Cloward and Ohlin's Three Subcultures

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  • Created by: 11JoneA1
  • Created on: 17-01-18 16:17

Reaction to Merton and Cohen

  • Agree w/c youths are denied opportunity to acheieve money success
    • This leads to DEVIANCE 
  • BUT different subcultures respond in different ways
    • Not all innovate 
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Differences in Subcultural Responses

  • Unequal access to legitimate opportunities
  • Unequal access to illegitimate opportunities
    • Not everyone is successful in illegitimate opportunities
  • Different neighbourhoods = different illegal/illegitimate opportunities to learn different skills and develop criminal career
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Subcultural Responses

Criminal Subculture

  • Neighbourhoods with longstanding crime
  • Heirarchy of professional adult crime 
    • Training/role models for younger members
  • Opportunities to climb criminal career ladder

Conflict Subculture  (closest to Cohen)

  • Areas of high population turn over - social disorganisation
  • Violence due to frustration over blocked opportunities 
    • Loosely organised gangs
  • Look for status by earning or winning turf/territory 

Retreatist Subculture

  • Not everyone succeeds in criminal acts/careers
  • Failing through legitimate AND illegitimate means = retreat into drug use
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Chicago School

University of Chicago - first sociology department in US - 1972 - significant study of crime and deviance

  • Cultural Transmission Theory: criminal culture passed down from generation to generation (Shaw and McKay)
  • Differential Association Theory: deviant behaviour learned through social interaction with others who are deviant (Sutherland)
  • Social Disorganisation Theory: Societal instability disrupts family and community structures. These become unable to exercise social control over individuals - results in deviance (Park and Burgess)
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Criticism

  • Marxists: ignore wider power structure
    • Includes who makes/enforces laws
  • Boundaries between subcultures are not clear cut
    • South: drug trade is disorganised AND professional crime (conflict and criminal)
  • Some retreatists are professional drug dealers
    • Make money from Utilitarian crime
  • Too reactive - only explains subcultures in reaction to failure of mainstream goal, but does everyone want this?
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