Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang

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July 16, 2026

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Albert Cohen's Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang (1955) proposes a subcultural theory of delinquency. Cohen argued that youths who cannot achieve status through conventional means, such as academic success, form gangs. These gangs invert conventional societal values, conferring status for actions that are typically seen as failures. For example, academic failure might be rewarded within the gang culture. This theory attempts to bridge sociological concepts of social structure and learning theories to explain delinquent behavior.1

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Albert Cohen
In Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang (1955), Cohen tied these divergent approaches together in a single theory. Proposing a general theory of subcultures, Cohen argued that similar ideas tend to arise among people who experience similar social circumstances. He maintained that delinquent youths generally…
Read More
In Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang (1955), Cohen tied these divergent approaches together in a single theory. Proposing a general theory of subcultures, Cohen argued that similar ideas tend to arise among people who experience similar social circumstances. He maintained that delinquent youths generally…
Read More