Michelle Skelton Profile picture
Criminal Justice professor, avid reader, budding artist, aspiring yogi, tattoo aficionado, coffee drinker, football & color guard Mom, TedX, she/hers

Jul 5, 2022, 73 tweets

Last week in #Criminology, we were discussing financial stress.

BUT ... what NON-financially related reason do you think causes most people strain & stress?

Add your gripes below & join me TODAY, Tuesday, 11:30am, cst, to discuss

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

Good morning. There are not many words to express the tragedy that occurred over the past holiday weekend. It is something that we can discuss extensively in class.

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

I do not want the opportunity to learn, share perspectives, ask questions to pass, but I'm not sure that our Twitter discussion forum is the most productive for a discussion of that nature.

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

So today we will continue to focus on Chapter 05, incorporate #CurrentEvents as best, open as we can

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

The Twitter feed, HeyJackass.com by @w_h_thompson posted this numbers: July 4th Weekend
2022: 12 killed, 68 wounded
2021: 23 killed, 90 wounded
2020: 21 killed, 71 wounded
2019: 7 killed, 69 wounded
2018: 10 killed, 42 wounded
2017: 15 killed, 89 wounded

Let's take a look at some of the sociological variables that influence GROUP behavior. This morning we are going to build on last week's discussion how crime is learned and a socialized part of growth and development

#CRJ105 #Chapter05 #SocialProcess

We will conclude with quite a few thinking challenges, discussing Formation of Subcultures, I want to know YOUR opinions, to get ready to weigh in ...

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter06

If you need a quick reminder of our introduction to

#Socialization
#SocialProcess
#SocialStrain

Here's last week's link:

#CRJ105 #Chapter05 #SocialProcess

Do people with means & financial resources EVER experience stress?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #SocialStructure #Strain

Sociologist Robert Agnew substantially revised Merton’s theory in order to provide a broader explanation of criminal behavior.

The reformulation is called general strain theory

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #SocialStructure #Strain

THINKING CHALLENGE: What is the most frustrating to you, personally?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #SocialStructure #Strain

THINKING CHALLENGE: Of the following below, what is your biggest social pet peeve?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #SocialStructure #Strain

THINKING CHALLENGE: Of the following below, what is your biggest social pet peeve?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #SocialStructure #Strain

THINKING CHALLENGE: Of the following below, what is your biggest social pet peeve?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #SocialStructure #Strain

General strain theory explains the range of strain-producing events from the mundane to the highly aggravating

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #SocialStructure #Strain

General strain theory explains the range of strain-producing events:
•Strain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals.
•Stress caused by the removal of positively valued stimuli from the individual.
•Strain caused by the presentation of negative stimuli

If, as the theory says, frustration builds up in people who have few means for reaching their goals, it makes sense to design programs that give people a bigger stake in society

#CRJ105 #Strain

So individuals who live in communities that are continually cut off or disenfranchised from legitimate opportunities grow frustrated as a way of life.

Anger, frustration, deviance become normalized.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #CultureConflict

THINKING CHALLENGE: Which do you think is more influential in determining access to criminal options?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #DifferentialAssociation

Let's do a bit of a SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT in looking at the way that various forces shape our personality, outlook, values, & development.

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT: How does your neighborhood shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT:

How does your family shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT:

How does your job shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT:

How does your faith or spirituality shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT:

How does your political party shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT:

How does your income shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT:

How does your ethnicity shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

SUBCULTURE SELF-ASSESSMENT:

How does your nationality shape you?

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory #Chapter6

Were those trick questions? A little bit ... as each could have had an all of the above option

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory

Subcultural theories look at how our life experiences and immediate surrounds shape our views, attitudes, and ambitions in life

#CRJ105 #Criminology #SubcultureTheory

More specifically, sub-cultural theories in criminology were developed to account for delinquency among lower-class males, especially for one of its most important expressions, the teenage gang

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #Subcultures

Delinquent subcultures, like all subcultures, emerge in response to special problems that members of the "dominant" culture do not face

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #Subcultures

Of course, we do have to pause to consider what factors influence the concept of "dominant" culture.

What factor do you think is most influential today in creating & controlling the dominant culture?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #Subcultures

A subculture is a subdivision within the dominant culture that has its own norms, beliefs, and values.

Subcultures typically emerge when people in similar circumstances find themselves isolated from the mainstream and band together for mutual support

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

A subculture is a subdivision within the dominant culture that has its own norms, beliefs, and values.

Subcultures typically emerge when people in similar circumstances find themselves isolated from the mainstream and band together for mutual support

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

Increased gang activity spurred much of the investigation into socialization and the power of social grouping

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

THINKING CHALLENGE: Are you familiar with the concept of the "middle class measuring rod"

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

The "middle class measuring rod" implies that all youth, of all income levels, are compared against the values of the middle class for that of academic & life success.

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

Lower-class children are evaluated by middle-class values which may or may not reflect their own values and upbringing.

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

THINKING CHALLENGE: What are some values or behaviors that might vary across social economic status?

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

THINKING CHALLENGE: The values & behaviors of some groups may clash with conventional "middle-class rules" in terms of attitudes about ...

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

Albert Cohen explained how the delinquent subculture arises, where it is found within the social structure, and why it has the particular characteristics that it does

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

Most survey respondents stated they thought the 1991 drama, Boyz In The Hood, best illustrated how criminal subcultures can arise. What makes this movie so good?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

SO ... what is the result of the #middleclassmeasuringrod?

For many lower class youth, they experience status frustration

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

By the middle-class #measuringrod, lower-class children fall far short of the standards they must meet if they are to compete successfully with middle-class children.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

THINKING CHALLENGE: Is today's discussion about respecting versus fearing the police an example of a middle class measuring rod?

How so?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

Sub-cultural theorists present schools as especially problematic for the 'middle class measuring rod'

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

Cohen argues that they experience status frustration and strain, to which they respond by adopting one of three roles:
~corner boy,
~college boy,
~or delinquent boy.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

The corner boy hangs out in the neighborhood with his peer group, spending the day in some group activity, such as gambling or athletic competition. Most lower-class boys become corner boys.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

There are very few “college boys.” These boys continually strive to live up to middle-class standards, but their chances for success are limited because of academic and social hardships.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

“Delinquent boys” band together to form a subculture in which they can define status in ways that to them seem attainable.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

Cohen claims that even though these lower-class youths set up their own norms, they have internalized the norms of the dominant class and feel anxious when they go against those norms.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

To deal with this conflict, they resort to #reactionformation, a mechanism that relieves anxiety through the process of rejecting with abnormal intensity what one wants but cannot obtain.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

Reaction Formation argues that young men, excluded from the benefits of middle class society, actively, purposefully act out against those values as a self-defense for self-preservation against that isolation

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

THINKING CHALLENGE: But don't ALL kids feel isolated, misunderstood, and excluded from some aspect of the "mainstream"?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

Cohen’s theory does not explain why most delinquents eventually become law-abiding even though their position in the class structure remains relatively fixed.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

THINKING CHALLENGE: Does this look at subcultures account for the "aging-out" phenomenon?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance #Subcultures

Criminological researchers generally agree that Cohen’s theory is responsible for major advances in research on delinquency

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #CulturalDeviance

Among them are researchers who have found a relationship between delinquency and social status in the society. Much evidence also supports Cohen’s assumption that lower-class children perform more poorly in school than middle-class children

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

THINKING CHALLENGE: Does social status affect in school performance?

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

But critics ask an important question:

The behavior of delinquent boys is a deliberate rejection to middle-class opinion ...

... BUT ...

do youths today CARE about the opinions of middle-class people?

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

Cohen’s theory answers a number of questions left unresolved by the strain. Yet his theory does not explain why most delinquents eventually become law-abiding even though their position in the class structure remains relatively fixed

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

Gerardo Lopez grew up in gang territory in Los Angeles, California, and was just 14 years old when he joined MS-13, the notorious Salvadorean gang. Why did he join and why did he leave?

ted.com/talks/gerardo_…

#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

Can you help me? This question remains as a recurring theme across Walz life from gangster to youth worker. Once he asked it - now others ask it of him



#CRJ105 #CulturalDeviance

Subcultural theory assumes that individuals engage in delinquent or criminal behavior based on the following reasons.
~ Legitimate opportunities for success are blocked
~ Criminal values and norms are learned in lower-class slums
#CRJ105 #Subcultures

IN SUMMARY: Do you believe isolation from mainstream or middle class values creates frustration & anger that turns into violence?

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

IN SUMMARY: Do you believe this isolation from mainstream or middle class values creates frustration & anger that turns into violence SOLELY exists in lower class culture?

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

IN SUMMARY: Do you believe the strain or frustration created by financial or non-financial stress might be a key talking point in the current rash of mass shooting events in America?

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

IN SUMMARY: Do you believe the strain or frustration created by financial or non-financial stress might be a key talking point in the current uptick in gang violence in Chicago & the discussion of the #SummerOfJoy

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

Next week we will delve further into the formation of deviant subcultures, looking more closely at local & national security threat groups, cults, white supremacist groups, political extremists, and the Incel movement

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

If you made it this far in the thread, share a gang movie/podcast/book that you recommend. Any season is good, but I have to STRONGLY urge students to listen to Season 3 of @WBEZ

#Motive with @oyousef
& @cpicciolini

wbez.org/shows/motive/8…

#CRJ105 #Subcultures

How would you grade today's discussion? As always, I'm eager for follow-up questions, comments, feedback

#CRJ105 #Subcultures #Chapter6 #MoraineValley

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling