Comparison Of Differential Association Theory And Anomie/Strain Theories

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 values and norms will lose their power and eventually break down. This occurrence will in turn separate people from society and their community. In this paper, I will be discussing, comparing, and contrasting differential association theory with Merton’s
The techniques in question refer to one’s skills and knowledge, which explains the nature of crime. It is important to remember, though, that not all crimes require the same techniques. The definition refers to one’s motivations, undertaking, rationalization, and attitude, which explains the why of crime. People can learn these techniques and definitions from face-to-face associations, which refers to how people learn from them, and in doing so they pick up different techniques and definitions. The term differential association refers to people who associate with others and teach them about the definitions of crime. These definitions can be either favorable or unfavorable to crime, an excess of favorable definitions may lead to crime. To prevent crime based on differential association theory, one should associate with good influences to learn about definitions that are unfavorable towards crime. Associating with good influencers who are against crime and who plan to go to college and make an impact on their life can lead to people learning these positive behaviors and doing similar
No matter how much money one makes or how accomplished they are, they will keep reaching and keep pushing for more. Robert Merton believes that there are two parts to the cultural structure that make up this American dream: culturally defined goals and institutionalized means. Merton states that different people will have different access to these institutionalized means. For example, someone who grew up in a bad neighborhood will have different institutionalized means from those who grew up in the suburbs. He also believes that it is not always possible to achieve one’s culturally defined goals with these means. For example, sometimes a person can grow up with the perfect life but is still unable to fulfill their dreams and may turn to crime to achieve their dream. Based on Merton’s anomie theory, if a person simply is satisfied with what they have achieved throughout their life, they will have no reason to turn to a crime. If one is proud of their financial success, then they have completed their goals with their institutionalized means and do not need to commit