Major Theories of Crime Causation Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Major Theories of Crime Causation - Term Paper Example Cultural deviance theory is a subset of a bigger range of theories which all have to do with the structure, or more exactly, the stratification of human society. Stratification is the way that objects are arranged in layers, such as in ancient rock formations, for example, and in society the term refers to the economic or social classes that exist in human societies. There are always some people who have a lot of wealth and power, and these people represent the upper classes. They enjoy prestige and privileged access to many of the benefits of society. Below this layer are those who are comfortable and can access some but not all of the advantages that a society offers, and at the bottom of the heap are the poor, who very often struggle to meet basic needs and are excluded from many of the benefits of society. The proportion of the population in each stratum can vary according to the culture and the history of different places. Some countries, like the USA and most of Western Europe has a very large middle class, while others, like India, have a huge lower class. In all societies it has been noted that the classes at the bottom of this hierarchy tend to have more crime. Economic disadvantage, therefore, is a factor which can lead to greater levels of crime. Lack of wealth results in an environment where people do not have the spare income to spend on keeping the place in order, and this means that disorganization and chaos is more likely to occur. Middle and upper class communities take more pride in their local area because they have invested a lot of resources in their homes, for example in buying or renting nice properties and making their gardens and houses neat and clean. People who struggle to put food on the table do not have the luxury to look after their neighbourhood, and crime develops in the neglected public spaces. In this context there is much less to lose, and so there is a greater tendency to opt out of constructive community efforts. People do not become attached to the place, or their neighbors and in fact â€Å"Residents in crime-ridden neighborhoods try to leave at the earliest opportunity.† (Siegel, 2007, p. 126) Life in an economically disadvantaged area is stressful and results in a culture forming in which those who are not able to move out and up into a more advantageous layer of society find ways of adapting to their environment. The cultural disadvantage theory observes that lower-class people have different values than middle and upper class people. They do not try to compete in conventional arenas like education and employment, but seek success in different ways, and measured by different standards. So for example instead of working through an apprenticeship and starting a long term career, lower class people set their sights on the values of the street: being tough and streetwise, doing deals and gaining income in ways which demand street wisdom rather than conventional submission to rules. The usual authority figures such as parents, teachers, police, are seen as influences to be r ejected, in favor of a kind of rebellious autonomy. In this world view crime plays a big part, because