Theories
Content
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Structural Functionalism: a. Society is comprised of many parts that contribute in unique ways to the operation of the whole society b. Society has parts that must work in a specific relationship to the other parts in order for society to function smoothly i. When one or more of the parts fails at its task, social problems ensue c. “Society is perceived of as a system of interrelated parts in which no part can be understood in the isolation from the whole. A change in any part is seen as leading to a certain degree of imbalance, which can lead to the reorganization of the system as a whole.” Strain Theory: a. Agnew: focuses on negative relationships with others i. Strain derived from: 1. Failure to achieve positively valued goals 2. Removal of positively valued stimuli 3. Presentation of negative stimuli Medicalization: a. Process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions b. Form of social control Anomie: a. Occurs when collective disorder is disrupted due to inability to achieve aspirations b. Triggered by drastic change c. Deviance must exist otherwise there would be no legal system or shared moral g u i d e l i n e s
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D i f f e r e n
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tial Association: a. People learn to commit crimes as a result of contact with antisocial values, attitudes, and criminal behavior patterns b. Sutherland and Cressey: deviant behavior is socially learned Social Constructionism: a. Social interactions create and reinforce the meaning assigned to a particular behavior i. Focuses on dependence on contingent variables of our social selves rather than any inherent quality that it possesses in itself Social Control Theory: a. A person is free to commit crime once his/her ties to the conventional order have been broken b. “We are moral beings to the extent that we are social beings.”
II.
III.
IV.
Structural Functionalism: a. Society is comprised of many parts that contribute in unique ways to the operation of the whole society b. Society has parts that must work in a specific relationship to the other parts in order for society to function smoothly i. When one or more of the parts fails at its task, social problems ensue c. “Society is perceived of as a system of interrelated parts in which no part can be understood in the isolation from the whole. A change in any part is seen as leading to a certain degree of imbalance, which can lead to the reorganization of the system as a whole.” Strain Theory: a. Agnew: focuses on negative relationships with others i. Strain derived from: 1. Failure to achieve positively valued goals 2. Removal of positively valued stimuli 3. Presentation of negative stimuli Medicalization: a. Process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions b. Form of social control Anomie: a. Occurs when collective disorder is disrupted due to inability to achieve aspirations b. Triggered by drastic change c. Deviance must exist otherwise there would be no legal system or shared moral g u i d e l i n e s
V.
D i f f e r e n
VI.
VII.
tial Association: a. People learn to commit crimes as a result of contact with antisocial values, attitudes, and criminal behavior patterns b. Sutherland and Cressey: deviant behavior is socially learned Social Constructionism: a. Social interactions create and reinforce the meaning assigned to a particular behavior i. Focuses on dependence on contingent variables of our social selves rather than any inherent quality that it possesses in itself Social Control Theory: a. A person is free to commit crime once his/her ties to the conventional order have been broken b. “We are moral beings to the extent that we are social beings.”
