Albert Cohen
Albert Cohen was a prominent American sociologist known for his work on subcultural theory and delinquency. He is best known for his concept of "status frustration," which he developed to explain the behavior of delinquent subcultures. Cohen's work has had a significant impact on the study of deviance and social control within the field of sociology.
3 Key excerpts on "Albert Cohen"
- Wayne Morrison(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge-Cavendish(Publisher)
...Cohen argued that a specific kind of criminal behaviour, a non-purposeful and non-acquisitive crime characterise juvenile delinquencies. For Cohen previous criminology had taken adult crime, as exemplified by theft and robbery, as its paradigm case. Cohen was more interested in delinquency which was primary expressive and appeared purposeless, even nihilistic in character, as exemplified in almost random acts of violence, vandalism and joy riding. Although such crimes had been mentioned in Thrasher’s classic study of the Gang in Chicago published in 1927, later sociology, under the influence of Merton, had concentrated upon the fundamental purpose of material gain as principally characterising crime. Cohen reasoned that criminological theory should provide both an explanation of the nature of the delinquency to be studied, as well as an account of the characteristics of the people engaged in it. Cohen’s account is still very much influenced by the same sociological structure which Durkheim laid down, in that sub-culture is seen as a functional creation enabling individuals to handle many of the problems created for them by the social structure. Culture is made up of traditional ways of solving problems, or learned problem solutions, which are transmitted through the process of childhood socialisation. Cohen’s theory is termed a strain theory, in that the criminogenic mechanism lies in the incompatible demands of structure and culture with the consequential creation of sub-cultures to solve the problems thus caused. Again like Merton, Cohen appears to assume a universalistic set of achievement-oriented standards as comprising mainstream society. Instead, however, of Merton’s goal of success Cohen argued that delinquent youth were more motivated by gaining status among their peer groups. Much of the competition for status takes place in the setting of school which, for Cohen, is a largely middle class institution...
eBook - ePub- Ian Marsh, Ian Marsh(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Such approaches are introduced below. Albert Cohen AND SUBCULTURAL THEORIES In his widely cited study Delinquent Boys, published in 1955, Albert Cohen provides a different version of strain theory. The influence of Merton is apparent through his focusing on features of contemporary American society that create strains for individuals which eventually lead to delinquent behaviour—in particular the importance of the values which form the ‘American way of life’. However, Cohen questions whether criminal and delinquent behaviour is caused by a desire for material goals. Like Merton, he focuses on the working-class delinquency but argues that a large amount of such behaviour is expressive in character and not centred on acquiring money or goods. Delinquency centred on vandalism or violence is a clear example of such behaviour that is not concerned with material gain. Cohen’s argument is that American society is dominated by middle-class values and norms which are passed on through the education system and mass media. He looks to the education system in particular for his explanation of delinquency. Schools emphasize and embody middle-class values and so working-class boys (he focused on males) are ill-equipped to compete with middle-class boys, or ‘college boys’, and to gain status through education. Such working-class boys, or ‘corner boys’ as Cohen called them, suffer status frustration at school and respond by attempting to turn the middle-class value system on its head. Anything the school disapproves of the corner boy will see as good, with delinquency seen as a direct denial of middle-class values...
eBook - ePubCriminology in Brief
Understanding Crime and Criminal Justice
- Robert Heiner(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...(White collar crime will be discussed at more length in Chapter 4.) Albert Cohen Albert Cohen was one among several prominent sociologists in the 1950s and early 1960s who focused their attention on the formation and activities of lower class male gang delinquents. Cohen characterized the behavior of these gangs as being non-utilitarian, malicious, and negativistic. By non-utilitarian, he meant that their delinquent activities do not seem oriented toward a purpose. When delinquents steal, for example, they usually are not stealing anything that will be of use to them; instead, they seem to steal at random, take things they do not need, and often destroy those things. By malicious, he meant that they seem to take pride in being “just plain mean.” And by negativistic, Cohen meant that these juvenile gangs seem to take the dominant middle class norms, turn them upside down, and do the opposite of what is expected of them. Cohen writes, The same spirit is evident in playing hooky and in misbehavior in school. The teacher and her rules are not merely something onerous to be evaded. They are to be flouted. There is an element of active spite and malice, contempt and ridicule, challenge and defiance, exquisitely symbolized, in an incident described by writer Henry D. McKay, of defecating on the teacher’s desk. … The delinquent’s conduct is right by the standards of his subculture, precisely because it is wrong by the norms of the larger culture. “Malicious” and “negativistic” are foreign to the delinquent’s vocabulary but he will often assure us, sometimes ruefully, sometimes with a touch of glee or even pride, the he is “just plain mean.” 21 Much of Cohen’s theory goes on to explain why the lower class male gang delinquent behaves as he described above. According to Cohen, everybody seeks status. That is, we all want recognition; we all want to be held in the esteem of others because our self-esteem depends upon the esteem of others...
