Subculture Of Violence Thesis Research Articles

Adherence to street code and violent victimization and delinquent offending of youth in Turkey: An analysis of mediation and moderation effects

In this study, we estimated a model of youth violent victimization and delinquent offending in Turkey using the subculture of violence thesis. Specifically, we employed adherence to street code and risky lifestyle measures to understand the relationship between these factors and the odds of youth violent victimization and the incidence rate ratio of delinquent offending, controlling for social ties such as family and peer-related measures and demographics, in a sample of 2627 students from 18 schools in Bagcilar county of Istanbul, Turkey. Moreover, we also explored the mediation and moderation effects among adherence to street culture and lifestyle measures. We found that risky lifestyle corresponds with higher odds of victimization and a higher incidence rate ratio of offending. Moreover, we found that adherence to street code has direct and indirect effects on offending, but it has only an indirect effect on victimization. In other words, lifestyle measures fully mediated the effect of street culture on victimization. Finally, we also found moderation effects of adherence to street culture on the relationship between lifestyle, victimization, and delinquent offending. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Estrangement, Machismo, and Gang Violence

The Subculture of violence thesis sees values relating to violence as playing an important causal role in the generation of violent behavior. Subcultural values, it is argued, define certain circumstances and stimuli that appropriately evoke physical aggression,especially on the part of young black and Hispanic males. Within the subculture, failure to respond violently to physical or verbal challenge may well lead to negative sanctions, while violent response to such challenges is said to be supported, encouraged and at times directly required (Wolfgang and Ferracuti, 1967).By and large, the literature relating to the subculture of violence thesis has concentrated on two questions. The first of these is an empirical question: Can the hypothesized value differences be demonstrated? What little evidence exists on the issue is mixed; several studies (e.g., Ball-Rokeach,1973; Erianger, 1974) suggest that the differences do not exist, while others suggest that they do (e.g., Ferracuti et al., 1970; Ferracuti and Wolfgang, 1973). The second question is more theoretical: Assuming that the value differences do exist, should they be regarded as the product of a semiautonomous subculture (as implied, although not unequivocally, in the work of Wolfgang and Ferracuti [1967]), or should they be regarded as an adaptation to situational exigencies induced by social structure (a position explicitly taken by Cloward and Ohlin [1960] in their discussion of the "conffict subculture" and by Curtis [1975] in his elaboration of Wolfgang's model)? This paper attempts to advance discussion on both of these questions, in the specific context of the Chicano barrios of East Los Angeles. It concludes that, while subcultural values of the barrio may be different from those of Anglo society and may exist independently of Anglo society, they do not directly require or condone violence. Rather, behavior is a product of the way in which structural conditions limit the expression of these values.

The mediating effects of delinquent attitudes on race, race heterogeneity, and violent offending

Race is often linked with crime. Research, regardless of method, finds that crime appears to be disproportionately committed by racial and ethnic minorities, especially blacks. And, this disproportionality is greater for violent crimes such as robbery and homicide than it is for non-violent crimes. While some studies identify the importance of neighborhood context, others discuss the importance of a youth's peer group in accounting for the relationship between race and violent offending, particularly the racial heterogeneity of the peer group. Drawing on the work of organizational literature as well as the subculture of violence thesis, the current study explores the race-violence relationship by examining three additional mediators: the formation of delinquent attitudes, adherence to a street code, and susceptibility to peer influence. Furthermore, utilizing a sample of white, black, and Hispanic youth, this study examines the extent to which these variables mediate the relationship between racial heterogeneity of the peer group and violent offending.

Understanding the Relationship Between Contemporary Culture, Media Effects and Youth Violence

Sociologically, a sub-culture of violence thesis may be used to explain much of the violence generated by a culture based value system geared to a ready response of physical assault on ritually acknowledged cues. When the repertoire of response is limited to relatively inarticulate capacity, when physical punishment of children is common practice, when the rational civility of middle class values of respect for person and property are undeveloped or missing, when parental affection for and caring supervision of children are absent, the major modal categories of violent behavior are more likely to emerge in expressions that violate both codified law and dominant communal norms. Media often prefaces its programmes by saying ‘To be watched under parental supervision’. There are categories in cinema of U, U/A and A, but with open skies these have little significance. Interestingly, while revolting against over censorship, a large section of influential intellectuals have last track of children and young person's highly sensitive and influence prone character. A well negotiated regularly debated policy of media projection is still a distant dream. Further, the impact of media on youth is complex and exhibits contrary results according to the analytical framework, for example, there are evidences that watching violence excites violent tendencies, but also that sometimes violence on screen is watched by those who already have violent tendencies and behaviors. This paper tries to confront the root cause of youth violence by making a serious attempt to understand contemporary culture and why it is meaningful to the youth who consume it. This paper looks at cultural artifacts as complex bundles of contradictory meanings that can yield an enormous range of responses from people who consume them.

Firearms and fisticuffs: Region, race, and adversary effects on homicide and assault

Analyses of the National Crime Victimization Survey and Supplemental Homicide Reports show that southern whites are much more likely than northern whites to be victims of gun homicides and assaults, but not other homicides and assaults. While blacks are more likely than whites to be victims of gun assaults (regardless of region), they have lower risks of assault victimization by unarmed offenders. The patterns are inconsistent with the subculture of violence thesis. In addition, incident analyses reveal that patterns of weapon use primarily reflect the race of the victim not the offender. Our results point to the importance of adversary effects: Offenders avoid assaulting blacks and southern whites unless they have guns because members of these groups are perceived as a greater threat. We suggest that the prevalence of armed assault in a community may lower the likelihood of unarmed assaults, and that honor culture explanations may be salvageable.

Race, victim precipitated homicide, and the subculture of violence thesis

The subculture of violence thesis suggests that African Americans are disproportionately likely to respond to minor transgressions with lethal force because of a culturally defined need to protect one’s reputation and a normative aversion to legal forms of dispute resolution. Using data on over 950 non-justifiable homicides from police files, the present study tests this hypothesis by examining race-specific patterns of victim precipitation (i.e., the victim’s role in initiating the homicide). If, as the theory suggests, African Americans are more likely to respond to minor affronts with lethal violence than Whites, then African American homicide incidents should have more victim precipitation, particularly in the form of minor acts of provocation. The results of the current analysis do not support this hypothesis and therefore are inconsistent with the notion that a unique subculture of violence among African Americans explains their disproportionately high levels of homicide victimization and offending.

A Cross-National Examination of the Relationship between Gender Equality and Official Rape Rates

Researchers often base their studies of the relationship between gender equality and rape on the claims of feminists. But feminists propose both a negative and positive relationship between these variables. This article summarizes theoretical differences between groups of feminists and uses gender equality indicators especially consistent with liberal feminists’ goals to examine the relationship in question with cross-national data. A positive relationship was found, not a negative one as the limited equality goals of liberal feminists lead one to expect. Also, similar to several previous studies, homicide and rape rates are positively associated as suggested by the subculture of violence thesis.

RACE AND PRISON VIOLENCE*

Data from 58 male institutions in the federal correctional system were used to test for racial differences in both violent and alcohol/drug misconduct, controlling for a large number of individual, prison environment, and community background variables. Because “structurally” the in‐prison station of black and white inmates is essentially identical, the data provide a unique methodological opportunity to test deprivation versus importation models of prison adjustment as well as more encompassing structural versus cultural theories of violence. The major findings are that, net of controls, black inmates have significantly higher rates of violent behavior but lower rates of alcohol/drug misconduct than white inmates. These patterns parallel those of racial differences in the larger society. We interpret these findings as supporting the importation theory of prison adjustment and the subculture of violence thesis regarding high rates of black violence in the larger society.

Applying a subculture of violence thesis to an ongoing criminal lifestyle

This article describes our case study of a random violent abduction and murder in a rural part of southeastern Kentucky located in the Appalachian mountains. The offender, who was raised in this rural and isolated part of Kentucky, had a long history of violence and had been socialized into what we identify as a subculture of violence that is still found today in homogeneous and isolated pockets of some Appalachian regions (among other areas). In our description and analysis of his ongoing criminal way of life and this specific act of violence, we rely on Miller's (1958) subcultural explanations. We particularly use Miller's focal concerns, that is, daily behavioral patterns that are reflected in this offender's culturally based and lower class lifestyle and his violent subcultural traits.

Another look at the subculture of violence thesis: Who murders whom and under what circumstances

This research brings new evidence to bear on the question of whether a subculture of violence exists in the southern United States. Specifically, we use 1991 homicide data from the FBI to determine that (a) Southerners are more likely than people in other regions to murder in argumentative situations and (b) Southerners are more likely than non‐Southerners to kill people they know. We contend that these findings are consistent with the subculture of violence thesis.

The Subculture of Violence and Delinquency: Individual vs. School Context Effects

This article examines the subculture of violence thesis using data on young males (N = 2,213) across 87 high schools. Aggregate analyses show that values reflecting a subculture of violence have substantial effects on the level of interpersonal violence among high school boys. Contextual analyses suggest that the school subculture of violence operates through a social control process. A contextual measure of school values regarding violence has a direct effect on interpersonal violence, controlling for individuals' commitment to these values. These results contradict the usual explanation of how the subculture of violence affects violent behavior. Further, evidence implying that values regarding violence predict other forms of delinquency suggests that the results may reflect a subculture of delinquency rather than a subculture of violence. Finally, young males are most likely to engage in delinquency when they go to schools where academics are valued, controlling for their own academic values.

On Cultural Explanations of Southern Homicide: Comment on Dixon and Lizotte

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommentary and DebateOn Cultural Explanations of Southern Homicide: Comment on Dixon and LizotteJay Corzine and Lin Huff-CorzineJay Corzine Search for more articles by this author and Lin Huff-Corzine Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 95, Number 1Jul., 1989 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/229219 Views: 9Total views on this site Citations: 15Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1989 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Jessica M. Doucet, Julia M. D’Antonio-Del Rio, Chantel D. Chauvin G.R.I.T.S., Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29, no.55 (Oct 2013): 806–823.https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260513505707Patricia L. McCall, Kenneth C. Land, Karen F. Parker An Empirical Assessment of What We Know About Structural Covariates of Homicide Rates: A Return to a Classic 20 Years Later, Homicide Studies 14, no.33 (May 2010): 219–243.https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767910371166Matthew R. Lee, Shaun A. Thomas, Graham C. Ousey Southern Culture and Homicide: Examining the Cracker Culture/Black Rednecks Thesis, Deviant Behavior 31, no.11 (Dec 2009): 60–96.https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620902854761Wesley G. Jennings, Alex R. Piquero Trajectories of non-intimate partner and intimate partner homicides, 1980-1999: The importance of rurality, Journal of Criminal Justice 36, no.55 (Sep 2008): 435–443.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.07.002Timothy C. Hayes, Matthew R. Lee THE SOUTHERN CULTURE OF HONOR AND VIOLENT ATTITUDES, Sociological Spectrum 25, no.55 (Aug 2006): 593–617.https://doi.org/10.1080/02732170500174877Jon Gunnar Bernburg, Thorolfur Thorlindsson Violent Values, Conduct Norms, and Youth Aggression: A Multilevel Study in Iceland, The Sociological Quarterly 46, no.33 (Dec 2016): 457–478.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00022.xEllen G. Cohn, James Rotton, Amy G. Peterson, Deborah B. Tarr Temperature, City Size, and the Southern Subculture of Violence: Support for Social Escape/Avoidance (SEA) Theory1, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 34, no.88 (Aug 2004): 1652–1674.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02792.xMatthew R. Lee, John P. Bartkowski Civic Participation, Regional Subcultures, and Violence, Homicide Studies 8, no.11 (Jul 2016): 5–39.https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767903256528Mari A. Dewees, Karen F. Parker Women, Region, and Types of Homicide, Homicide Studies 7, no.44 (Jul 2016): 368–393.https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767903256462Christopher G. Ellison, Jeffrey A. Burr, Patricia L. Mccall The Enduring Puzzle of Southern Homicide, Homicide Studies 7, no.44 (Jul 2016): 326–352.https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767903256463Steven Stack Southernness, migration, and homicide risk: An analysis of individual-level data, American Journal of Criminal Justice 26, no.22 (Mar 2002): 165–179.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887825B. B. Benda Religion and Violent Offenders in Boot Camp: A Structural Equation Model, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 39, no.11 (Feb 2002): 91–121.https://doi.org/10.1177/002242780203900104MARIAN J. BORG The Southern Subculture of Punitiveness? Regional Variation in Support for Capital Punishment, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 34, no.11 (Aug 2016): 25–45.https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427897034001003Tom W. Rice, Carolyn R. Goldman Another look at the subculture of violence thesis: Who murders whom and under what circumstances, Sociological Spectrum 14, no.44 (Jul 2010): 371–384.https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.1994.9982077F. Frederick Hawley, Steven F. Messner The southern violence construct: A review of arguments, evidence, and the normative context, Justice Quarterly 6, no.44 (Aug 2006): 481–511.https://doi.org/10.1080/07418828900090351

Fighting Back: A Test Of The Subculture Of Violence Thesis

National Crime Survey (NCS) data on criminal incidents over a ten-year period (1973-1982) were used to examine the correlates of type of self-protective action taken by crime victims. The primary focus of the study is the usefulness of the subculture of violence thesis for the interpretation of victim responses to personal crime. The study also explores the importance of contextual ("neighborhood") characteristics vis-a-vis individual characteristics in explaining victim behavior.

Southern Exposure: Deciphering the South's Influence on Homicide Rates

Studies have consistently shown the South to have the highest homicide rates in the United States. Tzux theories to explain this have been proposed: a regionally based subculture of violence thesis and a structural interpretation emphasizing high rates of poverty in the South. These explanations are not mutually exclusive, but their proponents have engaged in a sometimes rancorous debate. Investigations designed to test the two theories have produced inconsistent findings. The present study attempts to resolve some of the questions by using OLS and ridge regression techniques to analyze state homicide rates for total populations, whites and nonwhites. Our findings show homicides for total populations and whites to be influenced by both poverty and regional differences. Among nonwhites, however, poverty is not related to the homicide rate, and the presumed effect of southern culture depends on the measurement adopted. The results lend support to arguments that the high homicide rates of white southerners and blacks reflect, in part, subcultural differences.

The colonial model, subcultural theory, and intragroup violence

Frantz Fanon's explanation of exceptionally high rates of intragroup violence among natives of European colonies has been virtually neglected by social scientists seeking to understand violence. This study discusses important similarities between Fanon's colonial model and subcultural theory, including Wolfgang and Ferracuti's subculture of violence thesis. More importantly, it is shown that decolonization in the Caribbean island of St. Vincent is accompanied by a decrease in the frequency of intragroup violence as the colonial model suggests.

Adolescent Subcultures of Violence

Wolfgang and Ferracuti's Subculture of Violence thesis and Matza's theory of “drift” may be regarded as competing subcultural explanations of violence. Comments are offered on studies examining propositions derived from both subcultural theses, and another body of evidence is analyzed. Ball-Rokeach's recent rejection of Wolfgang and Ferracuti's thesis is contradicted by a reinterpretation of her data and by the new data; for as both theses contend, violence is more likely among adolescent members of deviant subcultures and among adolescents with machismo or adult values than among other adolescents. Contrary to both theories, adolescent violence may result more from amorality than from a confracultural morality (Wolfgang and Fer-racuti) or neutralization of conventional beliefs (Matza). Still violence is more likely among boys holding unconventional beliefs than among other boys. Also, poor relationships with parents or teachers are more important than class in insulating against conventional values.

The Empirical Status of the Subculture of Violence Thesis

This article reviews some of the existing literature bearing on the subculture of violence thesis (Wolfgang, l958), reports the results of a re-analysis of survey data collected for •the President's Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence,and presents new data on peer esteem and social psychological correlates of fighting among males in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is concluded that although the subculture of violence thesis has not been definitively tested, the weight of the evidence is against it

The Empirical Status of the Subculture of Violence Thesis

This article reviews some of the existing literature bearing on the subculture of violence thesis (Wolfgang, 1958), reports the results of a re-analysis of survey data collected for the President's Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, and presents new data on peer esteem and social psychological correlates of fighting among males in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is concluded that although the subculture of violence thesis has not been definitively tested, the weight of the evidence is against it.