Social Process Theories - Project - Essay Example

Social Process Theories: Social disorganization theory: Social disorganization theorists have pointed out myriad factors that weaken the strength of the society to control the pandemonium and exercise effective control on the ignorant youth and reduce the rate of delinquency. Societies that face aggressive socio-economic problems, unemployment, domestic violence, and poor education facilities are fraught with risks of crime prevalence. These are such factors that do not let the senior people influence the defiant youth and socialize them, so that they can enhance their empathic sense and self-control.

Strain theory: This sociological theory explains how people who have absolutely no sense of customs, rules, traditions, and norms can affect a society. The theory suggests that a state of antipathy and antagonism erupts when people refuse following the set standards of ethics. Theorists claim that such hostile and selfish behavior displayed by almost every resident of a community can drastically affect that society, since the structure and make up of a society depends upon the way people decide to behave.

Cultural deviance theory: This theory suggests that poor and economically-deprived societies have low class culture and traditions, and they have got a distinct style of comprehending things. It predicts that sometimes, when people start acting in accordance with those rules and approaches that are common in low class communities, free transmission of crime may occur. Actually, such people have extremely low access to financial resources, and that state is aggravated by unemployment. This theory identifies class difference to be the main cause of crime prevalence.

Differential association theory: This theory aims at explaining the reasons why an individual chooses a way that defies the accepted standards of the society. This theory reflects the approach of perceiving the atrocities committed by a criminal as his/her learned behaviors. It lays stress on the root causes of delinquent behavior and the persistent nature of crime resulting from that state. It identifies the profound importance of socializing such people who show traits of crime before it becomes an essential feature of their personalities.

Techniques of neutralization: This explains a series of methods that show how people develop a propensity for crime by neutralizing or suppressing the ethical values, which would otherwise prevent them from falling in the silken snare of crime. This reflects how crime spreads in a society when individuals kill their moral values. This theory differs from others in that it rejects the probability that criminals have absolutely no ethical sense, rather it is built upon the observation that criminals have the idea of moral values, only they temporarily suppress it.

Social bond theory: Important elements of social bond theory encompass commitment to family relationships, approval for moral values and awareness of the benefit of purposeful activities. This theory approaches social disruptions by suggesting that social bonding heavily impacts the behavior of people who are inclined toward crime, especially it emphasizes that young criminals are independent of family attachments. It professes that adolescence is the period when youth need strong social ties so that moral lessons can be learnt and aversive approach towards crime probability can be developed.

Social reaction theory: The theme of this theory suggests that it is a general tradition that when people commit crimes, they are readily labeled as criminals or delinquents, and such behavior leaves little room for criminals to assess or evaluate themselves. Such actions force the criminals to make this law-breaking attitude a part of their characters. The main elements of this theory are the primary deviance and secondary deviance. Primary deviance begins when an individual first commits crime, and then begins the course of secondary deviance when an individual is permanently labeled by the society as a criminal.

Causes of gang violence: Most of the distinguished sociological theories aim at explaining the reasons why some societies are at higher chances of getting influenced by crime than others, thus enhancing the possibility of gang violence. 1. The disturbed social bonds and family disruption are two main factors that lead to high rate of crime in a society. Research shows that youth is much more likely to indulge in criminal activities when raised by single-parent families. 2. Also, when social ties are frail and unstable, people are less likely to intervene in neighborhood affairs and sort out the problematic issues. 3. According to Becker (cited in Jarn, 2008), when a new criminal identity is given by the society to the person who commits a crime, he/she accepts that label and feels pressurized to act accordingly. 4. Moreover, the behavior of neutralizing the conscious alert warnings displayed by criminals also readily leads to a higher crime rate in a society. 5. Denial of responsibility is also a root cause of delinquency that later leads to violent gang activities.

This behavior gradually shapes into a learned behavior that, if left unsupervised, can force one to join criminal gangs and cause violence. Reference: Jarn. (2008). Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory: Pros, Cons, and Effects on Society. Retrieved from http://www.articlealley.com/article_524965_50.html