by Dawn Smith Mouser

Created on: February 18, 2007   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

The subcultural approach to juvenile delinquency focuses on the various ways in which different subcultures impact on crime and deviance statistics. Subculture refers to groups of people who share the same norms and values as mainstream society but have also adopted their own set of norms for various reasons which they can all relate to.
Subcultural theories stem from ecological theories of crime. The Chicago School studied the impact of urbanisation on the behaviour of people living in cities. Criminal or deviant behaviour was related to various factors according to the Chicago School Study. They linked crime with the biological analogy which refers to the struggle for space linked to housing with the least successful having to live in the worst areas such as zone 2 which was seen as one of the most run down areas to live with a lot of immigrants settling here. Zone 2 had the highest crime rate in the city and developed a state of social disorganisation with weak social bonds and no value consensus. It was argued that these cultural norms would be transmitted from generation to generation therefore enabling them to continue.

Albert Cohen (1995) was the first sociologist to develop a subcultural theory of working class crime. He supported the idea that subculture related directly to criminal activity and studied groups of working class boys who had underachieved in education. In particular, he looked at delinquent gangs living in inner city areas from low income families. Cohen along with other sociologists such as Merton agreed that the mainstream value of success created problems for young working class males as many of them did badly at school and failed to gain the skills needed to succeed in a capitalist society. Cohen used the concept "status frustration" in order to describe the way that young working class males become easily frustrated with their low status in society as a result of their lack of income or underachievement. Due to this they are often labelled and get little respect from their peers or elders, this can be related to crime as they feel as if there is no alternative but to steel the possessions they want in order to stop being labelled or classed as a "loser". Furthermore, the anti school subculture which they are often part of provides them with the ideology that education is not particularly important and therefore they do not necessarily need to succeed. Cohen argues that they look to subculture as a solution as they are able to identify

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