Ted Anomie Theory

Criminology data show a strong correlation between undereducated children and juvenile crime. Children who struggle academically in school, have poor attendance, are expelled, or drop out, likelihood to commit crime increases. The social skills such as learning how to have ownership through deadlines, following instructions, and overall dealing with people constructively, are thrown out the door when a student doesn’t finish school. A child who doesn’t end up having a proper education soon realizes he or she can’t get certain jobs due to their insufficient education and feels hopelessness. According to social strain theory, his or her feeling towards social differences are magnified and pushes him or her to attain the “American Dream” or financial security through

The “Affluenza” defense is a greatly debated one. Those who argue in favor of the affluenza defense often make arguments along the lines of a spoiled life causing a child to not see consequences of their actions. Along these lines, they argue that if the children don’t see what their outcome may be, and they carry out negative, harmful, illegal action, their life shouldn’t be ruined based off of the one bad decision. Those who believe in affluenza think that these young people can be steered straight, and these moments can be used as teaching experiences. However, others do not agree in the validity of the Affluenza defense. Those with this perspective also make the argument

Similar to Merton and Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin (1960) attempted to explain why certain individuals or groups are more likely to engage in criminal activities. As well, they argued that people are strained when they fail to obtain monetary success through legitimate means. Cloward and Ohlin were in favor of thought that juveniles from a lower-class demographic are motivated by the pursuit of status and that forming their own subculture is a solution to not being able to adjust to their dominant cultural values (Cloward & Ohlin, 1960).

Deviance is explained by this theory because criminal behavior is more prominent in rundown areas with citizens who have lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Two sub-theories such as differential association theory and strain theory explain more in depth why people join violent gangs or are subjected to be dangerous consumers. Differential association theory puts a focus on the idea that people learn criminal behavior from the people they associate with. For example, the gang members who shot the woman’s son learn to do that from the previous gang members of whom they associated with. Strain theory is when an individual undertakes deviant acts because there is a discrepancy between the larger society and the means available for that individual to achieve a goal in the larger society. An example is the people in New Orleans that the cops arrested who had drugs and were trying to sell them to innovate a quicker way to make

Strain theory is described as the cause of crime due to the social class or environment in which a person grows up in. In our society, people strive to obtain wealth, education, materialistic possessions and power. Due to the environment lower social class people are born into, they are unable to obtain these aspirations through legal means. Feelings of frustration lead to strain and can cause these people to resort to external and illegal means to obtain these resources or lead them to abusing drug substances in an effort to feel better.

As seen in the video the one mother saw that the gangs were trying to pressure her son into a gang through school and his friends so she moved but the same thing happened once they moved to another school there was no avoiding it. So the kid’s peers have a very high influence on the individual. If the friends are already engaging in delinquent activity then it would be somewhat natural thing for the individual to mimic the same things. The second part of the theory is commitment. The theory explains that participating in activities the promote adherence to societies moral and ethical code of conduct will keep them from participating in delinquent behavior. Most of the kids are not engaging in after school activities or other activities that would promote behavior that is looked up to in society. The next part of the theory is involvement or preoccupation. Herschi related this mainly to school and doing homework to keep the kids occupied so they won’t get caught up in delinquent behavior. But many of these kids aren’t going to school on a regular basis or they gave up on the schooling system so they are not being preoccupied with anything that is beneficial to achieving prosocial bonds. The final part of this theory is belief in the laws and moral code. As the one man said “people in gangs don’t care as long as they’re making money.” By that statement alone you can assume that they will

If a person has a bad relationship with his or her parents, they don't have a commitment to something positive, they think negative of authorities, and they are involved in negative activities, then the person will have a greater chance of becoming a criminal. Essentially what this theory is trying

So, when most individuals do not have access to resources in society in order to achieve necessary progress and therefore leads to greater social mobility. These individuals are most likely going to face some social injustices because they are below or on the poverty line. Because of the group's social position in society, it has led to several social injustices that include awareness-raising, improving access to medical care, education for children, employment opportunities and acceptable safe housing for families. Poverty is a social injustice because of economic policies it favors one class moreover another class. Social context known as the physical setting of which people were raised often is the building block of a moral society and are the reasons why poor people stay poor. In the book, there were a few stereotypes that were addressed to the population in poverty or the unprivileged. It was often seen that the families that had fallen into these types of situations were usually sing persons and one parent families, so because of their only being one potential wage earning it is not enough for a living (Rank, Mark 2005). Another stereotype is that the chances of an individual that failed to receive a high school diploma will be disadvantaged and will experience poverty during their lifetime than individuals with college degrees who were raised by wealthy parents (book). Along with education, many assume that poor people do not value education, while it is true the parents may not be involved in school activities it is because they are working to provide for their family. Poor people in the United States are often stereotyped in innumerable ways that impact those living in poverty and education falls along with the

In the life course theory there transitions that occur in a person’s life as a part of growing up and developing like many other social theories on crime, it is the family relationship’s that guide these transitions to take place accordingly. If these transitions are not properly guided or become disrupted it can lead to criminal behavior in the child. Likewise, children in poverty or who have altered family dynamics are more likely to experience these disruption’s to their transitions. The time of transitions is very important to development the previous transition provide a

The concept map describes how Institutional Anomie Theory can be caused with three different sub-concepts. The three sub-concepts are American Dream, Economic Success, and Violence. These are likely to increase the chances of crime because when a person

This theory brings to mind an old saying, everybody tries to keep up with the Jones. The premise of the strain theory, according to Cullen & Agnew (2011) is that every citizen is encouraged to pursue the American dream of prosperity, and living a middle-class life by non-criminal means. When American citizens are unable to meet these goals of living the good life, they experience strain or pressure. This strain has an even bigger effect on juveniles. Juveniles are pressured by their peers to wear the trendiest cloths, jewelry, and some the latest mode of transportation, all which cost money. Single parents who make very little income cannot provide adequate housing or food for their dependents. These factors elevate the strain a juvenile is experiencing, that some turn to a life of crime in order to obtain these materialistic items. In order to deter and prevent juvenile delinquency, as a result of the strain theory, alternative such as job corps, trade schools, academic scholarships, and big brother or sister programs need to be offered to communities with high juvenile delinquency crime

The corner boy is the most common response. They are not chronically delinquent but may be involved in petty or status offenses. He is loyal to his peers and eventually becomes a stable member of his neighborhood. The college boy embraces the cultural and social values of the middle class and strives to be successful by these standards. These youths are on an almost hopeless path because they are ill-equipped academically, socially, and linguistically to achieve the rewards of middle class life. The delinquent boy adopts a set of norms and principles in direct opposition to middle class values. They live for the day and do not think about tomorrow. They go against efforts made by family, school, or other sources of authority to control their behavior. The attraction, loyalty, and solidarity are some of the reasons they join gangs along with the gangs perception of autonomy and independence. Reaction formation is the result of the delinquent boy’s inability to succeed. The real problem for Cohen is status frustration, not blocked opportunity (Siegel, 2013). Lower-class youth desire approval and status, but because they cannot meet middle-class criteria, they become frustrated (Criminology chapter 4 outline sagepub.com). They overreact to any perceived threat or slight. They are also willing to take risk, violate the law, and flout middle-class conventions. Cohen’s work explains the factors that promote and sustain a

The idea of social realities, if a male has to provide for his family, based on societies standards, then he has to do everything in his power to keep them fed. Even if it’s resorting to criminal actions. The sociological theory of social disorder, where signs of social disorder within a community is an invitation for deviant behavior. Poor neighborhoods have a higher rate of crime, since the neighborhood is already in shambles, people are more likely to vandalize the town. Leading to further deviant activity.

The first factor that often leads to juvenile delinquency involves the child’s social influences within their communities. The community of individuals that a child is normally around on a normal basis includes family, friends, and neighbors. Depending on the overall quality of the relationship that the child has with each member of their community, they maybe more or less inclined to commit crimes. According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, juveniles who experience abuse or neglect from any member of their community may be more inclined to become deviant (n.d.). For example, if a father abuses his child, the odds of the child’s willing to resort to deviance becomes significantly higher than a father who treats his son like a normal parent. Another way a child can be socially exposed to deviance is through example. If a parent is always in a run with law enforcement on a constant basis, that child may grow up to be just like them simply because that is how they were raised. The third and final social influence comes outside of the family circle where the actions that a child’s friends partake in can also determine whether or not the child will pursue acts of deviance. The influence of a friend’s actions can either be positive or negative depending on the values of the friend. For instance, say a child named Johnny hangs around a group of troublemakers who always wreck havoc, smoke joints, and talk trash about everyone. This kind of relationship between Johnny and his friends can lead Johnny to becoming just like the troublemakers because of peer pressure.

In Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son, the disparity between wealth and power opposed to hardship and poverty is greater than may be realized. Similar to the Thomas household, families around the nation struggle everyday to make ends meet, burdening the children of the family with heavy responsibilities, causing the children to seek outlets for this stress. Poverty creates hardships in adolescence resulting in a majority of criminal behavior to root from low income individuals. Even though Bigger was from a time period years ago, adolescents who derive from unstable low income households still experience the burdens Bigger faces and tend to act and lash out with crimes and below average performance in school.