STRAIN THEORY ESSAY Flashcards
What year did Merton develop his strain theory?
1938
Outline Paragraph 1 (strain and the American Dream)
- society creates cultural goals and legal means of achieving these goals
- define strain
- compare merton and Durkheim’s anomie
- The American dream (criminogenic- unintended consequences)
- exaggerates primary goal of success and assumes shared goals (Valler)
Outline Paragraph 2 (Institutional Anomie theory)
- Messner and Rosenfeld (1994)
- American dream is not the only set of cultural goals which encourages an anomic society
- Merton’s strain theory can be universally applied (widespread = valuable)
Outline Paragraph 3 (responses)
- five modes of adaptation
- conformity
- innovation (critiqued by Cloward and Ohlin, 1961 - illegitimate opportunity structure
- ritualism
- retreatism
- rebellion (e.g terrorism)
- explains how both legal and deviant acts stem from the same set of cultural goals/norms
- modes of adaptation are reductionist - Murphy and Robinson (2008) discuss the Maximiser (which can be used to explain corporate crime)
Outline Paragraph 4 (structural)
- deviance arises from the structure of society
- Downs and Rock (2003) - strain theory can help influence policy by identifying cause and effect relationships between goals and goal attainment
- Government can use strain to improve the legitimate opportunity structure
- Merton fails to critique structures (Marxist critique) - percevez failure as individual rather than a systematic failure
Outline Paragraph 5 (subcultural)
- Albert Cohen (1955) - Delinquent boys (subcultural)
- attempted to answer questions Merton failed to acknowledge; group delinquency (Cloward and Ohlin believed it could explain shared feelings of oppression) and non-utilitarian crime (Gibbon and Jones/Thio, 1975)
- both Cohen and Merton are reductionist and focus to heavily on the working class, failing to acknowledge crimes of the powerful
Outline Paragraph 6 (General Strain theory)
- Robert Agnew developed General Strain theory (1992)
- discussed repeated strains and how the greater the strain the higher chance of delinquency
- identified factors which increased the likelihood of strain causing crime (low social control/unjust strain)
- strength: clearly explains how strain can result in delinquency and multiple strains make the theory more applicable to contemporary society (focuses less on economic wealth)
- Merton’s strain theory overlooks barriers to success and he didn’t fully explain why some people who feel strain don’t turn to crime
- weakness: highlights Merton’s inability to critique structure - he offers no solutions so theory loses value
- Left realism is a better theory to use
Which year did Messner and Rosenfeld argue their institutional anomie theory?
1994
Which year did Cloward and Ohlin come up with the illegitimate opportunity structure?
1961
Which year did Murphy and Robinson develop the idea of a Maximiser?
2008
Who argued that conformity and innovation were not mutually exclusive?
Murphy and Robinson (2008)
Who argued that strain theory can influence policy by identifying cause and effect relationships?
Downs and Rock (2003)
What year did Downs and Rock argue strain could influence policy?
2003
In what year was Cohen’s study published?
1955
Who spoke about non-utilitarian crime?
Gibbons and Jones (1875) and Thio (1975)
