Week Ten - Strain Flashcards
Who is the main individual of this theory?
Robert Merton
The most dominant cultural goal…
The most dominant cultural goal is to acquire wealth. Because this leads to prestige and status.
Everybody has an equal chance of achieving this goal by pursuing legitimate means – education and work
The appetites of individuals are not natural…
The appetites of individuals are not natural, they originate within specific cultures
The ‘strain’ is between the expectations and hopes…
The “strain” is between the expectations and hopes that people have, and the chances of ever achieving them.
The result is…
The result is a pressure to engage in nonconformist conduct
General information…
Critical of emphasis on consumption and tendency towards greed
Increasing desires and dissatisfaction
Greater emphasis on material success than how it’s achieved; outdoing competitors
Emphasis on success over legitimate means of acquiring it leads to a breakdown of regulation and a ‘strain to anomie’
Cultural context…
Wealth as symbol of success – how do individuals respond?
4 types of individual deviant adaptation if one doesn’t conform – i.e. accept both cultural goals and institutionalized means
Cultural Goals
Innovation +
Ritualism -
Retreatism -
Rebellion +-
Institutionalized
Innovation -
Ritualism +
Retreatism -
Rebellion +-
Agnew’s General Strain Theory…
People commit crime because they experience strains or stressors
Criticisms of Strain Theory…
Although providing an explanation for some forms of non-conformity, Merton’s theory doesn’t explain all types of criminal behavior.
What material goals are juveniles/hooligans/rapists chasing?
Middle-class bias – middle-class goals and working class transgressors
Reliance on official crime stats – also arguably underestimate middle-class crime and predict too much working class crime.
Why do some adapt while others adopt deviant adaptations?
