Ch 4 Sociological Positivism PDF

Preview

Summary

Prof. Ania Theuer...

Description

Oct 3, 2019

Sociological Positivism Introduction ❖ Structural theories, outlines subcultures, how deviant behaviour is learned ❖ Social structure and social learning that contribute to criminal behaviour ➢ Ie. social structures take “life of its own” ❖ Sociological perspectives view crime as manifestations of social pathology rather than ind pathology ❖ Crime understood relative to tension or strains ❖ strains/tensions generated by and w/i structure of society ❖ 2 main wings of strain theory ➢ Emphasis on “opportunity structures” ➢ Those that speak about learning of norms, values, and subcultural attributes

Social context -

-

3 key periods - Rise of sociology as an academic discipline (mid-19th to early 20th cy) - Professional sociology (early 1920-ww11) - Postwar pd - late 1940, 1950 Sociology as an academic discipline Applied the approaches and concepts of the natural sciences to the study of society Consensus over values and norms (supportive of status quo)

1st Period ❖ Sociological method constructed broad categorization of diff societal types (eg. preindustrial, industrial) ❖ Society was presumed to shape ind behaviour ❖ Crim behaviour believed to be manifestation of pathology

2nd Period ❖ Wide-scale migration of war, political, and economic refugees to countries like CAD, US, AUS, NZ due to class struggles and armed conflicts ➢ Russian revolution 1917 ➢ Great depression 1929-1939 ➢ Nazi mvmt in GER 1930s ➢ Wwii 1939-1945

3rd Period ❖ pd of economic boom and growth, optimism rising living standards (capitalism seen as model for success)

Oct 3, 2019 ❖ Problem: explain persistent crime rates despite good socio-economic conditions? ❖ Ans: examine distribution of opportunities in society and how ppl interact w/ and learn fm each other

Basic Concepts ❖ Definitions of crime ➢ Social problem caused by social phenomenon (social disjuncture or structural processes) that rep strain wi society ➢ Based on sociological understanding of ind and group behaviour ➢ Violation of general consensus and values of society (rather than strictly a violation of legal code/court convictions) ❖ Analysis focus ➢ Strains caused by social tensions and cultural processes rather than ind psychology/ bio traits ➢ Strains associated w “structural opportunities” and “cultural processes” ➢ Considers nature of social learning (ie crime is a product of social structures and value systems) ➢ Analyzes particular subcultures to see how values are transmitted ➢ Studies crimes that are undetected by cjs through alt methods (eg. victim surveys and self-report measures) ❖ Cause of Crime ➢ Criminal has limited options/opportunities to achieve social goals relative to others ➢ limited/restricted options lead some to pursue crim means to achieve goals (hence strain theory is sometimes referred to as “opportunity theory”) ➢ Crim behaviour learned in social situations (“social learning theory” or “subcultural theory”) ❖ Nature of Offender ➢ Determined by social pathology (ie. crime is a product of social factors, not psychological or bio traits) ➢ Ind has few conscious choices regarding available social options ➢ Disadvantaged in some way (unable to achieve certain goals relative to other ppl in society) ❖ Response to crime ➢ Overall goal is to combine ind rehab w a range of social programs ➢ Enhance opportunities to reduce strain for disadvantaged ind ■ Educational programs ■ Employment projects ■ leisure/recreation groups ➢ Resocialize offenders to adopt conventional goals and the means to achieve those goals (possibly by removing the offender from pathological subculture) ❖ Crime prevention ➢ Strain theory aims to expand opportunities

Oct 3, 2019 ➢ Educational ➢ Employment ➢ Social ❖ Foster healthy peer-group activity ❖ Develop strats and policies that involve institutional reform (rather than involve institutional reform (charging just the ind) Historical development - Emile durkheim (founder of strain theory tradition) - Society characterized by collective consciousness which forms determinant system - Crime is an integral part of society - Society determines nature of crime and the regulation of crim behaviour Influence of social phenomena - Durk attempted to empirically demonstrate relationship on whether or not we participate in crime(?) - Society is structured around division of labour - Mechanical solidarity (pre-ind. Where ind share same skills, tasks, and beliefs) vs organic solidarity - preindustrial societies w mechanical solidarity emphansize conformity and cultural homogeneity - Industrial societies w organic solidarity are linked through law and interdependence - Durk - deviants are dealt w differently depending on types of society - Mechanical → repressive justice aimed at reaffirming common beliefs and distancing deviant w collective - Organic → make you part of society, make you productive member → make PRODUCERS (restitutive sanctions) Egoism and Anomie - E: desire of “pre-social” self that must be limited by society - A: lack of social regulation in which the appetites of the ind conscience are not adequately held in check - “State of normlessness” The Chicago School - Facilitated by destructive ecological conditions in urban slums rather than bio or psychological inferiority - Study of diverse aspects of social life w/i its immediate geographical environment - Draw on concepts from biology, eco model studies the impact of lifestyle, urban growth , and social change - Theorists in this school observed that certain city areas shared common characteristics: poverty, decaying housing, transient residents, large immigrant - Shaw and McKay placed crime wi context of changing urban environment (5 areas) - “Natural areas” → affluence and poverty (in 5 conentric circles) - Transition zones → frequent changes - Changes precipitated by breakdown of neighborhood traditions - Zones farthest from city center = lowest crime rate

Oct 3, 2019 Impact of Social Disorganization - Robert K Merton - Explained continued existence of crime despite strong economic growth - Crime rates related to society’s ability to establish norms that adequately regulate behaviour - Relationship bt cultural goals and institutional means determined opportunities and choices - Ppl do - His Typologies - Conform: accept culturally defined goals and institutionalized means to achieve them - Innovation: accept goals but don’t have means to achieve - Ritualism: know the goals and means, but know they cannot attain them; still pursues the means\ - Retreatism: reject means and goals and society; escape/check-out: substance abuse - Rebellion: substitute own goals and means in place of the conventional ones of society; creates own goals and means of achieving them Crime and culture - Sutherland and cressy’s differential association - Rim behaviour learned in particular neighborhoods and social situations - Directed at explaining youth subcultures Differential Association - Process in which behaviour is differentially associated insofar as some ind associated w carriers of criminal norms - Technique - Motives, drives, attitudes, rationalizations - Definitions of the legal code as un/favorable - Differential associations

Subcultures -

Albert Cohen (1955) - Certain subcultures emerge as counter-culture - Measures success in alt goals related to their experience - “Create own culture, code, and ways to behave” - “Way to resist” - Cloward and Ohlin argued crime is collective in nature - Legit opportunities blocked/absent, illegit opp. Structures dev where culturally defined goals are still sought (due to sense of injustice) Routine Activity Theory - Lawrence E Cohen and Marcus Felson - Expands ecological theory to study crime and victim rates over time - 3 structural changes in everyday life

Oct 3, 2019

-

- Motivated offender presence - Suitable target presence - Lack of capable guardian Principle of homogamy (Sampson and Lauritsen Assumption built into theory that everyone will engage in crim behaviours unless prevented from doing so Focus on prevention aimed at lifestyle changes Violence may not be...