Merton's Strain Theory Essay

Chapter 7 Page 163 of the book Criminology Today states that there is another version of Merton’s theory coined by Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld suggested that the inconsistencies in the American Dream are to blame for most of the criminal activity. It goes on to

In comparison Merton’s theory put forward a entirely different rationalisation of the causes of crime, and juxtaposing major ideals about who commits these crimes, Marxists points out that absence of egalitarianism of opportunity is at the centre of the capitalist system and Merton contends that not all individuals who lack genuine opportunities look to crime to do so. (Eglin and Hester, 2013).

Cesare Lombroso along with other theorist throughout the years have made many arguments referring to physical appearance and criminality. Cesare Lombroso believed there was a relationship between crime and race. Similar to Lombroso, many other theories have come about with the connection of race, ethnicity, and crime. Theorist Robert Merton (1938) believed crime is made by a social structure that holds out the same goals to make it to the top. Individuals in society want to reach the goal but getting to the top is not equally distributed which drives individuals to find a way to reaching the goal, whether it be legal or illegally which results in deviant behavior. Merton predicted that the greatest proportion

"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

Furthermore it states that humans, being conformists readily buy into these notions. However, access to the means for achieving these goals is not equally available to everyone. Some have the education, social network and family influence to attain these goals. The socially and economically disadvantaged do not have the opportunity, education or necessary social network for attaining material wealth and economic or political power. Thus the strain theory predicts that crime occurs when there is a perceived discrepancy between these goals and the legitimate means for reaching them. Individuals who experience a high level of this strain are forced to decide whether to violate laws to achieve these goals, to give up on the goals pushed upon them by society, or to withdraw or rebel.

With a population of over 30 million people Canada is one of the world’s largest and strongest economies, it is a very diverse and multicultural country. Canada is one of the world’s most pluralistic and active immigrant welcoming nations. Compared to every other Western democracy, Canadians are more likely to say that immigration is beneficial, and more likely to support multiculturalism and to view it as a source of pride. (The Current State of Multiculturalism in Canada and Research Themes on Canadian Multiculturalism, 2008-2010. Ottawa: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2010.

Strain theory is only one of many theories that is associated with crime and deviant behavior. Another sociological theory, rational choice theory, also mirrors many principles found in classical

Working Class Crime is Best Understood as the Product of the Social Background of the Offender

The second theory I would like to discuss is the Strain theory. The strain theory basically states that crime breeds in the gap, imbalance, or disjunction between culturally induced aspirations for economic success and structurally distributed possibilities of achievement. The theory assumes fairly uniform economic success aspirations across social class and the theory attempts to explain why crime is concentrated among the lower classes that have the least legitimate opportunities for achievement. It is the combination of the cultural emphasis and the social structure which produces intense pressure for deviation. The lower classes are the most vulnerable to this pressure, or strain, and will maintain their unfulfilled economic aspirations in spite of frustration or failure.

Pearce also explores how white collar crime is hidden from the masses and this puts them in a state of false consciousness so they do not see the full extent of the white collar crime, this is ideological social control, this is often linked to the media which often portrays stereotypes and demonises the poor as criminals.

The Strain Theory does a suitable but not a great job of explaining white collar crime. Therefore, in the Strain Theory it talks about the contextual anomie/ strain theory. while examining this theory, I discovered it to be the most compelling in our constant battle with white collar and corporate crimes. Ever, since the beginning of recorded history man/woman has tried to achieve a better life, but not much has change in today’s standards it also can be said it is even more so now than ever. From television, radio, and franchises we see the American dream of home ownership, the ability to fit into the society with the latest gadgets. At the same time trying to farther their education has its roots in the American dream of more pay, a better job, and the ability to retire all these things is associated with the American dream of more money. While reading this theory I took a closer look into what fuels the human mind in our society, white collar crime in most cases, according to the Strain Theory and my own beliefs is what fuel the human desire to be successful. Greed has always and always will be a driving force in our society, I see no relief in sight unless we as a society find some way that money is no longer the means to an end, but how would we survive without money. Will there ever be a

The theoretical framework of strain theory can be credited to sociologist Emile Durkheim. Durkheim research on formed a platform for other sociologist to further develop strain theories of crime. One of which is Robert Merton. One of Durkheim’s major works that opened the door to further research on strain theories was his book, Suicide. In this book Durkheim sough to understand the why led to one’s own self-destruction. Emile Durkheim studied suicide rates and its association with crisis. Durkheim noticed trends in suicide rates that were associated with economic prosperity and economic crisis.

Robert Merton was an American sociologist that used the idea of anomie as a starting point in his attempt to understand deviance in American society (Giddens, Duneier and Appelbaum 172). Merton eventually came up with his own perspective about the cause of deviance in American society, which is known as the strain theory. This theory suggests that “…deviance is a by-product of economic inequalities,” (Giddens, Duneier and Appelbaum 173). In Merton’s opinion our society puts so much emphasize on having material wealth that those that cannot obtain material wealth legally because they lack the opportunities to advance feel that they must then opinion it illegally (Giddens, Duneier and Appelbaum 173). Those that are at an economic disadvantage therefore do things illegitimately in an attempt to fit in with the rest of

One of the most widely accepted, the strain theory, was developed by Robert Merton and focused on social inequality. He believed that when society limits the channels through which one can achieve social stability, “the individuals, then, must adapt to the inconsistency between means and goals in a society that socializes everyone into wanting the same thing but provides opportunities for only some.” Merton’s theory can be applied to most, if not all, societies in the modern world. From the poor countries under a dictatorship, where social equality is seen as something unattainable, to the biggest economical powers such as China and the United States, where the efforts to achieve equality have been many but there is still great disparity in society, people must adhere to deviant behavior in order to have a chance in cultures where opportunities are not widely available. There are many other factors that account for criminal behavior, including the societal gender

Robert Merton was a well educated individual big on learning societies focus and concerns, his career as a criminal theorist initiated at his start as a professor at the University of Columbia. His claims involved the why and how groups of people in America excluding other countries would involve the American Dream “wealth” as a mean to commit crimes trying to achieve the “goal”. In every city we could map out the social groups by crime rates and incident rates Nichols, Lawrence a sociologist explained “Robert K. Merton gained renown as a distinguished sociologist, especially in connection with the paradigm of 'structural-functionalism ' and he publicly self-identified as a 'structuralist. '” (Lawrence Nichols. Sep2016) That explained