Merton's General Strain Theory: Class Difference In Crime

Words: 613
Pages: 3
Open Document
Class Difference in Crime
According to Merton’s General Strain Theory, having a substantial amount of stress can lead a person to commit criminal acts if they do not have conventional coping mechanisms. An individual can become strained when they lose a positive aspect of their life, such as a job, get introduced to an aversive stimulus like deviant peers, and fail to achieve their set goals. Strains are more likely to result in criminal behavior if it’s high in magnitude, creates an incentive for crime, unfair treatment, and when it weakens a person’s bond to conventional individuals and institutions. Living in a disorganized community can cause an enormous amount of strain because the lack of economic opportunities that exist, constant violence in the neighborhood, and weak educational institutions. It has been noted that strain reduces social control within a community, which may foster relationships between frustrated individuals and can lead to continuous criminal behavior in the deprived community they reside in.
Having economic strains has a positive relationship with criminal behavior, but when poverty is controlled, they are not related. There is an extremely significant relationship between visible consumption and …show more content…
Most students of the US Job Corps are young adults who encounter enormous strain because the lack of economic opportunities that exist in their deprived neighborhood, and who may have been at risk of joining a criminal gang. If this particular program was used in my community it should not be changed because it has proven to be effective throughout the years. The only thing that should be changed about this program it’s their advertisement. In order to reach out more effectively to at risk youth and their parents, the US Job Corps should publicly promote their mission and what the organization has to
Show More

Related Documents: Merton's General Strain Theory: Class Difference In Crime

Agnew's General Strain Theory

take on anomie and strain theory, and focusing their lens on “street” crime in high poverty neighborhoods. The theory direct our focus to how society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American Dream), though they lack the means, which then leads to breakdowns in, detachment from, norms. They argue that some substitute “counter norms,” “stretching” norms, and “innovate” to achieve their goals through deviance and crime. Despite these theories specifically focusing…

Words 1717 - Pages 7

Strain: Sociology and Social Structure Essay

Strain Theory There are four different varieties of strain theory. The first is anomie theory originally proposed by proposed by Dr. Robert Merton. The second theory is institutional anomie theory proposed by Steven F. Messner and Richard Rossenfeld. The third theory is general strain theory proposed by Robert Agnew. Finally relative deprivation theory originally proposed by James Davis, next to tackle this subject was Walter Garrison Runciman, followed by Ted Robert Gurr, and finally by Faye…

Words 2602 - Pages 11

Essay on Criminological Theories

Student Study Guide for Ronald L. Akers and Christine S. Sellers’ Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Applications Fourth Edition Prepared by Eric See Youngstown State University Roxbury Publishing Company Los Angeles, California 1 Student Study Guide by Eric See for Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Application , 4th Edition by Ronald L. Akers and Christine S. Sellers Copyright © 2004 Roxbury Publishing Company, Los Angeles, California…

Words 13463 - Pages 54

Sociology and Correct Answer Essay

cognitive traits d. parents and community Feedback The correct answer is: biology, on the one hand, and social interaction, on the other Question 3 Correct Mark 1.00 out of 1.00 Not flaggedFlag question Question text In social development theory, the “self” can be defined as _____. Select one: a. the individual identity of a person as perceived by that same person Correct b. one’s sense of agency, action, or power c. the identity of a person as perceived by others d. the externalization…

Words 5494 - Pages 22