The strain theory states that deviance is more likely to occur when a gap exists between cultural goals and the ability to achieve these goals by legitimate means. To get a decent job in today’s society requires a college degree. The average four year degree is almost $10‚000 just for tuition. We are expected to start school at a young age‚ keep up with homework‚ extracurricular activities‚ chores‚ and keep a job to pay for future expenses. It is extremely hard to earn enough money to pay for your
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Chapter 4 of Lilly‚ Cullen & Ball mainly focuses on Robert Merton and his theories of Anomie and Strain Theories. Merton wanted to theorize the root of social deviance. He did not reject the thoughts of the Chicago school theorists of Sutherland‚ Shaw and McKay‚ but however he did suggest that other factors were involved in such as conditions essential to society and not just in the slums‚ was the center point of the nation’s crime and deviance. He thought the “American Dream”‚ “a message sent
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In the field of criminology‚ social learning theories and anomie/strain theories make up a good chunk of the most well-known theories in this discipline. Social learning theories discuss how criminal behavior is learned through interactions‚ knowledge‚ and values. It discusses how criminal behavior is a set of general needs‚ but it also recognizes that all behaviors have a similar foundation. Anomie/strain theories focus on how anomie is a sense of normalness and without said normalness a person’s
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explore the contributory factors proposed by established theories in determining the causation of crime. In order to achieve this‚ one psychological and sociological approach will be selected from the many available to enable providing an analysis to establish the fundamentals behind each concept in to explaining the reasons why criminal and deviant behaviours occurs The first concept to be evaluated is Robert K Merton’s (1938) Strain Theory‚ ‘Social Structure and Anomie.’ Its composition is a functionalist
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The concept behind strain theory is that when there’s a gap between what society wants such as wealth or success and the means to these things are difficult‚ individuals might feel strained and feel the need to use shortcuts to obtain these riches in life. This tension could result in deviant actions because people are attempting to reach these desired objectives using unorthodox or non-accepted means. This strain is caused by individuals’ inability to achieve their
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may claim that how well a society is functioning symbolizes the amount of deviance in a society. Therefore‚ if a society is doing poorly‚ there must be a lot of people that are not conforming to the social norms. Now‚ using specific sociological theories or concepts‚ discuss what you feel are the best sociological explanations for why someone might choose to do deviant—even criminally deviant--things. (6 pts. possible for discussing at least TWO
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Strain theory was introduced by sociologist Robert Merton‚ he thought that some societies may be set up to encourage deviance from societal norms. Merton thought when cultural goals placed too much pressure on the person to conform. The individual would be forced to work inside the structure that society has created or instead turn to become a follower of a deviant subculture to achieve their goals. The main concern was that certain societies were not providing the resources to achieve these societal
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This is a perfect theory for white collar crimes. Most white collar crimes occur because they want that sense of accomplishment. Strain theory has five terms‚ but two of the terms could help define people that commit these crimes. The two terms are innovation and rebellion. People that innovate pursue goals they cannot reach through
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he concluded that offenders had not developed to the unchanging lengths as non-offenders. His method was a structure of biological positivity‚ since it suggested that reliable information is obtained from science‚ reasoning and physical senses. His theory came from his study of prosecuted criminals both deceased and live. Lombroso differentiated the criminal bodily fitness to those of non-criminals‚ as well as people who were identified psychotic. In his study he found‚ to some degree those offenders
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In this next section I will be talking about how biker gangs apply to Robert K. Merton’s strain theory. Strain theory assumes that criminal behavior‚ social class‚ and deviant behavior are closely related‚ but are different based on the nature of the relationship. It was a way to explain human conduct and to explain the abnormality of the criminal. Human conduct is not within the individual but rather in the social institutions‚ social groups and social organization. People respond to different situation
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