The Strain Theory By Robert Merton

A college education has been viewed as the key to the American dream. There are many opinions on the purpose of a college education from obtaining new information, becoming a more well-rounded individual or preparing for the workforce. Originally, the college education was primarily used to become more educated to provide services to society; however, the college education is perceived as an expectation and mandatory in becoming a useful person in society and workforce. The purpose of obtaining a college education to obtain the skills necessary to become a well-rounded individual in society.

Overall, I just want to be contented with my life in the future and not realize that I am miserable and that I have wasted my life. In the near future, I also aspire to do well in all four years of high school. This also applies to college. Another goal for the future that I have is to get a scholarship for college because of the fact that I want to go to college, but I don't want to drown in college debt.

Robert Agnew’s General Strain theory expands prior theorist’s concepts which emphasizes that the obstruction of an individual goal or the inability of an individual to achieve conventional goals through appropriate means causes unlawful innovations, such as crime (Brezina, 2010). More so, Agnew’s expanded the concept of stressors in an effort to make stressors classless. In addition, Agnew states that the strains that generate strong pressure which tend to lead to criminal behaviors are chronic strains, strains that are rationalized to unjust or severe, and strains that can be resolved by crime (Agnew, 2001). Lastly, Agnew believes that criminal response is most likely to occur when normal coping strategies are absent.

On the sunny day of June 4, 2014 in Monkton, New Brunswick, 24-year-old Justin Bourque loaded his rifle, drove his truck to a local gas station, and brutally murdered 3 RCMP officers. In the aftermath of this shocking crime, criminologists ask themselves two questions: why did this happen, and even more importantly, how can we prevent it from happening again? Hirschi’s Control Theory and Merton’s Strain Theory suggest that Bourque’s failure to properly bond with our society and his inability to succeed within it directly led to the most extreme form of social deviance: murder.

I have a lot of schooling a head of me, so college to me is a stepping stone or building block to help me achieve my dreams. Bird doesn’t go into much details about individual goals that are the reasoning for students going to college. In life, you must push forward, pass all the statistics, to make something of yourself. She states that a lot of students who go to college is pressured by family or society. However, she doesn't mention their career goals that might be pushing them besides outside influences.

Strain theory is described as the cause of crime due to the social class or environment in which a person grows up in. In our society, people strive to obtain wealth, education, materialistic possessions and power. Due to the environment lower social class people are born into, they are unable to obtain these aspirations through legal means. Feelings of frustration lead to strain and can cause these people to resort to external and illegal means to obtain these resources or lead them to abusing drug substances in an effort to feel better.

In the 1980’s, Criminologist, Robert Agnew, presented his theory of general strain, in which he covers a range of negative behaviors, especially how adolescents deal with stresses of strain. General strain theory focuses on the source, such as anything that changes in the individual’s life that causes strain. His theory provides a different outlook on social control and social learning theory for two reasons: the type of social relationship that leads to delinquency and the motivation for the delinquency (Agnew, 1992). He states that certain strains and stresses increase the likelihood for crime such as economic deprivation, child abuse, and discrimination. These factors can cause an increase of crime through a range of negative emotions. For some people it can take a lot of willpower to take a corrective action and try to deter away from committing crime in a way that they can relieve these negative emotions. When people cannot cope with the stresses of the strain, they turn to crime as a coping mechanism. Agnew also states, that not all people that experience the stresses of strain will go forward to committing crime and live a deviant life.

The two theories identified are Strain theory and General strain theory. Strain theories are indicated when certain strains or stressors are increased, there is a probability for a person to commit a crime. According to Robert Merton, strain theory is a form of adaptive problem-solving behavior that is committed in response to problems involving frustrating and undesirable social environments (Schmalleger, 2011). Strain results from an individual failure to achieve one’s goals, such as money, status/respect, autonomy, loss of a positive (death of a friend or love one), and loss of value possession. Strain can be thought of as pressure that individuals feel to reach socially determined goals (Agnew, 2015). A person who experience these strains become upset, which they may turn to crime in an effort to cope. By doing so, crime may be an escape or reduction for them to escape this feeling.

The Strain Theory could be explained as a person who has reached their boiling point and it has become time for it to release some, if not all its internal pressure. “Crime may be used to reduce or escape from the strain, seek revenge against the source of strain or related targets, or alleviate negative emotions” (Agnew & Scheuerman, 2011). With this example of definition Strain Theory, it has become the focal

The first theory provided by Robert Agnew, the general strain theory, states that “just like individual’s goals can be blocked, so can the ability to avoid undesirable situations or stressful life events” (Williams & McShane 2014 Page 204). The inability of an individual to succeed in life due to not having the same opportunities and tools as another individual, can lead them in trying to achieve those

The author explains Strain Theory as being "certain strains or stressors increase the likelihood of crime" (Hartmann, 27). The text goes into an explanation that as people become more uncomfortable, as they feel more uneasy, they are more likely to be involved in criminal activity. This happens due to an increase of anger, frustration and depression (Hartmann, 27). These feelings create a mindset in the individual that is more capable of justifying taking actions to improve their environment.

Strain theory states that various social structures or stressors can increase the likelihood of a person to resort to criminal activities. The strains increase the negative emotions of an individual such as frustration and anger, which create the pressure to seek corrective action and therefore crime may be seen as a possible solution to ease the pressure (Bao, Haas, Chen, & Pi, 2012). When a person uses crime to ease the pressure that has been brought about by strain theories, he or she is trying to escape from the source of the strain, seek revenge, or alleviate the negative emotions that he or she feels. For instance, a young

This theory basically connects to the outcomes that can lead to a delinquency path, such as unachieved goals that can later on lead to poverty, depression, and anger. Every individual has a common goal to obtain wealth, acknowledgement from society, power, and other types of achievements that can be noticed. When something goes in the wrong direction and all of a sudden all of their established expectations and future achievements fail, is when a dysfunctionality is created. Losing positive stimuli such as a family relative, friend, or love partner, due to death or a break up creates strain in an individual. In contrast having negative stimuli in an individual's life like physical and emotional abuse, violence, rape, neglect of attention from their family, and lack of support stir up negative emotions. The general strain theory asserts that according to the complexity of the situation that is occurring the strain that is derived from it according the severity of the issue is the amount of time that the strain will last. What is derived from the theory is that according to the individual many coping mechanisms result according to the way they want to handle their strain, some cope by dealing with their feelings and others by engaging in deviant behavior. Having constant strain in an individual's life can result hazardous and produce negative irreparable damage, “The person retreats by becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol or escaping through a mental disorder or suicide” (Clinard and Meier, 80). Connecting this theory to Pablo Escobar depicts the various stimuli that he had in his life such as economic stimuli, family, and demographic. The economic stimuli during his childhood was negative he did not have much and the absence of materialistic things and revenue created strain in his life and made him become

The strain theory analyses the extent to which people are able to pursue, access and achieve success. Strain theory says that those unable to achieve success experience strain which is a disconnect between desires and aspirations along with the means to achieve these variables. There are several responses and coping strategies that are connected to strain, one being crime. The cultural messages within strain are the goals and the means. There are two main theorist who explain strain, Robert Merton and Robert Agnew. The strain theory is analyzed in depth by both theorists. Merton presents the strain theory, explains the goals and the means and discusses the coping strategies within strain. Whereas Agnew challenges Merton's theory, expands

General strain theory shifts attention away from economic status to a social psychological syndrome of experiencing negative emotions arising from strains or negative dimensions in one’s environment (Friedrichs 2010). In other words, strain theory is simply having a goal but lacking the method of achieving said goal. Thus, the person becomes innovative in creating a method which allows them achieve their goal, usually thru illegal means, as in Kerviel’s