Robert Merton's Broken Strain Theory

1028 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The relationship between crime and underprivileged

Its 3 O’Clock in the morning and you are found with no other choice but, to wunder up and down the empty streets of Broad street in Philadelphia hoping that you would come into contact with someone so that you are able to rob them praying that they have anything on them giving you the chance to survive another day just so that you can put a meal on the table not only for yourself but, also your family as well. Imagine living in a world where the place you were brought up into determines who you are going to become as you grow older in age. Living in a situation where you had no way to build yourself up, prosper and also, strive to become the best person you know that you are capable of being. Introducing, the structure theory which is broken …show more content…

Merton argued that “the people of the USA were encouraged to pursue the goal of monetary success, but that lower-class individuals were often prevented from achieving such success through legitimate channels - like getting a good education and then a good job” (Mclaughlin450). This would then prevent an individual from achieving any goals that they have set out for themselves considering they have so many things going against them instead of working in their favor. Strain theory is more complex and compelling in essence, it branches into a subcategory labeled relative deprivation in detail, “is generally considered to be the central variable in the explanation of social movements and is used to explain the quest for social change that inspires social movements; social movements emerge from collective feelings” (Morrison, 1971). To explain, that those who experience economic inequality are unable to achieve legitimate success within their own …show more content…

Along with the strain theory then follows the general strain theory which was reformulated in 1992 by Robert Agnew. Agnew’s “general strain theory looks at individual level crime rather than the macro-level”(Pennington5). As a result, of the general strain theory it then looks at the bigger picture that their behavior of breaking the law is a coping mechanism rather than having to deal with socioemotional problems caused by negative events that have occurred in their

Show More
Related

  • Social Structure: Example from a Mexican American

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sociology is the scientific study of social structure, social structure influences through culture and principles, together it produces each individual to the way they act, live and think. Due to social influences, many of our morals and values are influenced through media, parents and school. Social structure is important in our society because it affects all dimensions of human experience, it is a pattern of social interaction and over all makes us who we are. The sociological term for social structure describes society as a whole and the action in which determines individuals. The three main structures that have shaped up my social structure and impacted my life are, my ethnicity, income and religion. Being a Hispanic American Latina forever would have a impact in my life because our culture diversity and the advantage and disadvantages it is to come from a family who had to establish each of their lives all over again by moving to the United States has driven my priorities to become successful very high and not become part of statistics of staying in the middle class or in poverty.

    Read More

  • Social Disorganization Theory In There Are No Children Here

    1966 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alex Kotowits’ book, There Are No Children Here, follows two young boys over a course of two years. The environment that the children are raised in is a lower income area that is surrounded by violence, gangs, and crime. The best theory to explain this novel would be strain theory, followed by social disorganization theory. Being raised in poverty generates many issues, which then makes children rebel later in life. Many families experience different types of strain such as experience strain, vicarious strain, and anticipated strain. This not only affects the person who is experiencing strain, but also affects other people who are around them. The novel presents a good example of both general strain theory and early social disorganization theory

    Read More

  • The Three Paradigms In Society

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    The functionalist paradigm focuses on the integration of society, and how society how its own groups which has their own functions to help improve the peoples lives. Functionalist paradigm fits in the category of macro-sociology, because it focuses on the patterns that shape an entire society. Functionalists believe that society is maintained through the thought of trust and consensus on moral values for ideal behavior. Working together will result in a stable social environment that will create equality. Conflicts or dysfunctions will be view as a disease in the social system. Social conflict paradigm believes that society is divided into many groups that have their own goals, and that certain parts of the world have the luck of benefiting economic dominan...

    Read More

  • The Saints And The Roughnecks Summary

    1928 Words  | 4 Pages

    Structural Functionalism is the sociology theory that emphasizes how everything and everyone has a purpose in society. That each and every one of us is a puzzle piece that comes together in order to form a society, any missing puzzle piece would result in the downfall or shortcomings of the whole society. Whether this may be religion, education, economy, etc, all of these structures much work together in order to have a flourishing society where everyone works uniformly. Stability is achieved when everyone fulfills their duty is society.

    Read More

  • Social Disorginization theory

    1294 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shaw and McKay (1942) focused their research on the rapidly expanding city of Chicago Illinois in the early 1900’s. Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that the population of Chicago expanded from 1 million people in 1890 to double that size within 20 years. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) it was in this era of rapid expansion that researches begin to think differently about crime. Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that the researchers began to think that the understanding of crime may not be found in the studying of an individual criminal traits but the study of the traits of the environment in which a criminal lives and interacts. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) this led to a question in which researchers thought a possible solution of controlling and explain crime would be found in changing environments and neighborhoods rather than changing people.

    Read More

  • Shaw And Mckay's Social Disorganization Theory

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization theory had a profound impact on the study of the effects of urbanization, industrialization and immigration in Chicago neighborhood on crime and delinquency rates. However, Shaw and McKay faced much criticism when they first released their findings. One criticism of the social disorganization theory had to do with researcher’s ability to accurately test the social disorganization theory. Although Shaw and McKay collected data on characteristics of areas and delinquency rates for Chicago communities and were able to visually demonstrate a relationship between by using maps and other visuals, their research did not have an actually test that went along with it (Kurbin, 2010). Kurbin (2010) states that “the

    Read More

  • Social Construction Of Animals: The Social Construction Of Animals

    277 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Social Construction Theory is defined as the event of individuals and or groups perceive real life events and objects and put a meaning to them. Social construction is an ongoing process and views can be modified because the concept is relying upon the communication from one person to another and different people can interpret things differently. One way society has constructed ideas is with animals. Throughout history people have created stories using animals as characters and those stories were passed down from generation to generation. Those stories can influence how people feel about the actual animals.

    Read More

  • Social Disorganisation Theory And Strain Theory

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.

    Read More

  • Deterrence Theory: Blue Collar Crimes

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    Strain theory and cultural deviance theory are two branches of the social structure theories. These theories focus on the effect of the environment in which the individual who commits criminal acts lives in has on them. Individuals living in disorganized communities are more likely to experience crime producing social forces. Although you have a job and living comfortably, your angry neighbor who is an unemployed school dropout who lives with his mother is more likely to break into your residence because of

    Read More

  • Social Structure and Its Effect On Our Lives

    1991 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social structure is created by the distribution of wealth, power and prestige.  The social structure consists of taken for granted beliefs about the world and both constrain and regulate human actions.  The social structure consists of substructures such as class, gender and ethnicity.  These groups are formed within society; each group shares common attitudes, values, social norms, lifestyle and material goods.  People within society stay within the guidelines of the soc...

    Read More

  • Strain Theories of Criminal Behaviour

    2001 Words  | 5 Pages

    To gain an accurate understanding of strain theories it is best to first examine their intellectual foundations. One of the most important influences on the development of strain theories was sociologist Emile Durkheim. A structural functionalist, Durkheim argued that deviance and crime were not only normal, but also served a function in society. Durkheim believed that crime served the purpose of displaying to members of society what behaviours and actions are considered unacceptable as determined by societal co...

    Read More

  • Conflict Theory On Bullying

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    A structural functionalist would say that society is not working together and that the problem is that we all don’t share the same values and that the bullies who obviously are not socialized property should be removed from society and that would solve the problem. A social conflict theorist believes in nine things society is like a pyramid, The elite are at the top of the pyramid and the masses are at the bottom, those on the top of the pyramid hold all the power, Those with the power determine the values for society, the glue that holds society together is force, societal members learn the values of the powerful through the socialization process, society is always in a state of conflict, different people and groups will always be struggling to gain power, those with the economic and political power will shape society to their advantage. A social conflict theorist would say that this topic proves that society is always in a state of conflict because people don’t get along and that different people and groups will always be struggling to gain power because the different people are the masses which are at the

    Read More

  • The Three Major Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology

    1966 Words  | 4 Pages

    The structural-functionalist perspective looks at society as a complex system composed of various parts much like a living organism. Each aspect of society contributes to society's functioning as a whole. Social institutions play a key role in keeping a society stable. All societies need certain things to survive (Newman 2010).

    Read More

  • Structuration Theory Of Social Entrepreneurship

    2279 Words  | 5 Pages

    The theory can be explained by saying: “structural principles” involves using rules and resources to create congeries of generalized formulas and facilities that “stretch systems across time and space” and that allow for “system integration” (Turner, p.972, 1986). The theory also discusses how across different factors have an impact saying: “Through acts of human agency, structural principles produce “structural sets” that are, I sense, bundles or configurations of rules and resources that constrain the form of social relations across time and in space” (Turner, p.972, 1986). In lemans term structuration theory can be summed up by saying: “Structuration Theory is a meta-theoretical social framework development by Giddens [21] who argues that action and structure operate as a duality, simultaneously affecting each other; social structures are the medium of human activities” (Nyandiere, Kamuzora and Lukandu, p.386-387,

    Read More

  • Police Officers: Their Work and Actions: Structure Agency Debate

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some sociologists believe that humans have the freedom to make their own choices and decide how they behave (agency) while others theorize that human behavior is determined and influenced by the patterns, arrangements, norms and guidelines of society (structure). The third position doesn’t choose either or but rather states that the two; structure and agency equally play a role in shaping human behaviour and attitudes; this perspective is known as structuration; developed by Giddens (as sited in Huyssteen, 2003).

    Read More

More about Robert Merton's Broken Strain Theory

Open Document