CRIM10001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Juvenile Delinquency, Travis Hirschi, Labeling Theory
29 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 2, Lecture 2
Theories of Crime Causation
Structural Explanations
Locating Crime
The Chicago School was the major forerunner for these kinds of theories, and produced what is
called social ecology. Social ecology emerged in 1920s and 1930s out of the University of
Chicago, and is a sociological theory of crime causation. Social ecology notes that crime is more
concentrated in particular areas, typically the less wealthy areas.
Key questions that were asked include:
• Why do crime rates vary within a city?
• What is the relationship between urban spaces and crime?
The concept of social ecology focused upon social disorganisation manifested through urban
spaces.
Strain Theory
The origins of strain theory are attributed to the sociologist Emile Durkheim. He chronicled the
Industrial Revolution, and argued that modern industrial societies produce collective conscience.
This is a concept that we all generally subscribe to, and is a consensus about the right/wrong ways
to behave. The criminal law it followed was considered an accurate reflection of the collective
conscience, and crystallised a social consensus with a binding role in a successful society.
Durkheim claimed the French term ‘anomie’, which translates to malaise or normlessness. An
individual in the state of anomie does not share in the collective consciousness, and therefore it
does not guide their behaviour in the way that it would for someone who is deeply invested in a
collective conscience. People experiencing anomie lack a code of conduct by which they judge
their behaviours, and there are many complex reasons why this might be the case. Durkheim
argued that an increase in anomie results in a decrease in consensus about behaviour, producing
alienation amongst certain groups.
Robert Merton developed a working criminological explanation for all of this, particularly how
people attain distorted views that proceed to guide their behaviour. Merton applied anomie to strain
theory. He asserted that in an advanced, capitalist society, individuals are given goals to aspire to.
He believed that this was problematic, because the legitimate means to attain these goals are not
evenly distributed. This is where the term ‘strain’ comes from: the idea that there is a discrepancy
between shared social goals and the legitimate means to attain these. Merton argued that all
people feel a measure of strain, but that this is more pronounced in disorganised (poor)
communities.
The Goals-Means Discrepancy
Individuals respond in different ways to the strain between goals and means. On one hand, people
who experience these strains feel the need to adapt, and some choose to do this by employing
illegitimate means to achieve goals. For a variety of reasons, people’s legitimate means are
thwarted, and they therefore adopt illegitimate means.
They also often form groups, and group-formation is a crucial part of strain theory. Strain theorists
talk about sub-groups, who solve their problem collectively. The idea of sub-cultures helps to
explain why some groups might operate in illegitimate ways more than others. In this context, it
relates to groups that have bound together to collectively to form values in opposition to those of
mainstream society. Strain theorists propose that these groups are formed because individuals
within a group share similar experiences, and all lack the illegitimate means to achieve their goals
The classic sub-culture within criminology is the young, urban male ‘gang’, though these groups do
not necessarily have to be defined by groups that are at the bottom of the socio-economic
spectrum. Particular groups within a society have values that are aligned with, or conducive to,
crime and deviance.
Integration of Strain Theory, Subcultures and Disorganised Places
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The chicago school was the major forerunner for these kinds of theories, and produced what is called social ecology. Social ecology emerged in 1920s and 1930s out of the university of. Chicago, and is a sociological theory of crime causation. Social ecology notes that crime is more concentrated in particular areas, typically the less wealthy areas. The concept of social ecology focused upon social disorganisation manifested through urban spaces. The origins of strain theory are attributed to the sociologist emile durkheim. Industrial revolution, and argued that modern industrial societies produce collective conscience. This is a concept that we all generally subscribe to, and is a consensus about the right/wrong ways to behave. The criminal law it followed was considered an accurate reflection of the collective conscience, and crystallised a social consensus with a binding role in a successful society. Durkheim claimed the french term anomie", which translates to malaise or normlessness.
