Mark Williams

CRIMJUST 200-04

September 30, 2019

Miller’s Focal Concern Theory and the Code of the Street

“More than 50 years ago, sociologist Walter Miller identified the unique conduct norms

that help define lower-class culture and referred to them as focal concerns” (Siegel, 2017). There

are six focal concerns in Millers theory consisting of: trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement

fate, and autonomy. Each of these focal concerns also coincide with the Code of the Street. In the

following paragraph will be the six focal concerns.

Focal Concerns

To begin, every criminal has to be tough. Although this does mean strong, it also means

spiritually and emotionally tough. An offender has to be able to hold themselves together in any

situation no matter how hard the victim is on them in words or in a fighting/wrestling battle. In

other words, an offender isn’t by any means a cry baby. Also, offenders will never show their

sentimental values to the public which again makes them appear to be tough. Criminals are

constantly getting themselves into some type of trouble. Some of these types of trouble are

behaviors such as drinking, fighting, and sexual misconduct (Siegel, 2017). When someone gets

themselves into trouble, they need to be able to handle their situations on their own, you cannot

rely on other people around you to always help defend your situation. Smartness related to

Miller’s focal concerns is not about being book smart and getting good grades in school.

Smartness of criminals is about how good you can “play the game.” When “playing the game”

you need to be able to pick things out and have a conscious feeling about whether or not the
victim may possess a gun or be able to tell when the police are coming before you see them.

Once you do see the police, it is usually too late to run, although you may try. Excitement is a

huge part of the criminal lifestyle; this is what it is all about. Being a risk taker is a normal way

of life for criminals. The types of activities they may take part in may involve but are not limited

to, gambling, fighting, getting drunk, possibly to the point of passing out, and sexual adventures.

Sexual adventures are very risky as you need to be careful where you go to do them. You don’t

want to be lured into a stranger’s apartment as you have no idea what their plan could be. Living

another day or dying tonight is just the result of fate, according to criminals. They believe

whatever happens, happens, and to live for today as tomorrow is not guaranteed. Chronic

criminals don’t expect to live long at all, if they make it to their late twenties that’s usually a

surprise to them. Lastly, the autonomy of criminals is very strong. You must look out for

yourself, put yourself before anyone and everyone, and only do for yourself. “You must be

independent of authority figures such as the police, teachers, and parents. Losing control in a

situation and doing something dumb is an unacceptable weakness” (Siegel, 2017). All of these

focal concerns intertwine with one another and in order to live the criminal lifestyle, these are all

practices that will become of your everyday life.

Code of the Street

In 2000, Elijah Anderson came up with the “Code of the Street.” Within this code, there

are two cultural forces that shape the young people’s reactions, decent values and street values.

Decent values are made up from families who know they are living in a poor neighborhood,

making minimum wage but still strive to be the best they can be and someday hope to truly be in

the middle-class. These families value their hard work and are willing to make sacrifices for their

children. These sacrifices can be anywhere from not letting someone into their house to working
multiple jobs to be able to support their families. Street values, which is where the code of the

streets really sets in, are informal rules made up by the delinquent subculture. These rules are to

be followed mostly by those who commit crime on a daily basis. If you get in a fight with

someone because of a disagreement, you fight it out. Never call the cops for something like this

or you may end up shot and the shooter will get away with it. The code of the streets sets up

“The Respect Game.” One thing nobody can ever take away from a person no matter what they

did is their respect. This can be dangerous for youths on the street because once their respect is

lost by one person, it may be lost by many others resulting in an early life death. Afterall,

criminal lifestyle has just as many complications as a regular middle-class lifestyle. There are

rules to follow and things you know you shouldn’t do.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Miller’s Focal Concerns can be shown in the Code of the Street in many

instances. For example, being tough (focal concern) shows through when you need to fight your

own battle and not call the cops (code of the street). When participating in the criminal lifestyle,

nobody feels shame for what they do, so you always need to have a sense of everyone who is

around you at any given time. A criminal doesn’t choose a victim, victim’s choose when a

criminal will attack whether they are a criminal themselves or not.

 References

Siegel, Larry J. Criminology: The Core. Cengage Learning, 2017.