Merton's strain theory

Question 1

What do strain theories argue?

Answer 1

Strain theories argue that people engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means.

For instance, individuals may find comfort for their failure in drug use.

Question 2

Who developed the first strain theory?

Answer 2

Functionalist Robert K. Merton (1938), who adapted Durkheim’s concept of anomie to explain deviance.

Question 3

Merton combines two elements:

Answer 3

Structural factors - society’s unequal opportunity structure.

Cultural factors - the strong emphasis on success goals and the weaker emphasis on using legitimate means to achieve the

Question 4

For Merton, deviance is the result of a strain between two things:

Answer 4

• The goals that a culture encourages individuals to achieve.
• What the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately. For example, American culture values ‘money success’ - individual material wealth and the high status that goes with it.

Question 5

What is a meritocratic society?

Answer 5

A social system in which success and status in life depend primarily on individual talents, abilities, and effort.

Question 6

How can the ideology of the American Dream being ‘meritocratic’ be argued upon?

Answer 6

• Americans are expected to pursue this goal by legitimate means: self-discipline, study, educational qualifications, and hard work in a career
• But many disadvantaged groups are denied opportunities to achieve legitimately
• This produces frustration which creates pressure to deviate (Merton)
• Winning the game becomes more important than playing by the rules.

Question 7

List the deviant adaptations to strain (CIRRR)

Answer 7

1. conformity
2. innovation
3. ritualism
4. retreatism
5. rebellion

Question 8

Conformity with example

Answer 8

Conformity - individuals who conform to society’s norms and values, and work towards achieving socially accepted goals through legitimate means.

A student who works hard in school to achieve good grades and eventually attend a prestigious university, in order to obtain a high-paying job and achieve financial success.

Question 9

Innovation with example

Answer 9

Innovation - individuals who accept society’s goals but use illegitimate means to achieve them.

A drug dealer who uses illegal means to achieve financial success, as they are unable to achieve success through legitimate means such as education or employment.

Question 10

Ritualism with example

Answer 10

Ritualism - individuals who give up on achieving society’s goals, but still adhere to the norms and values of society.

A person who works a dead-end job with no hope of advancement, but still shows up to work every day and follows the rules in order to maintain a sense of routine and stability in their life.

Question 11

Retreatism with example

Answer 11

Retreatism - individuals who reject both society’s goals and the means of achieving them, and instead retreat from society altogether.

A person who becomes a recluse and retreats from society altogether, due to feelings of alienation and disconnection from society.

Question 12

Rebellion with example

Answer 12

Rebellion - individuals who reject society’s goals and means, and instead work towards creating a new social order with new goals and values.

A political activist who rejects the status quo and works towards creating a new social order, with new values and goals that they believe will be more just and equitable.

Question 13

7 evaluation points for Merton

Answer 13

• Most crime is property crime, because American society values material wealth so highly.
• Lower-class crime rates are higher, because they have least opportunity to obtain wealth legitimately.
  However, the theory is criticised on several grounds:
• It takes official crime statistics at face value. These over-represent working-class crime, so Merton sees crime as a mainly working-class phenomenon. It is also too deterministic: the working class experience the most strain, yet they don’t all deviate.
• Marxists argue that it ignores the power of the ruling class to make and enforce the laws in ways that criminalise the poor but not the rich.
• It assumes there is a value consensus - that everyone strives for ‘money success’ - and ignores the possibility that many may not share this goal.
• It only accounts for utilitarian crime for monetary gain, and not crimes of violence, vandalism etc. It is also hard to see how it could account for state crimes such as genocide or torture.
• It explains how deviance results fro m individuals adapting to the strain to anomie but ignores the role of group deviance, such as delinquent subcultures