Merton's Theory Of Gangs And Poverty

A gang is usually known to be a group of people who spend their time in public places. They tend to see themselves and are seen by others as a noticeable group and are involved in a variety of crimes and violent activity. Moving on they may also claim a territory and hold conflict with other similar gangs. An organized group of adolescents and/or young adults who rely on group intimidation and violence, and commit criminal acts in order to gain power and recognition and/or control certain areas of unlawful activity (Dunbar, 2017).

B. Poor neighbourhoods ran higher risks such as, on average getting less education and worse jobs, if any, and bearing more physical, social, and psychological problems. Poor neighbourhoods are also refugees of

There are many theories explaining the concept of social deviance (behavior rejecting social norms that can be crime or not crime related). In relation to gangs and poverty, one may feel that they lack the institutional/cultural resources to meet aspired societal goals which is a main attribute to criminal and gang affiliation. We can look at Robert K. Merton's theory which is constructed by an individual's motivations and their beliefs on how to live up to their we goals. He explains the reasoning behind higher deviance rates for poor people more than non poor people. Usually, individuals who come from disadvantaged communities and low income families carry a sense of feeling that they are from from success and perceive their their futures as unsuccessful and helpless (Dunbar, 2017). Due to their feelings of strain or frustration, they may reject the goal of economic success through going to school and getting a job and turn to gangs as an alternative. Merton displays the adaptations to the strain experience. A person's belief that they should accept the goal to reach economic success through the means of a job is what Merton calls conformity. In gangs, many people are more prone to refusing to follow societal norms. Moving on, innovation is where an individual reaches success through other means. In a gang, a member acquires money through illegal means such as drug dealing, robbery, fraud and many more criminal activities. Ritualism is the third adaptation which is where the individual continues to work at a job with little hope in bettering their future. Although this does not involve deviance, it is still associated to the strain theory. Finally, retreatism is the fourth adaptation where the individual generally withdrawals from society by rejecting economic success and means of working (Understanding and Changing the Social World,