Merton's Strain Theory: The Relation Between Poverty And Crime

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Saying “poverty breeds crime” is taking a broad approach to a problem without looking into the real causes of poverty or crime. Depending on the theory followed, it can be argued poor people have no drive or initiative to do well and as such breed generation after generation of stereotypical negative behavior. Whereas, if you believe society has created the problem of poverty by lack of economic solutions, i.e. education, access to jobs, higher minimum wages, then crime could be reduced by providing solutions. Considering crime, for instance white-collar crime, is not always poverty driven leads to yet another debate. So, if the theory of the culture of poverty is observed; crimes would be committed by those living in higher poverty areas. This theory maintains since the family dynamic is broken, (mostly women raising children with no male authority figure) there is a lower income base and as such live in poorer neighborhoods which lack the educational opportunities afforded to others living in higher income areas. This, in turn, leads to a higher drop-out rate, the exposure to negative incidents and the likelihood of crime as a way of innovation as described by Merton’s Strain Theory. White-collar crime then makes this theory …show more content…

Every person will have an exposure at some time in their life to someone positive and will have a chance to reflect this characteristic whether learned from a teacher, older family member or the neighborhood store owner. Stories of people overcoming obstacles of birth and circumstances abound in major sports, movie actors/actresses and musical artists.
Arguments proving or disproving “poverty breeds crime” can be considered flawed or having only a partial answer to a statement which is oversimplified and

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