Frederic Milton Thrasher

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Frederic Milton Thrasher (born February 19, 1892 in Shelbyville , Indiana , † March 24, 1962 ) was an American sociologist and criminologist . His study “The Gang” is one of the classics of criminal sociology and is considered to be groundbreaking preparatory work for subculture theory .

Career

As a student and colleague of Robert Ezra Parks, Thrasher is a well-known member of the Chicago School of Sociology . He earned a BA (Social Psychology) from DePauw University in 1916 , then an MA (Sociology) from the University of Chicago in 1918 , where he received his Ph.D. received his doctorate. From 1930 to 1959 he was professor of sociology at New York University . Thrasher worked on juvenile delinquency and subculture issues .

Trasher's investigations into youth gangs

Between 1919 and 1926 Trasher analyzed 1,313 communities of young men ("gangs") who acted under the special conditions prevailing in large American cities. According to his findings, these groups played an essential role in the recruitment and mobilization of personnel for organized crime . Preventive crime prevention therefore has to begin at the level of youth gangs.

According to Trasher, gangs are “intermediate groups” that provide substitute solutions for the male lower-class members of American cities and meet otherwise unattainable community needs. Their education is a natural and spontaneous response to diverse experiences of social grievances in the slums , such as family disorganization, political corruption, low wages, poor working conditions, high unemployment and generally unacceptable living conditions. Often, immigrants come to grips with a new culture, as well as the racist discrimination against African Americans . The gangs are thus groups that arise on the basis of conflict experiences and often offer their members the only opportunity to acquire status.

Trasher does not draw a clear dividing line between youth gangs and criminal gangs. Criminal careers often begin in groups of young people, with delinquency predominantly manifesting itself in an organized setting in the years of investigation in the USA. But because the majority of young gang members break away from group contexts over time and adapt to the expectations of society as a whole, Trasher calls the gangs “intermediate groups”.

Features of gangs

In his interpretation of Trasher's gait analyzes, Siegfried Lamnek isolates the following characteristics of such groups:

  • Spontaneous and unplanned emergence.
  • Intimate personal (face-to-face) contacts with the actual gang members.
  • Mutual stimulation and reactions.
  • Emphasis on activity and conflict.
  • Development of common codes, norms and values.
  • Unplanned organization (roles and status systems are not formally regulated).
  • Binding to a territory that is defended against competing gangs.
  • Evolutionary process from loose to strong organization, which can lead to the emergence of criminal associations (but can also be broken off).

Typology of gangs

In his study, Trasher developed a differentiated typology of gangs, the main types according to Lamnek are:

  • The diffuse, amorphous corridor only stays together for a short time. Their group structure is loose, leadership is not widely recognized in the group.
  • The firm, consolidated gait is the result of longer development or intensive or permanent external conflicts. The group connection is strong, internal friction is low.
  • The conventional type often goes back to initiatives by outsiders (e.g. social workers) and has formal structures (membership fees, elections). When social control deteriorates, there are destructive and demoralizing tendencies.
  • The criminal type arises when the aging group members fail to integrate into the established social structure.

Fonts (selection)

  • The gang. A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago , (first edition 1927), New Chicago School Press, Chicago 2000. ISBN 0966515552 .
  • The Boys' Club and Juvenile Delinquency , in: American Journal of Sociology , Vol. 41, 1936.
  • Okay for sound. How the Screen Found its Voice , Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York 1946.
  • The Comics and Delinquency. Cause or Scapegoat , in: Journal of Educational Sociology, Vol. 23, H. 195, 1949.
  • Do the Crime Comic Books Promote Juvenile Delinquency? In: The Congressional Digest, vol. 33, no. 12, December 1954.

literature

  • Marilyn D. McShane, Franklin P. Williams: Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice. Sage, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 2203, pp. 374, 375.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The presentation follows Siegfried Lamnek : Theorien der deviationsbaren , 7th edition, Munich 2001, pp. 145–149.
  2. ^ Siegfried Lamnek: Theories of deviating behavior , 7th edition, Munich 2001, p. 146 f.
  3. ^ Siegfried Lamnek: Theories of deviating behavior , 7th edition, Munich 2001, p. 147.
personal data
SURNAME Thrasher, Frederic Milton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sociologist and criminologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Shelbyville , Indiana
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1962