Anomie Strain/ Differential Opportunity Theory

All individuals have the ability to conform to the rules and norms of society. Merton’s Strain Theory suggests people feel strain when they are unable to attain society’s goals and/or beliefs. Then, because they are not able to appropriately achieve these goals in the way society says to, some will do so by committing criminal behaviors. This theory also explains, in society there are

Robert Agnew developed his theory called General Strain Theory based off of Robert Merton’s Classic Strain Theory. Agnew introduced three types of strain. Generally, “the higher the dose of strain that a person experiences the greater the likelihood of the person becoming engaged in crime or in some form of deviance” (Lilly, Cullen, & Ball, 1989). A journal article called “General Strain Theory and Delinquency: the Developmental Process of Robert Agnew’s Works from a Historical Perspective” says that “the strain may result from when others (1) prevent an individual from achieving positively valued goals; (2) remove positively valued stimuli pertaining to individual; (3) present

Criminology data show a strong correlation between undereducated children and juvenile crime. Children who struggle academically in school, have poor attendance, are expelled, or drop out, likelihood to commit crime increases. The social skills such as learning how to have ownership through deadlines, following instructions, and overall dealing with people constructively, are thrown out the door when a student doesn’t finish school. A child who doesn’t end up having a proper education soon realizes he or she can’t get certain jobs due to their insufficient education and feels hopelessness. According to social strain theory, his or her feeling towards social differences are magnified and pushes him or her to attain the “American Dream” or financial security through

Other theories from the contemporary positivist perspective come from the belief that deviant determinism is based on social factors. Anomie-strain theory is an example that is based on social factors. The anomie-strain theory directs the reason that a person becomes deviant to the hands of society. This happens when society sets certain goals that may or may not be attainable by all classes of people. Sociologists that follow the anomie-strain theory believe that humans do possess free will (Thio, 2010, p. 7). When a member of society does not have the means necessary to achieve the goal that society sets for them, he or she may be encouraged to find an illegitimate means to achieve the goals.

"When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw," (Kazi, 2017). The modern societies around the world put a high importance on preventing criminal activity and rectifying behavior that leads to crime. In an ongoing struggle against corruption, many sociologists, and psychologists have done in-depth research to understand what is the cause of crime in our society. Initially, in 1893, Emile Durkheim first came up with the idea called Anomie Theory to explain why offenses take place in our communities. Durkheim reported that crimes took place in our society because there was a lack of ethical norms and social standards within our communities (Walsh, 2018).However, almost half a century later, Robert K. Merton developed Merton's Strain Theory to thoroughly explain why some people in our society are more likely to commit crimes than the others who don’t. Merton’s Strain Theory argues that corruption not only occurs in our communities because we lack norms in our society, but are also caused by the strains that are present among us as individuals which influence people to commit the crime. In his explanation, people will resort to achieving success through illegitimate means when they are blocked from acquiring success through legitimate means (Walsh, 2018). After studying the classical strain theories, I think that Merton’s Strain Theory explains street crimes such as robbery, theft, assault, and drug dealing better than

What causes people to commit crime? This million dollar questions has place many criminologists and researchers searching for answers. In the past decades, people have tried to explain crime by referring to the earliest literature of criminal’s atavistic features to human biology. Recent studies have shows that crime is described in the social environment. While, no one theory can prove the causes of crime, strain theory has gain support in academic research for its five mode of adaptation.

Similar to Merton and Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin (1960) attempted to explain why certain individuals or groups are more likely to engage in criminal activities. As well, they argued that people are strained when they fail to obtain monetary success through legitimate means. Cloward and Ohlin were in favor of thought that juveniles from a lower-class demographic are motivated by the pursuit of status and that forming their own subculture is a solution to not being able to adjust to their dominant cultural values (Cloward & Ohlin, 1960).

Anomie theory posits that US society focus heavily upon monetary success, but places little emphasis upon how this success is obtained. Strain theory proposals a very similar concept, but focus upon smaller units within society. It argues that while everyone aims to reach the middle class standard of success, people in some groups will be unable to achieve it via legitimate channels. These theories suggest that people how commit crime are trying to accomplish the

Merton’s anomie/strain theory was a very popular explanation for crime and deviance during the 1950’s and 1960’s. (Paternoster, Bachman 2001) Its popularity began to diminish in the late 1960’s due to the theories lack of empirical evidence. The theory did

The corner boy is the most common response. They are not chronically delinquent but may be involved in petty or status offenses. He is loyal to his peers and eventually becomes a stable member of his neighborhood. The college boy embraces the cultural and social values of the middle class and strives to be successful by these standards. These youths are on an almost hopeless path because they are ill-equipped academically, socially, and linguistically to achieve the rewards of middle class life. The delinquent boy adopts a set of norms and principles in direct opposition to middle class values. They live for the day and do not think about tomorrow. They go against efforts made by family, school, or other sources of authority to control their behavior. The attraction, loyalty, and solidarity are some of the reasons they join gangs along with the gangs perception of autonomy and independence. Reaction formation is the result of the delinquent boy’s inability to succeed. The real problem for Cohen is status frustration, not blocked opportunity (Siegel, 2013). Lower-class youth desire approval and status, but because they cannot meet middle-class criteria, they become frustrated (Criminology chapter 4 outline sagepub.com). They overreact to any perceived threat or slight. They are also willing to take risk, violate the law, and flout middle-class conventions. Cohen’s work explains the factors that promote and sustain a

Introduction: Throughout history there have always been many different theories of crime and why people commit crimes. In the late 1930s a new theory rose to the forefront; this theory was called the anomie theory. Anomie means a lack of ethical standards. The anomie theory was proposed by Roberton Merton. It stated that society, as a whole, generally shares the same goals relating to having success in life; whether that is having a family, wealth, power, or just happiness. Society generally agrees that these are things that are to be sought after. Furthermore, Merton proposed that society, as a whole, also has a list of generally accepted ways to achieve such goals (Merton, 1938). Criminal activity, such as robbery, murder, and corruption, are among the things that are not accepted by society as appropriate means to achieve these goals. Merton’s anomie theory was built upon in 1992 by Robert Agnew who developed the general strain theory. General strain theory argues that when members of society are unable to achieve the general goals that society has set forth, they will, in order to avoid further rejection, further alienate themselves from society. Agnew also argued that if these individuals feel as if their shortcomings were a result of their environment failing them they will likely develop very negative feelings towards society, causing them to

In Merton’s (1938) strain theory social structures account for the criminal tendencies found in offenders. Individuals adjust to societal pressures in five distinct ways. Adaptation I, which entails conforming to both culture norms and means, is the most common. The popularity of this adaptation allows a society to function effectively. In contrast, adaptation IV is the least common and gives rise to the rejection of both cultural goals and means. Those that adopt this culture pattern are societal misfits and usually include some such persons as psychotics, psychoneurotics, chronic autists, vagrants, and chronic drunkards or drug addicts.

As a response to these pressures, individuals are socialized into alternative modes of adjustments in which the individuals strained are looped into culturally acceptable patterns or adaptations in which they conform into. The first adjustment is conformity, in which the individual affected would accept conditions around them and continue to pursue their goals in a model behavior. This is because it is necessary for individuals to adhere to a normal standard of behavior as an example to others so that the stability of the society would be maintained. The next mode of adjustment conceptualized by Merton is innovation, in which is most commonly used by delinquents, in being that the individual continues to desire and attain successful goals, but would take full advantage of illegitimate resources. Also, these individuals, depending on their personal situations, may not be sufficiently socialized into the acceptable norms because these individuals value the determinants of success, but would resort to criminality if the opportunity were available for a quick come up. According to Akers & Sellers, the location of many of the lower class individuals produce a breeding ground for criminality because these conditions create more of an economic anomie

Merton’s Anomie Theory believes that society shapes the cultural norms and values of people and also their aspirations and the approved methods of achieving such aspirations. Merton considers that there is a link between anomie in society and the difference between the levels of emphasis placed on aspirations and those placed on the means of realizing these aspirations in society; the smaller the difference the less likely anomie will occur. Merton also believes that crime is caused by society although he believes it is not useful to society; Merton believes that crime is a representation of the poor organization of society. In American culture, monetary success is the predominant cultural goal, but not everyone has the same access to attain it. Some people respond to this disjunction in criminal ways. Components of adaptation to strain include conformity which is when people embrace conventional social goals and also have the means to attain them, they can choose to conform. They remain law-abiding.

On the other hand, theorists have taken a different stand point to explain criminal and delinquent behaviour. Firstly, Edwin Sunderlands (1939) theory of differential