Social Values And Social Characteristics Of The Middle-Class Measuring Rod

The Middle-Class Measuring Rod explains how a delinquent subculture rises, everywhere it is initiated within social structure, and why it has the particular features that it does. A subculture is a unit within the stronger culture that has its own beliefs, norms and values. They have a tendency of develop where people in like situations find themselves secluded from the mainstream and assemble together for shared support. Subcultures are present within a bigger society, not separated from it. Mike Carlie, Ph.D. at Missouri State University explains, “Albert Cohen’s theory is intended to explain how a delinquent subculture rises, where it is found within social structure, and why it has the particular characteristics that it does” (Carlie). According to Cohen, “Some lower-class children fail to measure up to the middle-class values and feel frustrated as a result of their inability to measure up to the school 's expectations. He believes some of these frustrated children will act out by turning the middle-class values upside down” (Carlie). Delinquent subgroups are fixed in class variances within parental

According to Clarence C. Schrag author of Crime and Justice: American Style, “Juvenile delinquency isn’t rooted by the denial of middle-class values, but comes from lower-class culture, maintaining its own value system. This system has grown as a reaction to living in disadvantaged neighborhoods categorized by single-parent households” (Schrag). Norms of gang activities are the juvenile expressions of the lower-class culture. Some of the identified concerns to which lower-class males give persistent attention to include toughness, trouble, excitement, smartness, luck, and autonomy. Some criminologists wonder if lower- class boys are changing to their own value structure, and whether they suffer guiltiness or embarrassment after they commit delinquent