There are many theories that suggest that crime is constructed socially, or is a product of the society in which the crime is committed. One such theory, proposed by Robert Merton, is known as strain theory. While strain theory is a useful model for explaining how societal values can drive people to commit crimes, it has several flaws and does not focus on how laws are made and how this contributes to the formation of crime. While Merton suggests that laws are created from consensus within a society, it will be argued that strain theory can also support the idea that laws are a “product of conflict” (Hagan 5). Strain theory is founded on the idea that the goals of a society and the accepted means of achieving said goal causes strain that can …show more content…
In strain theory, laws are equivalent to the accepted means that people can use to achieve their goals, which are described as a product of tradition and consensus. According to Frederick von Savigny, laws are “generalized statements of the tendencies actually operating, of the presuppositions on which a particular civilization is based” (Hagan 5). In this view, laws are almost indistinguishable from the commonly held morality found in a society. This theory on the nature of laws appears to match Merton’s understanding of how goals and methods of obtaining these goals are formed. An apposing theory on the creation of laws views them as a “product of conflict” (Hagan 5). In this view, there are many different moralities, which compete to become law. In several ways, this theory seems to match strain theory better than the consensus theory. As discussed previously, strain theory suggests that when goals become impossible to achieve through accepted means (defined by laws) crime is likely to occur. But why do these means fall short? It could simply be a natural consequence of society, or it could be a result of lawmakers, who are generally rich and powerful, seeking to protect their wealth by limiting the upward mobility of the economically disadvantaged. An obedience to tradition described in strain theory could originate from this. Strain theory also maintains that there is one single commonly held goal in a society that everyone essentially feels driven to seek. In a country as large and diverse as the United States, this seems unlikely in many regards. There will inevitably be minorities whose views and goals are covered up by others who are more powerful. Even something as seemingly universal as the pursuit of wealth ignores a significant number of people who are content with having enough money, and then pursue other
Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel Cohen presented the theory of gang constitution that used Merton’s strain theory as a basis for why individuals resort to such group behavior. There are five adaptions to strain and of the five Sanyika was proximately cognate to the adaptation of revolt, which is the most complex of the five adaptations. Strain is considered the primary source for the development of criminals. According to Cohen, delinquent youths begin to value destruction of property and skipping school, not because these behaviors lead to a payoff or success in the conventional world, but simply because they defy the conventional norms and laws as good, thereby psychologically and physically rejecting the cultural system that has been imposed on them without preparation and fair distribution of resources. (Tibbets, p. 116)
Merton’s point of view was that America produced a state of anomie because of the greater emphasis on the goals of wealth at the expense of the conventional ways of going about attaining economic success. By 1968, Merton was clarifying his strain theory by arguing for a perspective that views socially deviant behavior, including criminal behavior as a product of social structure (Tibbetts and Hemmons, 2010). The social structure, for Merton, had to do with approved social means. While people can put forth an honest effort to attain the American Dream, Americans are more likely to do whatever it takes to get ahead.
In 1985 Robert Agnew a sociologist come to an interest of studying the theory and finds a potential for the theory in explaining several causes of crime in society, but due to its limitation he developed and reformulated the theory to widen its dimension or scope. After revising the theory he come up into General strain theory of crime and builds its foundation in 1992. General strain theory argues that frustrations and anger leads someone to deviance and may result into committing a crime (Agnew, 1992). GST defines strains as negative life events and conditions which are commonly disliked by the people who experience it or negative experiences of a person in a given group (Agnew, 1992; 2001; 2006). Strain is often classified in two distinct types, the Objective Strain and the Subjective Strain.
The strain theory implies that crime may occur because of the stress or frustration placed on people when
To support my logic of the Strain Theory best fitting Professor Hopes’ response, I would like to start with the work of Emile Durkheim who was a sociologist and philosopher. Durkheim begin this work by speaking about ‘anomie’, which is a sense of normlessness, where he attempted to explain that the strain of society presses people to act out as if there are no rules (Agnew &Scheuerman 2015). If people are under strain or stress then making ends meet would become priority by all mean necessary. Robert Merton, another sociologist expanded on Durkheim’s Strain theory and developed his theory of deviance, which simply means opposition to the norms(Agnew &Scheuerman 2015). Merton concluded that society places expectations on its members, but does
However, Becker’s ‘labelling theory’ has been criticised for a number of reasons. Robert K. Merton founded the ‘strain theory’ in which he argues that certain strains or tensions upon people are more likely to lead them to engaging in crime when they cannot get what they desire through legitimate means. Rather than looking at the societal reactions to crime, Merton explains deviance through the nature of society and how the structure of society generates deviance, whilst looking at the frustration or anger the deviant might obtain whilst trying to reach the shared goals within the culture. Merton’s work in “Social structure and anomie”, from McLaughlin, E. & Muncie, J. (2013) Criminological perspectives, 3rd ed., London: Sage, pp.74-84) outlines
a. Use Strain Theory to define and explain the following: i. The theft of a loaf of bread by a hungry person Using strain theory, the theft of a loaf of bread by a hungry person can be explained as a situation where an individual employs different means of success of getting fed, one that is against the agreeable ways in the society of getting money and feeding themselves. ii. Alcoholics Using strain theory, an alcohol has ultimately rejected the society’s goals of conforming to the societal values such as happiness and a stable job, such an individual essentially rejects the goals because they have been ultimately been unable to live up to the society’s standards. iii.
The juvenile justice system is a system created to handle minors who are convicted of crimes to separate them from adult court. The justice system has many problems with racial discrimination amongst juveniles. The four theories explain the reasons sociologists explain why they believe such discrimination against other race happens. The strain theorists believe strain and stressful things on racial discrimination among juvenile delinquents are the reason why there is an increase in juvenile delinquency. The control theorists idea is that people with low levels of control especially in racial situations are more likely to have an increase in delinquency.
While a few theories are not as regular, others have developed and are utilized as a part of numerous criminal reviews today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the
Within the past couple of decades, criminologists have developed different criminological theories that apply to the social behaviors and decisions of criminals. One of the earliest theories developed regarding criminality is the rational choice theory, in which describes the rationalization of determining if the rewards from committing the crime outweigh the consequences. In Scarver’s case, his decision to engage in criminal activities outweighed the potential consequences, or the other alternatives if he did not engage in such criminal activities. In addition to the rational choice theory, Scarver’s criminality can be related to the social disorganization theory, which describes the influence of one’s social and physical environment on one’s decision to commit a crime. Lastly, the strain theory can be related to Scarver’s criminality as well, as it is used to describe an individual who lacks the means to obtain such goals, and aspirations, so therefore, he or she engages in criminal activities to acquire the goals.
Strain theory Strain theory would help define how minorities feel. Strain Theory by Merton states that crime is committed by individual when they don’t achieve nor understand the “American Goals”. Conformity is when you accept the goal and the meaning. Innovation is when you reject the means but accept the goals. Ritualism is when you reject the goals and accept the means.
Merton. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American dream) though they lack the means, this leads to strain which may lead the individuals to commit crimes. Two major concerns in strain theory are the sources of the strain, stress or how people adapt to the strain. Positivism are theories of social and structure are strain theories.
Karl Marx 's introduced his theory called the “Conflict Theory”, which claims that “criminal behavior is based upon the natural consequence of economic and other social inequalities”. In other words, this theory highlights that crime is caused by the social inequality within in a society, because those with higher power and wealth will have a higher advantage over the law. This theory is composed of four key elements that affect the criminal behavior of a society. The first element is that “society is composed of many diverse social groups”, which causes people to categorize others based upon their social statuses and other unique factors. The second factor is that many of us in society have “different interests and values”, which causes crime
However, the social structure often fails in providing the means, thereby creating an imbalance in the fulfillment of the cultural goals. This imbalance that stems from the lack of necessary means to achieve socially accepted cultural goals leads to structural strain. The Strain Theory was propounded by Robert
As far as crime is concerned, it is defined by the law. Deviance is unexpected behaviour, but not exactly considered criminal. Many consider crime as a social problem – a problem as defined by society, such as homelessness, drug abuse, etc. Others would say crime is a sociological problem – something defined as a problem by sociologists and should be dealt with accordingly by sociologists. This essay attempts to discover the boundaries between these two and ultimately come to an appropriate conclusion.