MODULE 8

Albert K. Cohen (1918)

 Albert K. Cohen published Delinquent Boys:

The Culture of the Gangs in 1955.

 He advocated the Sub – Culture Theory of

delinquency – claims that the lower class
cannot socialized effectively as the middle
class in what considered appropriate middle
class behavior.

 assumes that crime is a consequence of the

union of young people into so-called
subcultures in which deviant values and
moral concepts dominate. Subcultural theory
became the dominant theory of its time.

 Thus the lower class gathered together to

share their common problems, forming a
subculture that rejects middle class values.
Cohen called this process as reaction formation.

 According to Cohen, these delinquent subcultures are characterized above all

by their deviant values and morals, which enable their members to gain
prestige and recognition. The behaviour that is displayed within the subculture
is fundamentally different from that outside the subculture because of these
new norms. For society as a whole, they seem deviant, often criminal. As an
alternative status system, however, subculture justifies hostility and aggression
towards non-members, thereby eliminating possible feelings of guilt.

Delinquent subcultures are, according to Cohen (see: Downes & Rock, 2007):

 Non -utilitarian (the deviant actions are not committed on the basis of economic
rationality)
 malicious (the purpose of delinquent acts is to annoy or even injure others)
 negativistic (criminal acts are committed precisely because of their prohibition
in order to consciously reject conventional values)
 versatile (in the sense of various delinquent behaviors that occur)
 hedonistic (the focus is on the momentary pleasure)
 resistant (to external pressure of conformity and loyal towards their own group
members, values and norms)
Travis Hirschi (1935)
 He advocated the Social Control Theory.
Specifically, in his Causes of delinquency,
published in 1969, he explained the Social Bond
Theory.

 He argued that delinquency can be explained by

the absence of social bonds such as:
attachments how strong or weak is an
individual’s relationship with others (e.g., to
parents, teachers, and peers), involvement in
conventional activities, and the more time the
individual spends engaging in law abiding
behavior acceptance/commitment of social
norms (such as the norms that criminal acts should be avoided),or the
individual commits himself/herself to a particular lifestyle (being married, being
a parent, having a job) and recognition/belief of the moral validity (relates to
upbringing) of law are most likely to prevent delinquency.