Examining Theory Paper

The Conflict model, sometimes called the “system conflict theory” or non-system perspective, provides another approach to the study of Criminology and Criminal Justice. The studies of this model, focuses on the social inequalities of different groups. Criminologists believe that society and social order are based on the powerful and dominant groups. This model argues that all of the social components are designed to serve their own interests and that justice is a product of conflict, rather than cooperation. Meaning that the criminal justice system is expected to compete between each other in order to make justice in society, and that this is the most accurate way to deal with crime.

In this paper I will examine the social structure theory, along with its definition and how the different types of theories make up the social structure theory. I will also attempt to discuss the strain, culture conflict, and social disorganization theory all of which make up the social conflict theory. I also wish to discuss the video “Tent City, Arizona” and answer the following questions, “How does the video you selected support a social structure theory? What is the primary subject or content of the video? What social issues are raised in the video? What major principles of sociological theory are addressed in the video? What might be some possible ramifications for social policy change?”

Social bond theory was initially developed by Hirschi in 1969. The basis of this theory is that criminal behaviour occurs when social bonds are broken. Hirschi (1969) explains how there are four key factors of a social bond and the strain on these factors motivates deviant behaviour. By applying Hirschi's social bond theory to prison can begin to explain why the prison experience may increase later reoffending. Nagin et al (2009) furthers this explaining how prison may have negative effects on offender through reducing exposure of positive pro social bonds and increasing the exposure of negative influences.

Rusche and Kirchheimer are some of these sociological theorists, by describing the current patterns of incarceration in terms of economic changes. They theorize that

As our text points out, the social construction of the correctional system is largely based on that which is portrayed in the media, particularly the movies. This stems from the fact that most of the population has no experience knowledge or conversational knowledge about corrections. Therefore, the bulk of our knowledge comes from media related imagery. The media and by proxy the general public are looking for the flashy news stories that grab your attention and shock our sensibilities. Not surprisingly, a typical day in prison, which is largely mundane and routine, doesn’t seem to fit the bill. However, when an atypical event occurs, such as a riot or a prison break, that routine is suddenly thrown into disarray, and the prison is thrust

Shane Bauer is a reporter. He has reported on solitary confinement, police militarization, and the Middle East. He went undercover as a prison guard in one of Louisiana’s corporate-run prisons. He worked there for 4 months and documented his experiences. For this report he has won many awards. This article is found on the website/magazine of Mother Jones. Mother Jones is a magazine that won the American Society of Magazine Editors’ 2017 Magazine of the Year Award. The intended readers are for those who are civil rights activists and care about other human beings. The author is exploring what the conditions are in a medium level prison for all involved. It argues that the prison isn’t well funded, nor does it properly take care of its inmates. He is working in the prison and experiencing these things first hand, while recording it.

To thoroughly analyze the article written by Contenta et al. (2008), a social structure theorist’s perspective will be utilized to explain reasons for D’Souza continuous involvement in crime. Particularly, this theory will be discussed using its two subtypes: social disorganization theory and strain theory. Moreover, there will be discussion regarding how the concept of specific deterrence failed to divert D’Souza’s from criminal behaviour. Instead, incarceration seems to have increased his rate of recidivism, rather than helping to reduce his delinquency. As a result, his continuous engagement in illegal activities led to the unfortunate circumstance of being violently victimized, known as an equivalent group hypothesis (Siegel & McCormick,

In chapter 6 of our text, social structure theories are outlined and discussed. Three types of social structures are addressed, they are, social disorganization, strain theory, and culture conflict theory. All three theories were developed in the early 1900’s and both strain theory and culture conflict theory are still used to explain reasons why persons experience poverty, are uneducated, have lack of job skills, and how individual’s social economic status correlates with their reasoning behind their decisions to commit crimes, and are they conscious or unconscious do to their status per say. Unlike strain theory and cultural conflict theory, social disorganization theory is not utilized in today’s world to explain why people function

Social structure, as it relates to Criminal offenders, is the theory that asks the question of “why” individuals in today’s society commit criminal acts. The social structure theory presumes that individuals falling within the lower class and facing economic hardships are more prone to commit criminal offenses including acts of violence because of their social status in a community or a society. It is believed the poor are more likely to commit crime because it is the only way in which they can accrue money an increase social success. Social structure theory has three schools of thought--social disorganization, strain, and cultural deviance theories. Social Disorganization is the focus on environment, which can be seen demonstrated in neighborhoods that are prone to illegal activities and citizens fail to work together in an effort to solve problems. In other words, a person 's residential location is a significant factor when determining the likelihood that that person will become involved in crime. Neighborhoods with residents who know each other, enjoy social gatherings together, and keep an eye on one another’s children, are more likely to experience less crime and more likely to positively influence the resident youth. For example, the close network of neighbors who may come

One strghtns is that this theory explains the onset of criminal activity. Many research points out that youth engage in cybercriminaly as a result of peer association. Additionally, many youth may engage online and offline in bulletin baoords, chat rooms and conferences that allowed them to form certain type or relationships and mainintain communication to increased their abilities and skills.Another streght is that Social Learning Theory holds is that it helps to explain how the individual’s social context influence the decisions that individuals may take. On the other hand, one weakness is that delinquent indivudlas may associate with other delinquent indivudlas in order to continue commiting crimes. For example, a delinquent juvenile with high experience in illegally downloading material may seek to associate with other delinquent inviduals. Another weakness is that the theory fails to distinguish how individuals accept criminal definitions as right when engaging in criminal activity. The final weakness is that it assumes that all individuals acquire the same social learning interaction and the same reaction to an action or

For example, street credit may drive one individual to commit certain crimes in order to maintain a certain image or keep or improve status. The labeling theory is also mentioned in this part of the chapter. The next part of the chapter addresses crime and the sociological theories behind it. The book defines crime as, “any act that violates a formal normative code that has been enacted by a legally constituted body” (162). The first theory introduced is the strain theory which explains that excessive deviance is a by-product of inequality. The second is the broken windows theory which explains how social controls can make minor acts spiral into severe crime (163). The last theory is the opportunity theory which says that those who have opportunities will be more likely to commit crimes than those who have less (164). The remainder of the chapter talks about the different types of crime (violent, property, white-collar,consumer, hate,etc.) and provides statistics about crime in the United States and the globalization of crime as

Possibly, the cause of the types of the crimes or the criminal behaviours traces their roots from the social bond theory as part of their reason for the sociological setup.

Headlines across the state report all too often headlines such as: Prison Officer Jailed for Smuggling Drugs, Prison Officer Jailed for Lesbian Affair with Inmate, Private Prison in Mississippi Closes Its Doors After SPLC Lawsuit Correction Officer Jailed Five Years for Amphetamine Trafficking, Prison Officer Jailed for Molesting Male Inmate, and the latest scandal Four Female Inmates Impregnated by Same Inmate. Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment investigated how people would behave when placed in the role of guards and prisoners. Was the brutality from guards in the prisons because of their personalities or the

As a result, their conduct is less influenced by group norms and expressed in two related ways. They consist of lack of regulation and lack of interrogation (Bohm and Vogel, 2011). In lack of regulation, the collective conscious is unable to regulate human desires (Bohm and Vogel, 2011). In the lack of interrogation human beings no longer care about the welfare of others (Bohm and Vogel, 2011). Durkheim argued that anomie can be linked to social ill in crime. In macro-sociology, crime marks the boundary and function of society. If it did not exist, human beings would be lost (Bohm and Vogel, 2011). Crime provided a mean of exchange by achieving the necessity of social changes. Tarde and Durkheim suggested that social interactions and criminal motivation can be linked to the Macro-sociological Theory of crime (Bohm and Vogel, 2011). They identified the particular social groups that affect criminal motivation and the process by which criminal socialization occurs. On the other hand, Durkheim advocated a division of labor without social inequities, occupational associations and the abolition of inheritance to reduce crime (Bohm and Vogel,

Have you ever wondered why criminals commit the crimes that they do? What gives them the motive to commit such act? Well the social structure theory emphasize subcultural values as the fundamental causes of crime. Not only that, it also focuses on poverty, lack of education, income inequality, disorganization within the family, and absence of marketable skills. This paper will address the social disorganization theory and the major principle of sociological theories within Merton’s anomie theory, and Agnew’s general strain theory.