commit crimes? Why do they steal‚ rape‚ and murder? There are many suggestions as to why people commit crimes‚ especially in impoverished areas. One of the more common and sensible explanations for this phenomenon is that of Merton’s Strain Theory. Merton’s strain theory is fairly straightforward in its application. It explores the idea that many people who commit crimes in impoverished areas do not do so out of maliciousness or simply because they can. Rather‚ they commit these crimes because they
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One of the well know socialists of the twentieth century is Robert K. Merton (1910-2003). He is a major theorist who is known for creating several pivotal sociological concepts. One of his most important achievements has been the established connection between theory and research‚ thereby making the way for the course of sociology. Merton favored what he called middle range theories: these are theories that “lie between minor but necessary working hypotheses that evolve in abundance during day to
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expecting so much from a person‚ it can create unnecessary pressure. “Merton’s theory blames deviance on society’s failures to provide all people with legitimate means to achieve success. This theory‚ explains the higher rates of robbery and theft among lower class people‚ who are pressured to commit crimes by their lack of good jobs and other legitimate means of success.” (Thio 174) Somewhat similar is the Power Theory‚ in which people who have more power are more likely to continue to gain more
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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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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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the preservation of this breadth there exists deviance in the society. In light of this comment it is the purpose of this write up to explain the occurrence of deviance in society using the strain theory. The writer will define the terms values‚ deviance and the strain theory and make illustrations how the theory explains the occurrence of deviance giving relevant examples in different societies. Values from a sociological perspective refer to the views that are shared by society and of what is desirable
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Strain Theory I have chosen to write about Robert Merton’s Strain Theory. I find this theory particularly interesting‚ especially as it relates to crime and even education. As noted in our book Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials‚ the definition of strain theory is that people feel strain when they are exposed to cultural goals that they are unable to obtain because they do not have access to culturally approved means of achieving those goals (Kendall 164). For example‚ if your goal is obtaining
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How does general strain theory differ from biopsychological theories? “Throughout history‚ one of the assumptions that many people have made about crime is that it is committed by people who are born criminals; in other words‚ they have a curse‚ as it were‚ put upon them from the beginning. It is not a question of environmental influences determining what they were going to do; they were ‘born bad’. Consequently‚ whatever society may do‚ these people will eventually commit criminal acts. The Mark
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The criminological theory that best describes why individuals engage in this violent act is Strain Theory. Strain theory is that someone is being pressured into achieving accepted goals. Even though they may not have the means to do it‚ they are expected to achieve it. Strain Theory can lead to the lack of being able to achieve a goal‚ the loss of a loved one or friend‚ and negative stimuli that means being physically or verbally abused. These can all lead to a violent act because of all the pressure
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Sociologists like Emile Durkheim used the structural functional theory of crime to understand the world and why people act the way that they do. Its main thought is that our culture is a whole unit. This unit is composed of interconnected portions. Sociologists who believe theory often focus on the social structure and social function. Durkheim based primarily all his work on this theory‚ the structural functional theory. Durkheim debated that deviance is a typical and essential part of our culture
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