Theories of Crime - Week 8 Flashcards
Robert Merton & Anomie
General theory of deviance - it can be used to explain any kind of behaviour that goes against social norms (not just crime)
Robert Merton & Anomie
2 Parts of Society
1) Cultural Structure
2) Social Structure
Robert Merton & Anomie
2 Parts of Society
Cultural Structure
The goals and values of society - what members of the society value and strive for. The cultural structure provides us with messages and about what should be important to us and what goals we should desire and work toward
Robert Merton & Anomie
2 Parts of Society
Social Structure
That means by which goals of the cultural structure are supposed to be achieved. The social structure is made up of the economic and social institutions that we have established to organize our society. For example, education system, employment and market opportunities, family structure, etc.
Anomie
Disjuncture between prescribed social goals and institutionalized (appropriate) means of achieving them.
Anomie
Anomie is built into the structure of particular types of societies, such as capitalist meritocracies, which emphasize high expectations for material achievement and place the responsibility for achieving those goals solely on individuals.
Robert Merton and Strain Theory (Differential Opportunity)
Merton’s five different kinds of adaptions to strain
(1) Conformity
Conformity
- Those who engage accept the legitimacy of both the societal goals and the prescribed means of achieving them. Individuals who conform and strive for the societal goals using the legitimate means will not necessarily be successful in achieving the goals, but they will nevertheless try hard and play by the rules
Robert Merton and Strain Theory (Differential Opportunity)
Merton’s five different kinds of adaptions to strain
(2) Ritualism
Ritualism - Those who engage accept the legitimacy of the means of achieving success, but do not accept the prescribed goals. When they discover that they are unlikely to achieve the goals of material success, they downplay the importance of this goal and scale back their expectations in order to reduce stress and strain. Ritualists go through their motions of playing by the rules but are content with only moderate achievement. Merton feels that ritualism is most common among people in lower-middle class who have accepted their limited opportunities for social advancement.
Robert Merton and Strain Theory (Differential Opportunity)
Merton’s five different kinds of adaptions to strain
(3) Innovation
Innovation - Individuals who engage in innovation accept the prescribed societal goals but reject the legitimate means of achieving these goals in favour of more expedient, illegitimate means. When innovators realize that it will be very difficult or impossible for them to achieve wealth and success in playing by the rules, they find other easier and faster ways of achieving what they want. The over-emphasis on material wealth in our society may cause some members of the upper and middle classes to innovate - the line becomes blurred between legitimate business and competitive strategies and illegal practices. However, Merton argued that innovation was concentrated amongst lower-class people.
Robert Merton and Strain Theory (Differential Opportunity)
Merton’s five different kinds of adaptions to strain
(4) Retreatism
Retreatism
- Individuals who engage reject both the prescribed social goals and the legitimate means of achieving them. When retreatists discover how difficult or impossible it will be for them to achieve the goals they withdraw from society and simply give up trying to engage in these pursuits. Drug addicts, hermits who live alone outside society, the forty year old man who lives in his parents basement and plays video games all day are examples of retreatism. Merton believed that retreatism was the least common form of adaption. Retreatists have been socialized to accept the cultural goals and the institutional means, but they fail to succeed and instead of innovating or turning to ritualism, they drop out of society and simply stop trying to fit in.
Robert Merton and Strain Theory (Differential Opportunity)
Merton’s five different kinds of adaptions to strain
(5) Rebellion
Rebellion
- Individuals who engage reject both social and the means but what to replace them with new goals and means. Rebels, as the name suggests, want to overthrow the existing system and establish a new social order - these people are revolutionaries and idealists. Merton is reluctant to identify these people as deviant, through they are non-conformists. Just as Durkheim identified deviance as a possible avenue for social change, Merton suggests that rebellion may actually have a function in shifting the social goals and the means of achieving them.
Strain/Differential Theory Is Rooted in….
Sociological Positivism
- Root causes of crime and deviance is located in the social structure that emphasizes social goals without providing everyone with the means to achieve them
This Theory is a ____ Theory
Consensus theory
- assumption of general consensus as to the societal goals and means, which makes other modes of adaption deviant.
Strain Theory is a ____ Theory
Structural Theory
- Focuses on way that society is structured and how that structure contributes to deviance. Less concerned with how individuals become deviant (process) he doesn’t tell us how an individual chose an adaption to strain - he merely gives us the range of options that our social structure creates.
Mertons Theory to Sutherlands Differential Association Theory
- Merton’s theory is complementary to Sutherlands differential association theory by highlighting socialization as the source of our values and beliefs.
