Functionalism: Subcultural Strain Theories of Crime (AQA A Level Sociology): Revision Note

Cohen's subcultural theory

The core idea

• Subcultural strain theories build on Merton’s strain theory:

  • Some people can’t achieve society’s shared goals through legitimate means

• This is especially seen in juvenile delinquency — deviant behaviour by young people

• Instead of conforming, many join or create subcultures with different values and opportunities

• Delinquency often happens in groups, not alone, which is why subcultural theory focuses on youth gangs and peer groups

• Subcultures solve problems for their members (e.g., lack of status), even if they cause problems for wider society

Link to Merton

• Albert Cohen (1955) agreed with Merton that deviance is common in the working class

  But he criticised Merton because:

  • Merton could not explain non-utilitarian crimes (crimes without financial gain, e.g. vandalism, fighting, truancy)

  • much juvenile delinquency happens in groups, not just as individual responses to strain

Status frustration

• The main goal for young people is to gain status and respect

• Working-class boys often feel blocked from this because:

  • they are judged by middle-class standards at school

  • they often lack the cultural capital, skills or resources to succeed

• This leads to status frustration due to:

  • rejection

  • low status in the school hierarchy

  • sense of anomie

Delinquent subcultures

• To deal with this frustration, boys form subcultures where values are flipped:

  • Behaviours condemned by society (e.g., vandalism, rule-breaking) are praised

  • E.g. skipping school or damaging property becomes a way to gain respect

• Within the subculture, boys gain status and respect by committing deviant acts

• This provides an alternative status hierarchy:

  • Success is measured in peer respect, not academic achievement

Evaluation of Cohen

Strengths

• Explains non-utilitarian deviance

  • Merton’s theory only covered crime with a financial motive (e.g., theft), but Cohen explained why young people commit crimes with no financial motive

  • His ideas of status frustration, value inversion and alternative status hierarchies show how non-economic delinquency can still make sense within a subculture

• Still useful today

  • Cohen’s focus on status and respect is still relevant to understanding contemporary youth gangs

  • Helps explain why young people may commit crimes collectively to gain recognition from peers

Criticisms

• Too deterministic

  • Assumes all working-class boys start out striving for middle-class success goals and then reject them

  • Some working-class boys may never value educational achievement in the first place, so the 'frustration' argument doesn’t apply

• Feminist criticism

  • Ignores female delinquency and other types of deviance

  • Seen as overly male-focused, limiting its application beyond boys’ gangs

• Focal concerns

  • Miller (1962) argues that working-class delinquency stems from exaggerating cultural values (focal concerns) rather than strain

  • Key concerns include toughness, smartness, trouble, and resistance to authority, which can encourage deviant behaviour

Cloward & Ohlin: three subcultures

Key ideas

• Cloward & Ohlin (1960) built on Cohen’s work and agreed that working-class youths are often denied legitimate opportunities to achieve 'money success'

• However, they argued that not all young people respond to blocked opportunities in the same way

• The type of deviant subculture that develops depends on the local opportunity structure available

Three types of subculture

Criminal subcultures

• Found in stable working-class areas with long-standing criminal networks

• Young offenders can learn utilitarian crimes (e.g. theft, fraud) through apprenticeships, role models, and training

• Offers a 'criminal career ladder' where youths can progress within organised crime

Conflict subcultures

• Found in unstable, disorganised areas with high population turnover

• Lack of stable criminal networks means opportunities are limited to loosely organised gangs

• Delinquency takes the form of violence, turf wars and gang conflict, giving frustrated young men a way to release anger and gain respect

Retreatist subcultures

• Made up of 'double failures' — those who fail in both mainstream society and other subcultures

• They retreat into behaviours such as drug use, addiction and petty crime (e.g., shoplifting, robbery) to fund their habits

Evaluation of Cloward & Ohlin

Strengths

• Recognises diversity in deviance

  • Not all working-class youths turn to the same form of crime

  • Helps explain why some areas have gangs while others have organised crime

• Explains neighbourhood differences

  • Different local opportunity structures lead to other types of subcultures (e.g., criminal vs. conflict)

  • Helps explain why delinquency looks different across communities

Criticisms

• Ignores power and inequality

  • Like Merton and Cohen, they ignore white-collar and corporate crime committed by the wealthy

  • They also overlook how power structures, policing and stereotyping shape crime patterns

• Overstates divisions between subcultures

  • In reality, subcultures overlap (e.g., gangs mixing violence with organised drug crime)

  • Postmodernists argue that much delinquency is individualistic and spontaneous, driven by excitement rather than subcultural values

• Recent strain theories

  • Suggest young people pursue goals beyond money, such as peer popularity or independence from adults

  • This helps explain delinquency among middle-class youths, who may also struggle to reach these goals