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What are the two elements of Merton’s explanation for deviant behavior? The strain theory by Merton helps to deepen our understanding by connecting deviance and crime in society to the antagonistic correlation between cultural goals and institutionalized means. Merton argues that deviant in society depends on two criteria or elements which are categorized by whether or not people accept institutionalized means and cultural goals of society. Most of the people in the society will be going to accept the goals as well as a means to achieve the goals, therefore, they are not deemed as breaking social norms. But some of the people that are rejected the means or goals or both (means and goals), will be considered as deviance or criminal. What …show more content…
Conformist will accept both (goals and means), but Ritualist will accept money and refused the processes of getting money, and retreats will totally ‘giving up’ and being dependant, they are not willing to use both – therefore, the Ritualist and retrealist by default will be deemed as deviant. Whereas Innovators will find their own way to get the money and refused money (goals) that offered (most likely being a theft or burglary – the end justifies ways), and Rebels will totally refuse the system and want to create their own system (its like terrorist, unsatisfied with everything and want to overthrow it all). Thus, Innovators and Rebels are most like to commit a crime, according to strain theory. Do you think our current society reflects a certain level of anomie? Why or why not? In some cases, yes I agree, but not all. I don’t think every deviance and crime exactly fit into Strain Theory 's claim. It could be occurred in the few cases in particular contexts. However, some issues might not be explained sufficiently by using strain theory. For instance, how could we explicate issue like vandalism or delinquent behaviour by using this strain theory? Crimes such as vandalism and delinquent behaviour can 't be explained by a need for material acquisition. This highlights that not all crimes are justifiable using Merton 's …show more content…
Hence, conformists will not break the social norm as they are submissive. Second ritualism - Ritualist will accept the means, but refused the goals. Third retreats - retreatists essentially “give up”- they surrender both being obedient to cultural goals and to the social means. According to Merton Ritualist and retreatists are more likely considered as deviant because they are against social norms. Forth Innovation – Innovators are people who accept the goals, but refuse the means that offered by society and find their own way to achieve the goals. And last rebellion – rebels will discount both means and ends, offered by society, they intend to overthrow it. Merton assumed rebels and innovators as the highest consolidation in criminal
Agnew’s theory pulls from sociological literature concerning mental health, focusing on associations between taxing experiences, negative emotions, and social behavior. According to Agnew (1992), there are three forms of strain that one may experience: “prevention from achieving positively valued goals, removal or the threat of removal of positively valued stimuli, and presentation or threat of presentation of noxious stimuli or negatively valued stimuli” (Agnew, 1992, p. 48). General strain theory (GST) also suggests that there are “strains, particularly conflicting social relationships, that engender negative affective states (e.g., anger, fear, frustration) that create internal pressure for corrective action” (Aseltine, 2010, p. 257). The corrective action can be seen as a way to escape the negative emotion or rid one’s self from the pressure or strain.
Both theories by Merton and Agnew are similar because their focus is that social situations and conflicts an individual’s comes in contact within his/her life, may produce crime by emphasizing the a goal of success, much more than the means to achieve it. With Merton’s theory he adopted Durkheim’s concept of anomie to explain deviance. Merton’s theory combined both structural and cultural factors. Merton insists that society promotes goals for their citizens and norms for other’s behavior in attempting to reach these goals. In Merton’s theory people do crime when they are unable to reach or accomplish goals. Merton’s theory also explains how an individual’s social structure prevents an individual from becoming economically fortunate. His theory of modern anomie and strain express that individuals respond to strain in 5 individual ways. Those five ways are conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. On the other hand Agnew general strain theory, feels strain comes from sources other than economic failure. Agnew general strain theory focuses on a few other types of strain and stress. Like the presentation of a negative stimuli, and the loss of a positive stimuli. Agnew feels that this sort of strain leads to a negative state of mind. The emotions like angry, frustration and fear, lead to crime and criminal behavior. One
The two theories I have decided to merge are Agnew’s General Strain Theory and Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory. I picked General Strain Theory because it does a good job at discussing some of the things that can trigger the release of a person’s negative emotions which in turn may lead to deviant behavior. I also decided to write about Social Bond Theory because it describes some of the factors that keep people from committing crime. Both of the theories have strengths and weaknesses individually, but when merged they help fill in each other’s gaps. (Agnew, 2011; Hirschi, 2011) +1 (888) 295-7904
...riminal activity. This is because individuals become enthralled with their status in the community and want to achieve it anyway possible. This type of social structure "produces a strain toward anomie and deviant behavior. The pressure of such a social order is upon outdoing one's competitors (Thio, 2006)." Anomie strain theory is a good but difficult theory to implement. It offers "a way of constraining crime by improving the legitimate life chances of those who may otherwise make the choice to innovate defiantly (McLaughlin, 2001)."
Social deviancy is the violation of social norms. A deviant is someone who rejects folkways and mores. Any action that violates the values or rules of a social group is deviant behavior. In order to actually be characterized as a deviant, the individual must be detected committing a deviant act and be stigmatized by society. A stigma is a mark of social disgrace, setting the deviant apart from the group. Criminality is healthy for society. Deviance affirms our cultural values and norms. Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries and brings people together. There will always be people who break society’s rules and that’s important.
Majority of the citizens in the United States have always strived to obtain, what is known as the American dream. That dream usually involves having a well-paid career, a family, and having a big house in a neighborhood free from crime. According, Robert Merton in his theory of Strain theory believes that these goals are instilled at an early age, which these goals are held to all of its members in society; however the means of obtaining these goals are not equally distributed out. The means being defined as education, the concepts of hard work are ways to achieve these goals. Merton’s strain theory is an explanation of criminal behavior, according to the textbook, Adler, Mueller and Laufer (2010) defined Strain theory as “that people are law-abiding citizen, but when under great pressure will resort to crime. Disparity between goals and means provide this pressure.”(p.106) Merton goes that in a class-orientated society, opportunities to get to the top are not equally distributed. There are two important elements that in any society. The (1) cultural aspirations, or goals that people believe are worth striving for, and (2) institutionalized means to accepted ways to attain the desire ends. Inequality between goals and means fosters frustrations, which leads to strain. (Alder, Mueller, and Laufer 2010).
Those specific strains are most related to crime when they; are seen as high in magnitude, are seen as unjust, are associated with low social control, and provide some pressure or incentive for criminal coping (Agnew 2001, 2006). Based on these characteristics, it is predicted that not all strains are related to deviance and delinquency. The first factor that influences the likelihood of negative life events and conditions to result in crime is the perception of strain as high in magnitude and its influence the person’s ability to cope in a noncriminal manner, the perceived costs of noncriminal versus criminal coping, and the disposition to engage in criminal coping (Agnew 2001). The presence of severe strain increases the likelihood of an individual to commit crime and reduces the ability of the person to cope in the noncriminal manner because it is more difficult to legally cope with a big severe problem than a smaller one (Agnew 2001,
General Strain Theory was reinvented by Robert Agnew in 1992 and contributed a new perception to the present strain theory that was popularized a couple eras ago (Agnew, 1992). Classic strain theory is connected; first with Merton’s (1938), Cohen’s (1955) and Cloward and Ohlin’s (1960). Founded on Durkheim’s theory of anomie (1893), Merton industrialized his theory of deviancy inside a societal fundamental context. Merton’s interpretation on the topic is that goal-expectation inconsistencies, composed with social stratification generates strain between underprivileged societies in turn leading them to use any means necessary, such as criminal, in order to accomplish socially defined goals (Merton, 1938). Merton specified that deviance was a
Robert Merton created quite a big influence on what is known as, Strain theories. He based it off of Durkheim’s Anomie concept, but they each had their own different approach of it. Merton’s approach was towards what he called it as, “The American dream” Merton describes it as (1938), “in our competitive society, where in wealth has taken on a highly symbolic cast.” (677). He believes that society as a whole gives this dream too much of an importance. This American dream is his concept of Anomie. His model of Anomie became widely known and still one of the most cited theories.
The strengths that general strain theory has are the variety of different strains it provides (Agnew, 2013, p. 203). Another one of its strengths is the fact that it provides individual characteristics. Individual characteristics were important to present in this theory because it is primarily composed of micro-level components. By presenting a more detailed explanation of individuals, this led to the conclusion of what type of “individual’s are more disposed than others to respond to strains with crime” (Agnew, 2013, p. 210). Some people see crime as their only way out and others choose to commit crime and choose to associate with a criminal crowd. As for weaknesses in general strain theory, the only weakness I could think of is the fact that it is not macro-level based. If Agnew’s theory were to contain both micro-level and macro-level components, I believe it would be a harder theory for people to
Societies are founded on various social norms. Norms can best be defined as a set of acceptable attitudes and practices by a given society. These norms however are found to vary from one society or cultural setting o the other. Deviance on the other hand is simply when one does something that goes against the set societal norms. Deviance is gauged on a scale of attitudes and behavior contradicting to acceptable social standards (Samuels, 2012).
...asis on these types of strains and stressors and how they cause deviant behavior. The connection between the strains and deviant behavior are the negative emotions that are produced by the strains such as anger and anxiety. The causes of deviant behavior can be linked to those emotions and the personal resources available to handle the emotions. This helps to define why some individuals with similar strains commit crimes and why others chose legal manners in which they deal with their strains and emotions. General Strain Theory can help to explain any act that is considered deviant by society, and carries with it some sort of punishment, either formally or informally (Agnew, 2006).
... people commit crimes and are not limited to one aspect like the original theory. For example, Merton strain theory just looked one aspect of blocked opportunities to unable achieve economic success. Differential Opportunity theory helped explain the different illegitimate means that causes people to commit crimes for example poverty and high concentrations of youth living in slums (Murphy & Robinson, 2009). Agnew General Strain theory takes a micro approach into looking at the different types of strain that causes people to commit crimes (Lilly et al.2010). Even though these theories explain certain aspects of what causes crime, it does not explain the sole cause of why criminal behavior occurs or why one commits different crimes. However integrated theories are helpful to understand certain aspects of why people commit crimes and engage in deviant behavior.
In classic strain theory it is said that, Classic strain theory focuses on that type of strain involving the inability to achieve success or gain a middle class status. General Strain theory focuses on a broad range of strains, including the inability to achieve a variety of goals, the loss of valued possessions, and negative treatment by others. General Strain Theory has been applied to a range of topics, including the explanation of gender, race/ethnicity, age, community, and societal differences in crime
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 paper will explore the evolution of strain theories by first examining their intellectual foundations which laid the foundation for Robert Merton’s theories of anomie and strain. Merton’s strain theory will be discussed in detail including the modes of adaptation that people use when faced with societal strain. Finally, the paper will conclude with the strengths and weaknesses of Merton’s strain theory and an examination of the criminological theories and social policies it has influenced.