ipl-logo

Structural Strain Theory

705 Words3 Pages

Deviant behavior is the behavior that is different from the most powerful norms of the society or can also be defined as odd or unacceptable behavior. In sociological way deviance is simply any violation of societal norms. There are many reasons why a person has deviant behavior which includes biological , psychological and sociological explanations. the most popular sociological theories are Structural Strain Theory which was developed by Robert K merton as an addition of the functional point of view on deviance.The theory discovers the origin of deviance that these are caused by the difference cultural and the ways people use to achieve their goals the theory of structural strains describes that “societies are characterized by both culture and social structure. Culture establishes goals for people in society while social structure provides the way for people to achieve their goals. society that has people uses acknowledged . And they have proper means to achieve the goals that society establishes. In structural strains the goals and means to fulfil them both must be balanced . Deviance occurs when goals and means are not balanced . this …show more content…

When groups of people are doing things at a level that is bad and is harming people . These norms can be disconcerting, confusing and painful. by bad deviation the normal day to day activities disrupted and the groups have to differentiate its behavior to respond to the deviant act. These norms are meant to maintain the social order and to provide a sense of living . The disruption is the fear of victimization. the last but most important point deviant behaviour is labelling that is most of the people after this are thought bad or good depending on deviation . and the group or that organization is always thought to be the same and not accepted by the society later . “Once the deviant label is attached, it is pretty hard for it to be

Show More
Related

  • Social Action Theory Of Crime Essay

    1618 Words  | 7 Pages

    Crime is any act which breaks the laws of society, such as murder, rape, speeding etc. Social control is enforced by agencies such as police and the courts, more specifically defined than deviance. Deviance is behaviour which moves away from controversial norms and values such as burping, pass wind in public and queuing. It Can be positive e.g. extreme intelligence. Although in some situation in nature – time dependent of factors, place, who is involved.

    Read More

  • General Strain Theory Literature Review

    2124 Words  | 9 Pages

    Strain and Deviance: an empirical test of General Strain Theory of in a Philippine Public University LITERATURE REVIEW Theoretical Background During the past decades, various criminologists developed different theories in an attempt to explain the causes of crime within the society. In return they were successful, as of today it was adopted or accepted, indeed all of theories explain the root causes of crime. One of these theories is anomie or strain theory which originally argues that the lower class frustration to higher class causes crime (Merton, 1938) in attempt to explain why majority of the people who commits crime are lower class.

    Read More

  • Example Of General Strain Theory

    929 Words  | 4 Pages

    Brezina, T. (2018).” General Strain Theory”. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology Available at: http://criminology.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-249. Timothy Brezina is from Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. He gained his Ph.D from Emory university.

    Read More

  • Breanna Wood Vs. Joseph Matthew Tejeda Summary

    1890 Words  | 8 Pages

    There are different beliefs within the strain theory, but as stated before, strain theory was developed around the belief that deviant behavior arises as a response to a problem that the individual cannot fix. The original strain theory was started by Robert Merton. He too believed that deviance occurred as a way to solve a problem. He believed this happened when the individual conflicted with societal values. In response to the cause of alcoholism, according to Merton one becomes an alcoholic when they choose to reject society’s goals and approved way of achieving these goals.

    Read More

  • Deviance In The Criminal Justice System

    351 Words  | 2 Pages

    Deviance is defined as "any violation of norms, whether the infraction is as minor as driving over the speed limit, as serious as murder, or as humorous as Chagnon 's encounter with the Yanomamo" (Henslin 194). One statement that stuck out to me was sociologist Howard S. Becker 's definition of deviance: "It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant" (Henslin 194). One reaction that acts as a punishment for a deviant or minor criminal is the criminal justice system. On page 211 in our book, it is stated that "the working class and those below them pose a special threat to the power elite" (Henslin). As a result of this threat, the law and punishment comes down harder on the lower class than it does on the upper class.

    Read More

  • Explain How Does Strain Theory Explain Deviance

    1048 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Organized Crime And Deviance Essay

    507 Words  | 3 Pages

    Deviance has many functions in society. Although deviance violates social norms, without it, we would not have rules, so it helps form, guide, and shape society’s norms and goals. Social norms are different from culture to culture. Norms that may be acceptable in one culture may be frowned upon in another. Emile Durkheim quotes that “deviance and deviant behavior is an integral part of all healthy societies (Adler, 2014, p74).”

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Robert Merton's Strain Theory

    565 Words  | 3 Pages

    Strain theory is a crime theory that was developed by Robert Merton, an American sociologist. According to Robert, strain can be defined as the discrepancies that result from the goals that are culturally defined in reference to the means that are institutionalized and available to meet the set goals. As proposed by Merton, there exists a typological deviance that is based on two criteria; an individual’s belief in how the goals should be attained and an individual’s adherence or motivation to cultural goals. According to the theory, certain stressors or strains are responsible in increasing the likelihood of crime activities around the world.

    Read More

  • Gentle Way Of Punishment Analysis

    1654 Words  | 7 Pages

    According to Hunt and Colandar (2011), a word deviant refers to when an individual’s actions contradict with society’s norms. For instance, majority peoples followed norms because society expect individual to behave in morally tolerate with each other. Those failing to conform the norms noted as deviant. In a social context, the task of the society is to blind the action of the social community together. Once failing to act them to the society’s reaction that seem as deviant.

    Read More

  • Homosexuality And Deviance

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many groups or cultures have different views on what is considered deviant.

    Read More

  • Deviance And Crime Analysis

    637 Words  | 3 Pages

    Deviance and crime is a common characteristic of Canadian society. Deviance is defined as: “recognized violation of cultural norms” (2013, pg.465). While crime is defined as: “recognized violation of society’s formally enacted criminal law” (2013, pg.464). There are some universal similarities about what we as humans consider morally deviant, still, what is regarded as deviant or criminal behavior in Canada may not resonate with other societies. Some behavior “can fall right in between deviant and criminal” (Healy, 2012).

    Read More

  • Summary: Analyzing The News

    1028 Words  | 5 Pages

    With that being said, it is important to be sociological mindful. According to Schwalbe, “What counts as “deviant”—that is, what gets defined as abnormal and immoral—depends on the perspective of a person or group”. With that being said, deviance behavior is something outside the social norm. The news is full of what they consider deviance acts.

    Read More

  • Strengths Of Strain Theory

    878 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many ideas underlying strain theory such as classical strain theories focused specifically on some disadvantages from different groups in society. With the plenty of inspiration and the inability to make these goals happen they considered a driving factor and theories behind different crimes. Breaking it down by everyone’s financial status for example, the “low class,” were unable to realize common, socially accepted ambitions through legal means. Whom felt forced to commit or be involved in criminal behavior to achieve what they wanted and needed in life. Those theories later were reformulated, most prominently by American criminologists Robert Agnew and Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfeld.

    Read More

  • Deviance: Unexpected Rules And Norms

    210 Words  | 1 Pages

    Deviance is behaviour that is violating the expected rules and norms of the society while deviants are the people in a society that assume what is considered a deviant identity. According to Box, The two are causally linked because deviance is committed by deviants (pg. 1, 1989). They are then conceptually linked because it is assumed that people who commit deviance could be classified as deviant because of their behaviour. According to Steven Box the problem with causally and conceptually linking deviance and deviants is these the deviants were seen as defective members of society, who some believed needed to be corrected through a tough minded view known as penal sanctioned punishments.

    Read More

  • Essay On Positive Deviance

    1443 Words  | 6 Pages

    Although the term deviance usually carried a negative characteristic in first impression trough out history, afterward the term positive deviance was also introduced and analyzed. To begin with according to (“positive deviance.org”2015), “Positive Deviance is established on the inspection that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviors and strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their colleagues, while having access to the same resources and facing similar or even worse challenges”. “Positive deviance somehow exceeds social expectations. Moreover positive deviance can also be defined as individual or acts of individuals in a society that are superior because they super pass

    Read More

More about Structural Strain Theory

Open Document