1.2 Merton's strain theory

Question 1

What does Merton mean by Strain as a cause of crime and how does this link to the American Dream?

Answer 1

Deviance is the result of a strain between the goals that a culture encourages and how far the structure of society allows ppl to achieve these goals

Based around the idea of the American Dream in the 1950’s, Merton believed that crime is a response to the strain placed on people to achieve the goals and values of society.

Question 2

Outline the 5 (but only 2 for u lol) responses of strain according to Merton?

Answer 2

Type 1: Conformity Accepting the goals set out and agreed by society as well the means to achieve them (material goods). Achieve them through normal means

Type 2: Innovation Accepting the goals set out and agreed by society but choosing alternative means to achieve them. In most cases this is a life of crime

Question 3

What are the criticisms of Merton’s strain theory?

Answer 3

• not all working class individuals turn to crime, and so we need something else to explain why some of them do and some of them do not.
• Merton’s reliance on official statistics means he over-estimates the extent of working class crime and underestimates the extent of middle class, or white collar crime. - Account for corporate crimes by the Rich, or state crime.
• Strain theory assumes there is value consensus - that everybody strives for the same goal of money success, this ignores the possibility that some may not share this goal at all
• Marxists argue that strain theory ignores the power of the ruling class to make and enforce laws in a way to criminalise the working class but the ruling class

Question 4

What is meant by utilitarian crime?

Answer 4

A crime that produces a monetary reward

Question 5

Merton

Merton’s ‘____’ states that crime is caused by the to ____ achieve the goals of the ____dream through ____ means. In his theory there are five different responses to the American Dream:
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____ - accepting the goals and legitimate means to achieve them
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____ - subscribe to the goals of the American dream but use illegitimate means to achieve them
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Answer 5

strain, failure, American, legitimate, Innovation, Conformism