Robert Merton adapted the concept of Durkheim’s suicide anomie theory and changed it to refer to a situation where there is an apparent lack of fit between the cultures norms and what is considered success in life and the cultures norms about the appropriate ways to achieve these goals. The theory shows that both deviant and normal behaviour can arise from the same societal goals as less privileged groups lack the means to achieve these goals due to limits put in place by society. Merton believed that societal norms place pressure to conform within society’s structure or be labelled as deviant, however society does not supply the means to achieve these goals to everyone. Therefore people experience strains when there is a gap between what ought to be and what is; resulting in anomie. And thus engage in deviant behaviour when they cannot achieve these goals by legitimate means. Merton used the American dream of money and success as an example, people are expected to pursue this through legitimate means ie. Education and work however poverty and discrimination means opportunities are blocked for some resulting …show more content…
However society does not supply the means to achieve these goals to everyone and therefore people experience strains when there is a gap between was ought to be and what is, resulting in anomie (Zembroski, 2011). Merton used the American Dream of money and success as an example, people are expected to pursue this dream through legitimate means such as work or education however poverty and discrimination means opportunities are blocked for some resulting in strain and criminal behaviour as a response (Zembroski, 2011). This theory shows that both deviant and normal behaviour can arise from the same societal goals as less privileged groups lack the means to achieve these goals due to limits put in place by society (Zembroski,
Merton recognised that individuals receive messages from society, which set acceptable behaviours to follow. He noted that a majority of citizens abide the acceptable behaviours, though there are numerous pressures that associate with the American Dream and the importance of the economy, which leads individuals to participate in deviant behaviours. Merton associated criminality and deviance with the American Dream goals, and how people attempt to achieve them, particularly the wealth component (Murphy & Robertson, 2008). Merton argued in 1938 that within unbalanced societies, the discrepancy between success goals and the endorsement of the means to achieve the goals, combined with limited opportunities manufactured the state of anomie. Further, Merton suggested that the anomic conditions in society were likely to tempt strain upon individuals, forming criminal behaviour adaptations. Particularly, the strain theory emphasised that those with high monetary aspirations are likely to innovate, resorting to unlawful activities, with the desire to channel success (Antonaccio, Gostjev & Smith, 2014). The strain theory connects to social causes, linking criminality with selfishness and egoism as the desire to
Merton to describe the relations of deviance and criminals. The deviances are the ones that just don’t believe in the customs at all and do as they please or what they must to survive. The criminals are the ones that accept the customs of the society, but still decide to break the rules. The Holocaust caused all groups different ways of achieving their goals due to the amount of resources they were equipped with. The cultural goals are always based on the atmosphere of the particularly situation at hand and what equip you have at
216). Strain due to a lack of access to legitimate means that would help an individual obtain the culturally accepted goals (e.g., wealth) is more commonly seen in the lower classes. More of than not, the poor and minorities in our society usually not have the resources needed (e.g., education) to help them succeed in accomplishing their goals. Thus, these individuals are handicapped and at a disadvantage when it comes to being able to escape from the lower class (Wilson, 2009). Merton identified five responses to this means and end dilemma.
According to Durkheim, two types of suicide arise from the different levels social integration. One cause of suicide is extremely low social integration, which is referred to as egoistic suicide. Durkheim argues that this is the case because others give the individual’s life meaning, so without this support from the group the person may feel hopeless (Conley 188). The other type of suicide, altruistic suicide, reflects the opposite situation: when an individual is too socially integrated (Conley 189). This type of suicide occurs when members of a group or community become so totally engrossed by the group tha...
...at the American culture places economic success at the pinnacle of social desirability, without listing legitimate ways for attaining the desired goal (Merton 672-682). Today, the American Dream no longer reflects the dream Adams had, but instead, the idea that one can only call themselves truly successful if they have become rich, regardless of the way they got there. The American Dream does not guarantee happiness, but rather the pursuit of it, but with the media strongly persuading people that money guarantees happiness, people are encouraged to do whatever it takes, even it means disregarding their morals, so that they achieve ‘success.’ The inability to achieve this goal often leads people to destructive, and ultimately life-threatening criminal behavior as their feelings of anxiety and frustration over this vision of the “American Dream” get the best of them.
There exists conflicting theories among sociologists in the area of determining why a person is considered to be a deviant, and the reasons behind why he or she has committed a deviant act. From a positivistic perspective, deviance is based on biological or social determinism. Alternatively, from a constructionist perspective, deviance is created and assigned by society. Both perspectives seek to give a theory for why a person may become known as deviant. Although they both view similar acts as deviant, the basic differences between positivists and constructionists theories are clear.
Rather than observing the individual criminal as being subhuman, he questioned societies influence on the individual. In his 1968 book, Merton argued that ‘it no longer appears to be so obvious that man is set against ... ... middle of paper ... ... Britain is of a much lower percentage in comparison to that of America thus Merton’s argument of the poor most likely to be criminal will not always fit the British society. It is therefore impractical to generalise Merton’s theory and force-fit it to all contemporary societies.
Robert Merton (1938) argued that members of American society are socialised to want the culturally defined goals such as the ‘American dream’ where success is attributed to material wealth. When they are denied access to the legitimate means, they resort to illegitimate means such as criminality and deviance to attain what they have been taught to want. (Lanier&Henry,1998) It could be argued that America is organised for crime due to its overwhelming significance placed on material success. This may explain why America has the highest rate of imprisonment, in 2000 approximately two million men and women were serving prison sentences. (Fleisher&Decker,2006) Similarly, Toy and Stanko (2008) identify that being part of a society that attributes achievement with material wealth are other factors which may influence becoming gang affiliated. (Harris et al, 2011)
From an anomie-strain perspective, for example, societies that have high expectations of their population, but do not give them legitimate means to achieve those expectations, cause a significant portion of that population to achieve through illegitimate methods (Thio, 2010). From this perspective, therefore, we can predict high crime rates in the United States because a significant portion of the population cannot reach success as defined by its emphasis on wealth. This perceived relative deprivation is reinforced by the fact that television and movies generally present the norm as being middle class people wearing expensive attire while the actual middle class, as defined, can barely afford necessities. It is also reinforced by the actual reality of just how much more the wealthy have combined with the obscuring effects of an inaccurate federally defined poverty
The American dream, essentially the constantly reiterated and embellished idea of someone who possessed nothing and ended up with everything, tends to bring misconceptions among citizens today about the nature of success itself. What this idea promotes is essentially that anyone can climb the social ladder regardless of the circumstances surrounding him or her. However, it must be noted that even though many have the potential to be...
Crime is not something unique to one country or culture, it can be found all over the world and has been present for as long as history goes back. There are many theories on why crimes happen ranging from individual responsibility to responsibility of societal influences. However, some countries suffer from much higher crime rate than others and the United States of America happens to be such a country. This paper will look at how societal influences, more specifically, the concept of the American Dream, affect crime rates in the country. It is the idea that the basis of striving towards economic success, seen in the foundational ideas of the American Dream, is the very same factor that allows the nation’s crime rate, such as in white collar
Durkheim was a functionalist, and theorised that a holistic social narrative could be identified which would explain individual behaviour. He argued that, whilst society was made up of its members, it was greater than the sum of its parts, and was an external pressure that determined the behaviour of the individuals within it. At that time, suicide rates in Europe were rising, and so the causes of suicide were on the agenda. Since suicide is seen as an intrinsically personal and individual action, establishing it as having societal causes would be a strong defence for Durkheim’s functionalist perspective. Durkheim used the comparative method to study the official suicide rates of various European countries. While he was not the first to notice the patterns and proportional changes of suicide rates between different groups in European societies, it was this fact that was the foundation of his theory – why did some groups consistently have much higher rates than others? This supports the idea that it was the external pressures placed on certain groups within society that induced higher rates of suicide, and is the basis of Durkheim’s work.
According to Marshall B. Clinard and Robert F. Meier (2014, 78), “Anomie theory advances the core idea that elements in society’s structure promote deviance by making deviant behavior a viable adaptation to living in the society. The theory describes deviance as a result of certain social, structural strains that pressure individuals to become deviant. ” Society’s basic structures, especially concerning class and economics, creates strain that people cannot escape from. Some of these strains, according to Liu, include failure to achieve goals, loss of positive stimuli, and presence of negative stimuli.
...y are bombarded from birth that they should desire and pursue money, power, fame, and success. Without achieving these goals they are seen as failures. Strain theories have shown that placing too much emphasis on individual success and the pursuit of happiness through the accumulation of power and wealth, can lead to an increase in crime.
This puts those groups who are at a disadvantage in society with a decision to achieve these goals by committing crimes, or they could achieve them through hard work and delayed gratification. Merton suggests that American society creates pressure for those who live in lower social classes to commit crime, therefore putting the focus more on lower middle class and or poverty stricken households. This theory puts more attention on crimes that involve fast access to vehicles, food, clothes, money, or goods that can be sold for money. Some examples of