Criminology Chapter 6: Social Structure Theories

Front 1

Stratified Society

Back 1

Grouping according to social strata or levels. American society is considered stratified on the basis of economic class and wealth.

Front 2

Culture of Poverty

Back 2

The view that people in the lower class of society form a separate culture with its own values and norms that are in conflict with conventional society; the culture is self-maintaining and ongoing.

Front 3

At-Risk

Back 3

Children and adults who lack the education and skills needed to be effectively in demand in modern society.

Front 4

Underclass

Back 4

The lowest social stratum in any country, whose members lack the education and skills needed to function successfully in modern society.

Front 5

Social Structure Theory

Back 5

The view that disadvantaged economic class position is a primary cause of crime.

Front 6

Social Disorganization Theory

Back 6

Branch of social structure theory that focuses on the breakdown of institutions such as the family, school, and employment in inner-city neighborhoods.

Front 7

Strain Theory

Back 7

Branch of social structure theory that sees crime as a function of the conflict between people's goals and the means available to obtain them.

Front 8

Strain

Back 8

The emotional turmoil and conflict caused when people believe they cannot achieve their goals and desires through legitimate means. Members of the lower class might feel strain because they are denied access to adequate educational opportunities and social support.

Front 9

Cultural Deviance Theory

Back 9

Branch of social structure theory that sees strain and social disorganization together resulting in a unique lower-class culture that conflicts with conventional social norm.

Front 10

Subcultures

Back 10

Groups that are loosely part of the dominant culture but maintain a unique set of values, beliefs, and traditions.

Front 11

Cultural Transmission

Back 11

The concept that conduct norms are passed down from one generation to the next so that they become stable within the boundaries of a culture. Cultural transmission guarantees that group lifestyle and behavior are stable and predictable.

Front 12

Truly Disadvantaged

Back 12

Wilson's term for the lowest level of the underclass; urban, inner-city, socially isolated people who occupy the bottom rung of the social ladder and are the victims of discrimination.

Front 13

Transitional Neighborhoods

Back 13

Areas undergoing a shift in population and structure, usually from middle-class residential to lower-class mixed use.

Front 14

Concentration Effect

Back 14

Working- and Middle-Class families flee inner-city poverty areas, resulting in the most disadvantaged population being consolidated in the most disorganized urban neighborhoods.

Front 15

Incivilities

Back 15

Rude and uncivil behavior; behavior that indicates little caring for the feelings of others.

Front 16

Siege Mentality

Back 16

Residents who become so suspicious of authority that they consider the outside world to be the enemy out to destroy the neighborhood.

Front 17

Gentrification

Back 17

A residential renewal stage in which obsolete housing is replaced and upgraded; areas undergoing such change seem to experience an increase in their crime rates.

Front 18

Collective Efficacy

Back 18

Social control exerted by cohesive communities, based on mutual trust, including intervention in the superstition of children and maintenance of public order.

Front 19

Street Efficacy

Back 19

A concept in which more cohesive communities with high levels of social control and social integration foster the ability for kids to use their wits to avoid violent confrontations and to feel safe in their own neighborhood. Adolescents with high levels of street efficacy are less likely to resort to violence themselves or to associate with delinquent peers.

Front 20

Relative Deprivation

Back 20

The condition that exists when people of wealth and poverty live in close proximity to one another. Some criminologists attribute crime rate differentials to relative deprivation.

Front 21

Anomie

Back 21

According to Durkheim, an anomic society is one in which rules of behavior (values, customs, and norms) have broken down or become inoperative during periods of rapid social change or social crisis.

Front 22

Mechanical Solidarity

Back 22

A characteristic of a preindustrial society, which is held together by traditions, shared values, and unquestioned beliefs.

Front 23

Organic Solidarity

Back 23

Postindustrial social systems, which are highly developed and dependent upon the division of labor; people are connected by their interdependent needs for one another's services and production.

Front 24

Theory of Anomie

Back 24

A modified version of the concept of anomie developed by Merton to fit social, economic, and cultural conditions found in modern U.S. society. He found that two elements of culture interact to produce potentially anomic conditions, culturally defined goals and socially approved means for obtaining them.

Front 25

Institutional Anomie Theory

Back 25

The view that anomie invades U.S. culture because the drive for material wealth dominates and undermines social and community values.

Front 26

American Dream

Back 26

The goal of accumulating material goods and wealth through individual competition, the process of being socialized to pursue material success and to believe it is achievable.

Front 27

General Strain Theory

Back 27

According to Agnew, the view that multiple sources of strain interact with an individual's emotional traits and responses to produce criminality.

Front 28

Negative Affective States

Back 28

According to Agnew, anger, depression, disappointment, fear and other adverse emotions that derive from strain.

Front 29

Conduct Norms

Back 29

Behaviors expected of social group members. If group norms conflict with those of the general culture, members of the group may find themselves described as outcasts or criminals.

Front 30

Culture Conflict

Back 30

According to Sellin, a condition brought about when the rules and norms of an individual's subculture affiliation conflict with the role demands of conventional society.

Front 31

Focal Concerns

Back 31

According to Miller, the value orientations of lower-class cultures, features include the needs for excitement, trouble, smartness, and personal autonomy.

Front 32

Status Frustration

Back 32

A form of culture conflict experienced by lower-class youths because social conditions prevent them from achieving success as defined by the larger society.

Front 33

Middle-Class Measuring Rods

Back 33

According to Cohen, the standards by which teachers and other representatives of state authority evaluate lower-class youths. Because they cannot live up to middle-class standards, lower-class youths are bound for failure, which gives rise to frustration and anger at conventional society.

Front 34

Corner Boy

Back 34

According to Cohen, a role in the lower-class culture in which young men remain in their birth neighborhood, acquire families and menial jobs, and adjust tot he demands of their environment.

Front 35

College Boy

Back 35

A disadvantaged youth who embraces the cultural and social values of the middle class and actively strives to be successful by those standards. This type of youth is embarking on an almost hopeless path, because he is ill-equipped academically, socially and linguistically to achieve the rewards of the middle-class life.

Front 36

Delinquent Boy

Back 36

A youth who adopts a set of norms and principles in direct opposition to middle-class values, engaging in short-run hedonism, living for today and letting tomorrow take car of itself.

Front 37

Reaction Formation

Back 37

According to Cohen, rejecting goals and standards that seem impossible to achieve. Because a boy cannot hope to get into college, for ex, he considers higher education a waste of time.

Front 38

Differential Opportunity

Back 38

The view that lower-class youths, whose legitimate opportunities are limited, join gangs and pursue criminal careers as alternative means to achieve universal success goals.