Using material from item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of sub cultural theories in explaining “sub cultural crime and deviance” in society.
Functionalist sociologists adopt a normative definition to explain crime and deviance. They categorise it as something which breaks off from or violates social norms. This means that there is an assumption that society is based on value consensus and thus laws reflect the interests and views of the majority of the population. On the other hand critical criminology such as Marxism would use the relativistic definition to define crime and thus support the notion that the law reflects the interests of the ruling class instead.
One sub cultural theory which is useful in explaining sub cultural crime and deviance is Merton’s strain theory. He argued that in society, certain members may experience a strain between the cultural goals of society for example the American dream and the legitimate means to achieve these goals. Deviance results from the structure of society and reaching these goals depends on an individual’s social mobility. In a stratified society goals are inevitably linked to a person’s position in the social structure. As a result, when some members are unable to achieve goals they become disenchanted and may seek out alternative ways. Merton argued that capitalist societies suffer from anomie - a strain/conflict between the goals set by society and the legitimate (law abiding) means of achieving them. However, Merton has been criticised by Laurie Taylor for not carrying his analysis far enough and for failing to consider who makes the laws and who benefits from the laws. Valier also argues that there is no common belief in goals and in fact there are a variety of goals that people strive for at any one time.
Furthermore, another sub cultural theorist who developed on Merton’s work was Cohen. He focused