questioned the influence of
  individual cultures
• as a precursor to crime
• 2) what happens when
  conflicting cultures
• clash?
• 3) raised the question of the
  normality of crime
• 4) if crime is a product of
  the social conditions
• that produce it, then the
  social, political,
• economic, and
  environmental institutions
• need to be examined
• 5) who defines crime?
• 6) crime must be examined
  holistically

9

• d. Richard Cloward and Lloyd
  Ohlin (1960)
• 1) differential opportunity
• 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 ignore
  women
• 3) dismisses strain that
  exists for everyone

10
C. Social Ecology Theories

• 1. the Department of Sociology at the
  University of
• Chicago (5555 S. Woodlawn Avenue)
• a. treated the city as an urban
  laboratory
• b. introduced ethnography as a
  legitimate data
• collection strategy
• 2. The Chicago School
• a. Robert Park and Ernest Burgess
  (1925)
• 1) the Concentric Zone Theory

11

• a) Zone I business and
  industrial city center
• gt in Chicago, The
  Loop
• b) Zone II
  interstitial / zone of transition
• 1 the so-called
  inner city
• 2 slums, barrio,
  ghetto
• c) Zone III working
  class neighborhood
• gt the hood
  various ethnic enclaves
• d) Zone IV
  residential zone
• gt lower
  middle-class, working class area
• e) Zone V commuter
  zone

12

• b. Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay
  (1942)
• Social Disorganization and Crime
  Areas
• 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) the model

13
Uncertainty / Confusion / Conflicting Social
Norms
RAPID CHANGE
CRIME
Weakened Social / Informal Controls
14

• C. Walter Miller (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

15

• 4) lower class focal concerns
• 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
  through verbal acuity not
• 
  intellect or book smartness

16

• 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
• gt these observations are not
  non-controversial

17
D. Social Learning Theories

• 1. Edwin Sutherland (and later Donald
  Cressey) (1947)
• Differential Association
• a. initially a specific crime theory,
  social scientists
• embraced it as the quintessential
  explanation
• b. those you hang with influence you
  and teach you
• what to do
• c. the theory
• 1) crime is learned
• 2) crime is learned through
  interactions with
• others

18

• 3) learning is enhanced through
  intimate personal
• groups
• 4) techniques, motives/drives,
  rationalizations,
• and attitudes are also
  learned
• 5) rationalizations are learned
  along with attitudes
• that are favorable or
  unfavorable to the law
• 6) through cost-benefit
  analysis, if attitudes are
• are favorable to law
  isolation over unfavorable
• attitudes, crime is more
  likely (this is the link to
• crime)
• 7) associations vary with regard
  to intensity,
• frequency, and duration
  (this is DA)

19

• 8. crime, like any other
  behavior, can be learned
• and
• 9. crime is an expression of
  needs and values, as
• is any other social
  experience
• gt from its original precepts, this has
  become the favored
• explanation for virtually all crime
• 2. Daniel Glaser (1965) Differential
  Identification
• a. mattering the status with whom
  the association
• is made is
  relevant
• b. who is the model?

20

• 3. Ronald Akers (1986) Social Learning
  Theory
• a. brings together, Sutherland and
  Glaser
• b. adds psychological classical
  operant conditioning
• c. the theory
• 1) learning is an on-going and
  continuous process
• 2) crime has no unique or
  special motivation, it is
• simply another learned
  behavior
• 3) those we most intimately
  associate with are
• most likely to influence us
• 4) modeling is the best form of
  learning

21

• 5) learning coupled with
  reward (i.e., operant
• conditioning) is the most
  effective method
• gt Benthams felicitous
  calculus pleasure /
• pain principle
• 4. comments and criticisms

22
E. Social Control Theories

• 1. basic control theory question
• Why dont you commit crime?
• 2. answer because you are controlled
• 3. Gresham Sykes and David Matza
  (1957)
• Drift and Techniques of
  Neutralization
• a. revolves around the concept of
  drift
• b. Q why do good people do bad
  things?
• c. coupled with Harold Garfinkels
  (1956)
• Successful Degradation
  Ceremonies

23
Physical Illness
Treatment
Mental Illness
Normal Behavior
Suspicion
Crime
Societal Response
24

• d. the techniques
• 1) denial of responsibility
• gt forces beyond my
  control
• 2) denial of injury
• gt no one was really
  hurt
• 3) denial of victims
• gt ...they had it coming
• 4) condemnation of the
  condemners
• gt everyone does it
• 5) appeal to higher
  authorities
• gt I did it for my
  homies, por ma familia

25

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

26

• 4. Travis Hirschi (1969)
• Elements of the Social Bond
• a. A synthesis of anomie,
  social disorganization,
• differential association /
  identification, and
• culture conflict
• b. Individuals having a strong
  BOND to the
• conventional order are less
  likely to commit
• crime / delinquency
• c. the elements
• 1) attachment emotional
  regard (affection) for
• 
  others

27

• 2) commitment pursuit of
  cultural ideals
• gt acceptance of
  prosocial values
• 3) involvement investment
  of time / effort in
• 
  the pursuit of cultural ideals
• gt engaging in
  prosocial activities
• 4) belief acceptance of
  cultural values and
• morals
• gt internalization of
  cultural ideals
• 5. comments and criticisms

28
F. Social Conflict Theories

• 1. genesis in Hegel, Marx, Durkheim,
  and the
• Chicago School
• 2. emerging 20th Century social
  realities, but gained
• contemporary popularity during the
  cultural
• revolution of the 1960s
• 3. philosophical legacy the German
  philosophers
• a. Georg Hegel change / progress
  is a social
• necessity and is the product of
• social conflict

29

• b. Karl Marx the unequal
  distribution of economic
• and social
  resources is the cause of
• human
  conflict
• c. Georg Simmel every society
  marginalizes a
• significant
  segment of its population
• d. Max Weber society is
  structured so that every
• members
  fulfills specific social roles
• 4. central tenets
• a. conflict between individuals
  and groups is
• inevitable

30

• b. conflict occurs when one group
  attempts to
• exercise power / authority over
  another
• c. the goal of conflict is to gain
  control over social
• resources
• d. those who control resources,
  control society
• and exert influence / authority
  over social
• decisions
• gt those most directly affected
  and have the
• most to gain or lose from
  these decisions are
• those in the middle-class
• e. Law is a resource protecting
  those who create it
• by demonizing those at
  societys margins
• gt those who have little
  ability to affect decision
• making

31

• 5. Labeling Theory
• a. legacy of the symbolic
  interaction paradigm of
• the Chicago School
• 1) Charles Horton Cooley
  looking glass self
• gt we all see ourselves
  through the eyes of
• others
• 2) W I Thomas definition
  of the situation
• gt a situation is seen
  as normal if those who
• view it define it
  as such

32

• 3) Robert K Merton
  self-fulfilling prophecy
• gt we act as we do
  based on the
• expectations of
  others and ourselves
• 4) Frank Tannenbaum
  dramatization of evil /
• social tagging
• a) crime / deviance
  reflects an individuals
• acceptance by / of
  a criminal / deviant
• group
• b) after being
  identified (tagged) with a
• label, those
  identified behave within the
• essence of that
  label

33

• 5) Edwin Lemert primary
  and secondary
• deviance
• a) primary deviance
  the initial behavior that
  
• 
  causes recognition
• gt the behavior
  that is identified as
• deviant and
  that gains the attention of
• authorities
• b) secondary
  deviance societys response
• to
  that behavior and the
• 
  subsequent behaviors that
• result from societys response

34

• b. premise
• 1) individual behaves
  aberrantly
• 2) behavior is noticed
  (an arrest) by
• authorities who
  then respond
• 3) label is attached
• 4) upon being labeled,
  individual will act in
• the manner
  consistent with his / her
• expectations of
  that label
• c. comments
• gt is it the label or
  the response

35

• 6. Radical Theory
• a. a combination of economic and social
  structure
• discussions
• b. popularized in the 60s as an
  alternative to
• capitalistic materialism
• c. highlighted the struggle / conflict
  between the
• haves and have-nots Bourgeoisie
  vs the
• Proletariats
• d. proponents
• 1) Ralf Dahrendorf (1958)
• Consensus vs Coercion

36

• a) government by consensus is
  a utopian dream
• gt there will always be
  those who must be
• forced to comply
  with the social order by
• those in power
• b) social change can only
  occur as the
• product of diverse
  groups politically
• agreeing with one
  another as one group
• acquiesces (is coerced)
  to the group in power
• 2. Richard Quinney (1970)
• The Social Reality of Crime
• a) crime is defined /
  created by politicians
  

37

• b) these definitions describe
  behaviors that
• conflict with those who
  have the power to
• shape public policy
• c) crime definitions are
  applied to specific
• segments of the
  population
• d) crime definitions are
  distributed by various
• media
• e) the reality of crime is
  that it is constructed,
• developed, and applied
  onto specific
• segments of the
  population by those who
• shape that reality

38

• 7. New Criminology
• (Ian Taylor, Paul Walton, and Jock
  Young, 1973)
• a. crime is a social disease, but,
  it is normal, even
• expected
• b. as societal members become
  demoralized by
• lifes daily pressures,
  engulfed by daily
• temptations, and denied
  legitimate avenues to
• social advantage, they engage
  in crime
• c. economic / political / social
  systems converge
• to create untenable personal
  situations
• d. criminals are not unique, they
  are victims of
• social inequities

39

• 8. Marxist Criminology
• a. ostensibly based on Karl Marxs
  Das Kapital
• (1858)
• b. society is divided by clear and
  distinct social
• classes
• c. those in the lower classes are
  demoralized and
• more likely to become criminal
• 1) they are alienated
• 2) less equipped to compete
  prosocially
• d. violations of basic human
  rights, are not normal
• but the pathological products
  of a pathologically
• sick economic system

40

• e. until the well-being of all is
  considered imperative
• over the well-being of the
  individual, crime will
• persist
• f. the panacea to crime is socialism
• 9. conclusion
• a. society is made up of diverse
  groups often at
• conflict with each other
• gt various cultural norms and
  identities confuse
• and contradict
• b. law is not equally distributed,
  neither is its
• creation nor application

41

• c. all conflict perspectives define
  all crime as
• political crime
• gt law is applied most
  punitively to those who
• have little to do with its
  creation

42
G. Recent Explanations

• 1. Victimology
• a. social and political changes
  revived
• victimization scholarship
• b. as the 1960s generation
  matured, their ideals
• shifted away from the
  offender to the victim
• gt scholarly interest grew as
  to who the victim
• was and what to do about
  him / her
• c. resurrected the work of Hans
  von Hentig (1948)
• 1) first to examine the role
  of the victim in
• criminal encounters

43

• 2) identified causal factors
  contributing to
• victimization (victim
  precipitation)
• a) personal factors
• 1 age 5 greed
• 2 class 6
  promiscuity
• 3 race /
  ethnicity 7 lonesome
• 4 mental competence 8 martyrdom
• b) situational factors
  (Crime Victim Theory)
• 1 time and space
• gt when and
  where the victim is,
• matters
• 2 the activity the
  victim is doing, matters

44

• c) functional
  responsibility
• 1 in assigning
  blame, who / what is at
• fault in any
  criminal encounter
• 2 did the victim
  ask for it?
• 3 should the
  state have been more
• vigilant?
• 2. Routine Activities Theory (Larry
  Cohen and
• Marcus Felson, 1979)
• a. crime is the product of the
  typical daily life of
• both the offender and the
  victim
• b. the actual incident is
  often a matter of
• coincidence and
  circumstance

45

• c. crime criteria
• 1) motivated offender
• gt they make no effort
  to discuss who this
• might be
• 2) reasonable target
• gt the role of the
  victim
• 3) absence of capable
  guardian
• a) no one watching
• b) poor security

46

• 3. Rational Choice Theory (Derek
  Cornish and
• Ronald Clarke, 1986)
• a. a cost-benefit perspective
  what are the gains
• what are the losses
• gt this is not intended to be
  a critical analysis
• but more an immediate
  opportunity
• assessment
• b. decisions to engage are based
  on previous
• experiences, personal
  morality, self-esteem,
• motivation
• c. different crimes require
  different decisions

47

• 3. gender based theory
• a. feminist criminology
• 1) the politics of gender
• gt SEX is an ascribed
  condition
• 2) gender roles are social
  constructions derived
• through social interaction
• a) social
  self-regulation occurs through
• socialization and
  insures that all actors
• monitor their own
  gender conduct
• b) males are positioned
  most
• advantageously in all
  decision-making
• activities

48

• c) aggressive males /
  passive females
• 3) the perspective
• a) outgrowth of the
  1960s Civil Rights and
• Womens Liberation
  Movement
• b) women seeking equity
  in employment,
• resources, status,
  opportunity
• 1 rejection of the
  glass ceiling
• 2 equity through
  education, hierarchical
• employment
  opportunity, social
• empowerment,
  inclusion

49

• c) historically, women
  face discrimination,
• suppression, and
  oppression at the
• hands of the
  dominant state (i.e., males)
• d) in spite of social
  progress, women are
• still constricted by
  sexism, chauvinism,
• and paternalism
• e) women engage in crime
  for different
• reasons than men
• 1 nurturance
  (support of families,
• 
  friends)
• 2 stability (aversion to
  confrontation)
• 3 raging hormones

50

• b. Masculinity Theory (James
  Messerschmidt,
• 1993)
• 1) the masculine hegemony
• gt MEN RULE!!!
• 2) men are driven by paid
  labor, heterosexism,
• subordination of women,
  uncontrollable
• sexuality, violence /
  aggression
• 3) men do MANLY things
• gt some men are more manly
  than others
• 4) social descriptions compel
  some men to act
• in ways they might not
  otherwise act

51

• 4. Life Course Theory (Robert Sampson
  and John
• Laub, 1993)
• a. basically a developmental
  extension of Hirschis
• social bond theory
• b. the quality of social bond (Hirschis
  construct)
• i.e., the basis of both formal
  and informal
• social control, over ones life,
  affects the onset,
• persistence, and desistence of
  criminal behavior
• c. as social capital (status in all
  forms) increases,
• the relationships formed because
  of it, affect
• criminal decision-making
• d. who you hang out with and who /
  what is
• important to you affects you

52

• 5. The Post Modernists (late 20th
  Century)
• a. the message
• 1) the recognition /
  acknowledgement that
• science cannot explain all
  things, and in fact
• often create further
  problems
• 2) the best information often
  comes from those
• directly affected by and
  who engage in the
• activities of concern
• 3) promotion of qualitative
  (narrative / story
• telling) research over
  quantitative (data-
• driven) research

53

• b. Newsmaking Criminology
• (Gregg Barak, 1988)
• 1) actually an admonishment
  those who know
• should voice what it is
  they know
• 2) use the popular cultures
  need for information
• as a forum to educate those
  who might not
• otherwise hear
  alternative (real) truths
• 3) change can only occur when
  the public
• understands crime
• 4) news must be objective and
  non-partisan

54

• c. Peacemaking Criminology
• (Richard Quinney and Hal
  Pepinsky, 1991)
• 1) based on the non-violent
  confrontation
• philosophy posited by
  Martin Luther King, Jr
• 2) the solution to crime is
  active nonviolent
• resistance to evil
• 3) friendship and understanding
  is more
• important than defeating or
  humiliating your
• opponent
• 4) defeating the forces of evil
  is more important
• than defeating those who
  happen to be doing
• evil

55

• 5) willingly accept suffering
  without retaliation
• 6) refuse to hate your opponent
• 7) act with conviction that
  justice will prevail
• 8) promote peaceful
  co-existence, inclusion v
• exclusion, empathy

56
H. Conclusion

• 1. the entire universe of human experience
  can be
• used (held accountable) as a focal
  point of crime
• creation and accomplishment
• 2. the search for reasonable explanations
  to crime is
• limited only by our own imagination
• 3. the problem of explaining crime is
  vast, the solutions
• are not
• a. we must decide to take crime
  issues seriously
• b. we must acknowledge that crime
  will not
• disappear

57

• c. pay attention to what people need
  and then help
• them achieve it
• d. acknowledge that we cannot solve
  everyones
• problems, but helping the few we
  can may affect
• others
• 4. the solution is a comprehensive
  vision, so must be
• our resolve
• 5. public policy decisions-making based
  on macro-level
• explanations coupled with micro-level
  understanding,
• can chart the appropriate direction
  for a crime cure