Elijah Anderson’s, Code of the Streets is a text which details direct observations which lead him to report findings on a new subculture of violence which exists within inner city impoverish neighborhoods. Anderson’s, code of the street is one of the latest subcultural theories of crime developed in the late 20th and the early 21st century. Anderson draws on extensive field research on the group in question; low status African American youths residing in impoverish inner cities. The ethnographic observations of Anderson’s research is credited for the level of detail and complexity and is one of his many strengths on the particular subculture of violence (Brezina, 2004). Anderson’s research aims to address how and through what variables violence
…show more content…
The age of subcultural theories of crime began in 1950s with Cohen’s (1955) work on delinquent boys. Throughout the later part of 1950s and the 1960s, subcultural theories of crime were pervasive in the criminological and sociological discourse. But, in the 1970s the ongoing social movements propelled a new form of criminological theories; labelling theories of crime and as a result, subcultural theories of crime started to see a decrease in interest, this was coupled with changes in research methodology that added to the new labelling theories and were at odds with subcultural explanations (Miller, Cohen, Bryant, 1997). While the above were contributing reasons for the demise of subcultural explanation of crime, it was the limitations posed by subcultural theories as a whole which was the primary factor for its decreased in relevance within the academic domain. Thus far, the paper has addressed benefits and limitations of the subcultural theories explored, this last section will critique the subcultural theoretical framework and how the change in discourse within the subcultural explanations can reverse the current demise and unpopularity apparent to subcultural …show more content…
The traditional definition of subculture is that lower, subordinate, or deviant status of social groups and these groups as distinguished by their class, ethnicity, language, working class, age, and gender (Cutler, 2006). The first critique of subcultural theories of crimes is the inadequate definition assigned to the concept. Due to subculture theories focusing on youth delinquency and gangs, the two have become synonyms to the concept of ‘subculture’ and creating a “catch-all” term for any aspect of social life in which youths are involved (Nwalozie, 2015). The over deterministic emphasis on group criminality and gangs being the cause of criminality is heavily pursued within subcultural research but fails to comment on personal choice and free will when examining criminal behavior (Clubb,
The age of subcultural theories of crime began in 1950s with Cohen’s (1955) work on delinquent boys. Throughout the later part of 1950s and the 1960s, subcultural theories of crime were pervasive in the criminological and sociological discourse. But, in the 1970s the ongoing social movements propelled a new form of criminological theories; labelling theories of crime and as a result, subcultural theories of crime started to see a decrease in interest, this was coupled with changes in research methodology that added to the new labelling theories and were at odds with subcultural explanations (Miller, Cohen, Bryant, 1997). While the above were contributing reasons for the demise of subcultural explanation of crime, it was the limitations posed by subcultural theories as a whole which was the primary factor for its decreased in relevance within the academic domain. Thus far, the paper has addressed benefits and limitations of the subcultural theories explored, this last section will critique the subcultural theoretical framework and how the change in discourse within the subcultural explanations can reverse the current demise and unpopularity apparent to subcultural …show more content…
The traditional definition of subculture is that lower, subordinate, or deviant status of social groups and these groups as distinguished by their class, ethnicity, language, working class, age, and gender (Cutler, 2006). The first critique of subcultural theories of crimes is the inadequate definition assigned to the concept. Due to subculture theories focusing on youth delinquency and gangs, the two have become synonyms to the concept of ‘subculture’ and creating a “catch-all” term for any aspect of social life in which youths are involved (Nwalozie, 2015). The over deterministic emphasis on group criminality and gangs being the cause of criminality is heavily pursued within subcultural research but fails to comment on personal choice and free will when examining criminal behavior (Clubb,