Using Material from Item a and Elsewhere, Assess the Usefulness of Subcultural Theories in Explaining ‘Subcultural Crime and Deviance’ in Society Today (21 Marks) Essay Example
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of subcultural theories in explaining ‘subcultural crime and deviance’ in society today (21 marks)
Subcultural theories believe that people who commit a crime share different values to the rest of society. Subculture theories come from two different schools of sociology which are appreciative sociology and strain theory. Appreciative sociology came from the University of Chicago in the early 20th Century; Chicago sociologists were determined to appreciate other lifestyles and cultures in Chicago using a participant observation which existed after a huge number of migrants from Europe and Southern USA. Whyte’s Street Corner Society (1943) suggests that deviant groups in society have clear norms and values which justify their behaviour. The Chicago study would say that it is useful in explaining subcultural crime and deviance because they used participant observations to get more accurate results within different subcultures and Whyte would also agree that it is useful because they could justify their behaviour by the norms and values in which they share.
In item A “some sociologists link subcultural crime and deviance to the nature of capitalism” this shows that some sociologists believe that it doesn’t matter about what your norms and values are but depending on the amount of money that you have will determine you to turn to crime. In a stratified society they have goals which are linked with their position in the social system, each layer share different goals, but the system can only work if the majority of people can reach their goals, however, if they can’t then you can reach an anomie. This theory of that crime is committed due to your social class isn’t useful because it is more stereotypical to say that a lower on under class would commit the crimes rather than middle and upper class due to their subcultures norms and values being different but it isn’t to say that they won’t commit the
Subcultural theories believe that people who commit a crime share different values to the rest of society. Subculture theories come from two different schools of sociology which are appreciative sociology and strain theory. Appreciative sociology came from the University of Chicago in the early 20th Century; Chicago sociologists were determined to appreciate other lifestyles and cultures in Chicago using a participant observation which existed after a huge number of migrants from Europe and Southern USA. Whyte’s Street Corner Society (1943) suggests that deviant groups in society have clear norms and values which justify their behaviour. The Chicago study would say that it is useful in explaining subcultural crime and deviance because they used participant observations to get more accurate results within different subcultures and Whyte would also agree that it is useful because they could justify their behaviour by the norms and values in which they share.
In item A “some sociologists link subcultural crime and deviance to the nature of capitalism” this shows that some sociologists believe that it doesn’t matter about what your norms and values are but depending on the amount of money that you have will determine you to turn to crime. In a stratified society they have goals which are linked with their position in the social system, each layer share different goals, but the system can only work if the majority of people can reach their goals, however, if they can’t then you can reach an anomie. This theory of that crime is committed due to your social class isn’t useful because it is more stereotypical to say that a lower on under class would commit the crimes rather than middle and upper class due to their subcultures norms and values being different but it isn’t to say that they won’t commit the