Potength And Strengths Of Robert Merton's Strain Theory

This “strain” can take on two forms: individual or structural. Individual strain is a reference to one’s own needs and the pains that a person has to endure when trying to gain them. Structural strain is a reference to the pains felt to both fit and achieve on a certain level within specific contexts. All of this information points to strain theory fitting into the category of the Postmodernist School of Criminology. This school of thought teaches of how criminal behaviors are in fact used to correct inequality that is caused by society.

Many individuals in today’s society wonder what pushes people past a breaking point in which they become involved in actions not accepted by society, such as stripping, prostitution, drug use, alcoholism and more. The reasoning behind this is deviance. Deviance can be either positive (over conforming) or negative (under conforming). When applying the subject of crime to a type of deviance, it falls under the negative category because those who under conform in society have a tendency to reach their goals with non-accepted means. Considering the crime of drunk driving, many factors add up to develop a reason why so many people do it. Merton’s strain theory perspective explains the deviance behind drunk driving very well, using its’ assumptions, key focuses, and root of deviant acts to support it. Before focusing on Merton’s theory relating to the crime of drunk driving, we first have to recognize how sociologists understand the concept of deviance.

Strain theories of criminal behaviour have been amongst the most important and influential in the field of criminology. Taking a societal approach, strain theories have sought to explain deficiencies in social structure that lead individuals to commit crime (Williams and McShane 2010). Strain theories operate under the premise that there is a societal consensus of values, beliefs, and goals with legitimate methods for achieving success. When individuals are denied access to legitimate methods for achieving success, the result is anomie or social strain. This often leads an individual to resort to deviant or criminal means to obtain the level of success that they are socialized to pursue. This is the basic premise of strain theory. This

Another important theory of deviance is the structural strain theory. The structural strain theory is defined as when the goals in which society sets for an individual are not met, that individual will defer to deviance. A perfect example is throughout the entire movie of the images of the streets, the hopelessness in each frame express what the strain theory is based upon. It is the idea that crime and violence are an immediate result between people's goals and the means to accessibly achieve them. They cannot overcome their deviant behavior because it is necessary to survive. Another example is in the beginning of the film Doughboy had said he was going to store. Ricky asked him why, as he did not have any money. Doughboy yelled, "aww I don't care."(Singleton) Instead of conforming to how Middle American youths obtain money, such as chores, Doughboy has to find alternate methods of achieving. Doughboy robs a store and is arrested. In a society where economic status is held on a pedestal, change is very difficult. This shows there is an unequal distribution of wealth which is a major cause of violence and robbery. A common theory among Americans is that society wants what it cannot have. It there was an equal distribution of wealth the strain theory would not exist as people would be satisfied with what society gave them, there would not be selfish ambition to obtain all you can. Another

There are numerous researches about social strain theory and criminal offending. Robert “Merton states that the study of social strain believes that individual tend to respond to the gap between society’s values and their own

"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

Exploring the role of negative emotions among murderers in a population of federal offenders: the General Strain Theory

First of all, what is “Social Strain Theory?” Robert Merton who is a theorist and creator of Strain Theory has allocated that “strains” are instigated by United States social structure which dictates equivalent goals in terms of success and job status within all members of society despite all members not having equivalent means to achieve money and success. Those that have that have obstacles in the way of achieving success and wealth experience strain and could engage in criminal behavior (Merton). In this theory Merton also created “Deviance

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.

Merton established other forms that an individual might respond such as conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion these explained an individual goal and the access to the means. This can either present a negative or positive outcome. For Merton these responses to deviance show how society strains people hence the name of the strain theory. The strain theory can lead to the triggers of feeling s that can become rage and defeat by society which can lead to a result in crime. The prodigious of society can caused an individual to engage in deviant behavior. These deviant behaviors are not society real and norms. This can explain why people engage in cat fishing.

Robert K. Merton was a prominent social scientist. He was born into working class family and received a Doctorate degree in sociology from Harvard University (Crossman, A). The Merton (1938) strain theory was presented in an article “Social Structure and Anomie” during the height of the Great Depression. In the 1950s during the economic growth people had began to wonder why was there a large amount of crime still taking place, it was at this point that the theory was able to persuade others. Whenever there are limits placed on achieving goals and reaching social values deviance is bound to happen. Merton strain theory from (1930s-1960s) was centered on the American dream of wanting financial

The strain theory, developed by Robert K. Merton in 1957 is not only a criminology theory but it is a sociology theory as well stating that individuals do indulge in crimes because the society exerts pressure and puts a lot of strain on them while they are on the process of achieving socially acceptable goals. A good example of this socially acceptable goal is the American Dream whereas examples of crimes committed under strain theory include

In the November attack on Paris, the terrorist group, ISIS, carried out a coordinated set of attacks. There are many different theories as to why this happened, but the realization is that society will probably never know the answer as to why it occurred. The Strain Theory can assist in the explanation of the reasoning behind this attack. This will be brought into further detail in the discussion of two topics. The first topic is that the extremist is just doing what they do best, or was trained to do. Another reason may be that the military group is tired of being at the low end of the global Jihad, or extremist military group. These are only suggestions; nevertheless using the Strain Theory can assist society in understanding the true reason

The strain theory, which states American culture defines goals which the social structure blocks many members of the lower income class from achieving due to lack of opportunities such as education and reliable jobs, was developed in 1938 by Robert K. Merton. Merton’s strain theory is broken down into the five modes of adaptation, conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. Conformity is the acceptance of cultural goals and the traditional means of reaching them. Innovation is the acceptance of cultural goals but the rejection of the traditional means of reaching them. Ritualism is the rejection of cultural goals but the routinized acceptance of the means of achieving them. Retreatism is the rejection of both the cultural goals and the traditional means of reaching them. Rebellion involves special cases where the individual rejects both the cultural goals and the traditional means of reaching them but actively tries to replace both elements with different goals and means of achieving them. Among the people who have elaborated upon Merton’s strain theory are Steven F. Messer, Albert Cohan, Richard Rosenfeld, and more recently, in 1992, Robert Agnew.

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.