Deviance Order and Protest Essay
How does subcultural theory explain the development of gangs and gang culture?
Subcultural theories investigate why criminal group activities develop within society. A subculture is a distinguishable group of individuals set apart from mainstream society because of its differences in beliefs and rules which differ from the broader culture. Subcultures can be applied to an extensive range of groups however this essay will discuss delinquent subcultures. (Haralambos M and Holborn M, 2004)
Frederic M. Thrasher (The Gang 1927) suggested gangs are structured groups of working class adolescents, united by loyalty, territoriality, and hierarchy. Thrasher suggested that ‘the gang develops as one manifestation of the economic moral and cultural frontier which marks the interstice between areas of the city’ (Marshall G, 1998)
The research of sociologists at the Chicago school became renowned for its interests in crime and urban life. (Marsh I 2009) They believed that the industrializing and urbanizing of societies brought social disorganization causing an increase in social problems particularly, crime. Influenced by Durkheim’s research, the Chicago School saw crime as a social phenomenon. They claimed that certain areas and neighbourhoods were uncontrollable and chaotic due to rapid social changes caused by industrialisation and urbanization making criminality inevitable, but only temporary which caused no threat to society. (Marsh I 2009)
Robert Ezra Park believed that when studying criminality sociologists should participate in first hand research which influenced the development of various ethnographic research studies. (Marsh I 2009) Park claimed that ‘cities should be seen as ecological systems, with different areas and neighbourhoods within them developing at different times and in specific ways’. (Marsh I 2009 p561)
Ernest Burgess developed the ‘ecological’ approach. He formed five concentric circles covering Chicago city which mapped out different zones. The
Subcultural theories investigate why criminal group activities develop within society. A subculture is a distinguishable group of individuals set apart from mainstream society because of its differences in beliefs and rules which differ from the broader culture. Subcultures can be applied to an extensive range of groups however this essay will discuss delinquent subcultures. (Haralambos M and Holborn M, 2004)
Frederic M. Thrasher (The Gang 1927) suggested gangs are structured groups of working class adolescents, united by loyalty, territoriality, and hierarchy. Thrasher suggested that ‘the gang develops as one manifestation of the economic moral and cultural frontier which marks the interstice between areas of the city’ (Marshall G, 1998)
The research of sociologists at the Chicago school became renowned for its interests in crime and urban life. (Marsh I 2009) They believed that the industrializing and urbanizing of societies brought social disorganization causing an increase in social problems particularly, crime. Influenced by Durkheim’s research, the Chicago School saw crime as a social phenomenon. They claimed that certain areas and neighbourhoods were uncontrollable and chaotic due to rapid social changes caused by industrialisation and urbanization making criminality inevitable, but only temporary which caused no threat to society. (Marsh I 2009)
Robert Ezra Park believed that when studying criminality sociologists should participate in first hand research which influenced the development of various ethnographic research studies. (Marsh I 2009) Park claimed that ‘cities should be seen as ecological systems, with different areas and neighbourhoods within them developing at different times and in specific ways’. (Marsh I 2009 p561)
Ernest Burgess developed the ‘ecological’ approach. He formed five concentric circles covering Chicago city which mapped out different zones. The