Explaining Sociological Theories Using Elijah Anderson's Reading

In this paper you will explain each theory listed below and provide an example of that theory in the reading by Elijah Anderson (the selection from Code of the Street). Your paper should include an introduction and conclusion.

1) Introduction: State what you will be doing in the paper.

2) Body: Provide a brief description of each theory listed below and an example of that theory in the reading by Elijah Anderson.

3) Conclusion: please provide your assessment of the theories and state which theory or theories you believe provide the most convincing explanations of crime and/or the nature of the social world.

1:-Mead’s Theory of Self - (discuss: development of self, ability to take the role of other and generalized other, and the I and the Me.)

2:-Differential Association – (discuss explanation of crime)-Social Learning Theory – (discuss explanation of crime)

3:-Control Theory (Gottfredson and Hirschi, low self-control) – (discuss explanation of crime)

4:-Labeling Theory (discuss the process by which people are labeled deviant)

5:-Durkheim – (discuss the type of social solidarity in the U.S. and in the communities studied by Anderson; what is sacred according to the code of the street?)

-Merton – Structural Strain (discuss explanation of crime)
-Agnew – General Strain (discuss explanation of crime)

6:-Social Disorganization/Ecology – Sampson (discuss explanation of crime)

Criminology is considered to be the scientific study of the extent, causes, nature along with that extent, consequences as well as management, control and prevention of criminal behaviour. It is the field of the interdisciplinary field of both the behavior along with social science (Lilly, Cullen & Ball, 2018). In this study, the things which are going to addressed are mainly the brief description of the theories, along with that the examples which can look into from the reading of the Elijah Anderson.

These will help us to understand the different form of criminal offence that might take place all around us. At the end of the study, there will be a conclusion which will help us to understand what the criminal offences are along with that what the most convincing explanation of a particular crime is, which will help the society to know about the crime and what it is all about. These will help our society to become strong and protest against the crime (Cullen, Wright & Blevins, 2017).

Mead’s Theory of Self

George Herbert Mead, in his theory, believes that two aspects of oneself are namely, ‘I’ and ‘Me’ (Deegan, 2017). The person who is born take birth with ‘I’, and in the life process, they acquire the ‘Me’. When one person can view oneself from the viewpoint of the others, then it becomes ‘Me’ (Mead, 2019).

As per Anderson’s code of street concerning the Mead’s theory, Tyree, when shifted to the new neighborhood, did not run away when he faced the new neighbour as these would have projected him as weak. Instead of that, he stayed and faced the new neighbour so that they consider him as strong. Those are generated as Tyree viewed himself from their perspective and this help to build respect as well as an image of toughness for the purpose of self-protection.

Sutherland in his differential association theory stated that with the help of interaction a person can learn the attitude, techniques as well as values and motives to become criminal (Sutherland, Williams & McShane, 2015). The theory mainly focuses on the learning process of the individual to become criminal and do not focus on the reason why they become criminal in the process (Johnson, 2019).

As per Anderson’s code of the street concerning the differential association, Tyree who just moved in the new neighbourhood was rolled up by the Bolls, and in return, he messed up one of the Bolls. These are considered as a differential association as Tyree got the motive to commit a crime by messing up one of the Bolls. The action is the reaction to the previous incident that has taken place, but no one will be interested to know why Tyree did that to one of the Bolls.

According to the social learning theory, learning process, along with the social behaviour, encourages the new behaviour that can be acquired mainly by observing as well as imitating others (Akers & Jennings, 2015). These are so as learning is considered to be a cognitive process which can take place through observation or imitating someone. These can occur in two ways namely good or bad as learning the social activity depend on the behaviour that is taking place in the society around the person (Akers & Jensen, 2017).

Mead’s Theory of Self

As per Anderson’s code of street concerning the social learning theory, Tyree’s mother and grandmother are very much worried about him becoming one of the Bolls. Like the neighbourhood, they live full of Bolls, and they are worried as he might learn the negative things, which will ultimately hamper him for a lifetime. These are because social learning does not discriminate between positive and negative.

Control theory is considered to be the action that is being taken up by someone to control the emotion (Sethi, 2019). These also help the person to control some of the specific behaviours that might be negative or bad. These are important for the person to control their emotion so that negative action does not take place in the process (Hirschi & Gottfredson, 2017).

As per Anderson’s code of street concerning the control theory, Tyree needs to control the anger in the first place when he got rolled out by the Bolls. These would have eliminated the second encounter that has taken place between one of the Bolls and Tyree. The thing that happened could have controlled if Tyree does not get angry.

Labelling theory is considered to be the theory, which helps to identify one self’s behaviour or identity so that they can be described or classified in the process (Bernburg, 2019). The concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy as well as the stereotyping. The theory stated that the action is not inherent but depends on the standard cultural norms (Gallego, 2017).

As per Anderson’s code of street concerning the labelling theory, Tyree wants to become one of the Bolls, and so he had to fight one of the Bolls to become one of them. These are considered as the process of labelling as Tyree wants to become one of them.

In Durkheim theory, Emile Durkheim has rightly stated the functionalism along with that division of the labour along with that anomie (DiCristina, 2016). The theory mainly founded based on the societal facts as well as norms, values as well as structures. These are the three elements which are used in the formation of the theory (Whitehouse, 2016).

As per Anderson’s code of street in respect to the Durkheim theory, Tyree is a young black boy whose house is being burned down, so they have to live with his grandmother. These happen as they were black; therefore, the theory of Durkheim is quite applicable here.

Merton’s theory mainly focuses on the relationship between the culture as well as structure along with anomie. In his theory, he established a link between the anomie with the deviance which helps them to understand the dysfunctional consequence of leading to deviance within society (Kritzman & Merton, 2018). Merton in his theory stated that there is a difference between the success and cultural goal.

As per Anderson’s code of street in respect to the Merton theory, Tyree wants to become cool and join the Bolls group. These are the reason he took up the fight for the second time with one of the bolls. These have been considered as the relationship between the deviance and anomie.

According to Robert Agnew, General Strain Theory it can be noted that there are other external factors, which is responsible for the criminal behaviour that has been noticed in the youth. These external factors are mainly, stress or negative experience that is being experienced by the human being. These can also influence someone to become criminal in the process (Agnew, 2017).

Differential Association

As per Anderson’s code of street in respect to the Agnew theory, when Tyree was rolled up by the Bolls, he was full of anger and wanted to take revenge. Tyree was also angry when he was taken down by the Bolls, and he wants to take revenge from them. These led him to take down one of the Bolls.

As per the social disorganisation theory, this theory is considered to be the ecological theory which is related to the crime rate that is taking place in the neighbourhood. In other words, it can be said that the location where a person is residing is related to the chances of that person to be involved in illegal activity (Kubrin & Wo, 2016).

As per Anderson’s code of street in respect to the social disorganisation theory, Tyree with his mother and grandmother moved to a place where drug dealing is a common thing and also police hardly visit that place. The place often influences a person to become a criminal as per the theory of the social disorganisation theory developed by Shaw and McKay.

Conclusion

In the end, it can be concluded that a person might turn into a criminal due to certain reason, but no one asks the person why he/she became the criminal or doing any crime. Equality should be maintained along with that everyone should be provided with the education as well as equality job opportunity to work hard so that the crime rate can be reduced in the process.

References

Agnew, R. (2017). Revitalizing merton: General strain theory. In The origins of American criminology (pp. 137-158). Routledge.

Akers, R. L., & Jennings, W. G. (2015). Social learning theory. The Handbook of Criminological Theory, 4, 230-240.

Akers, R. L., & Jensen, G. F. (2017). The empirical status of social learning theory of crime and deviance: The past, present, and future. In Taking stock (pp. 37-76). Routledge.

Bernburg, J. G. (2019). Labeling theory. In Handbook on crime and deviance (pp. 179-196). Springer, Cham.

Cullen, F. T., Wright, J. P., & Blevins, K. R. (2017). Introduction: Taking stock of criminological theory. In Taking Stock (pp. 1-34). Routledge.

Deegan, M. J. (2017). Self, War, and Society: George Herbert Mead's Macrosociology. Routledge.

DiCristina, B. (2016). Durkheim’s theory of anomie and crime: A clarification and elaboration. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 49(3), 311-331.

Gallego, Á. J. (2017). Remark on the EPP in labeling theory: Evidence from Romance. Syntax, 20(4), 384-399.

Hirschi, T., & Gottfredson, M. R. (2017). Control theory and the life-course perspective. In The Craft of Criminology (pp. 241-254). Routledge.

Johnson, D. R. (2019). A Differential Association Theory of Socialization to Commercialist Career Paths in Science. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 0162243919854514.

Kritzman, M. P., & Merton, R. C. (2018). An Interview with Nobel Laureate Robert C. Merton. Financial Analysts Journal, 74(1), 12-20.

Kubrin, C. E., & Wo, J. C. (2016). Social disorganization theory’s greatest challenge: Linking structural characteristics to crime in socially disorganized communities. The handbook of criminological theory, 4, 121-136.

Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T., & Ball, R. A. (2018). Criminological theory: Context and consequences. Sage publications.

Mead, G. H. (2019). Social Creativity and the Emergent Self. The Creativity Reader, 433.

Sethi, S. P. (2019). What is optimal control theory?. In Optimal Control Theory (pp. 1-26). Springer, Cham.

Sutherland, E. H., Williams, F. P., & McShane, M. D. (2015). Differential association. Edwin Sutherland: On Analyzing Crime.

Whitehouse, H. (2016). Immortality, creation and regulation: updating Durkheim’s theory of the sacred. In Mental Culture (pp. 76-89). Routledge.