How Subcultural Theories Relate To John Gotti
Introduction John Gotti’s rise within the Gambino crime family offers a useful case for testing subcultural theories of crime, but it should not be reduced to the claim that poverty automatically produces a gangster. Gotti grew up in a low-income household, entered a neighborhood environment where organized crime offered status and opportunity, learned criminal techniques through older associates, and advanced inside an institution with its own rules, rewards, and sanctions.

