Lower-Class Subculture Analysis

The independent subculture of the lower-class consists of focal concerns, which are values that the lower class have which controls their lives. These focal concerns include smartness, toughness, trouble, excitement, autonomy, fate. In the lower-class community, excitement is typically valued because lower-class people lead dull lives, autonomy is typically valued because to let anyone have control over you is considered bad, trouble is typically valued because people in lower-class communities are judged based on how much trouble they can cause, toughness is valued because those who aren’t touch are considered weak, fate is typically valued because most members of the lower class believe that some other worldly being is in control of their …show more content…
The second article, which discusses the 17-year-old boy shooting the 16-year-old boy so that he could be involved in a gang, could be applied to Cohen’s theory because part of the focal concerns of the lower class community is toughness and the teenager thought that by shooting another teenager and, joining a gang, that he would be excepted as a tough guy by his peers in the community. The third article, which talks about the escort singer, doesn’t apply to Cohen’s theory because the girl, even though she committed a crime, which deviates from the societal norm of following the law, couldn’t be considered …show more content…
The interactions between human beings are either observed through close relationships or through media. If these interactions are considered good, then they are rewarded and if these interactions are considered bad, then they are avoided. Social learning theorists believe that crime comes from behaviors, values and norms that are typically associated with criminal activities and what this basically means is that crime is a learned behavior (Siegel,