Cloward & Ohlin

Gang Delinquency- Cloward and Ohlin

The concept of differential opportunity structures permits us to unite the theory of anomie which recognizes the concept of differentials in access to legitimate means and the “Chicago tradition,” in which the concept of differentials in access to illegitimate means is implicit. We can now look at the individual, not simply in relation to one or the other system of means, but in relation to both legitimate and illegitimate systems.

Concerned with explaining gang delinquency, Cloward and Ohlin identified three different types of gangs: criminal, conflict and retreatist. Each gang type represents a specific mode of adaptation to perceived anomie. The criminal gang, similar to Merton’s innovator aspired to the conventional goals of society. Its access to the legitimate means for achieving success are blocked, but there is an illegitimate opportunity structure, in the form of community organization for crime, that permits the gang to achieve money and status through illegal or nonconventional means. An example would be the inner-city youth exposed to older gang members who are operating a theft ring. The youth learns the appropriate behaviour and justifications from these older youths and sees them achieve success through their illegal operations. As a consequence, the youth joins the gang and ultimately moves up through its ranks.

Figure1.

Cloward and Ohlin: Group Adaptations to Anomie

|Types of Adaptation |Conventional Goals |Legitimate Means |Illegitimate Means |

| | | | |

|Criminal |+ |- |+ |

|Retreatist |- |- |- |

|...