Criticism of Merton’s Strain Theory One critique of the strain theory is how it overemphasis the position of the social class in regards to crime and deviance. As we know, the strain theory applies mainly to the American lower class as they struggle the most. Our lower class are faced with the lack of resources to help them reconcile their goals. However, by looking at the variation of deviant and criminal behavior, the strain theory does not adequately account for any type of crimes besides the normal street or neighborhood crimes. Additionally, crimes that are considered as being white collar, in which they are known in our middle and upper-classes. The General Strain Theory Robert Agnew proposed and formulated the general strain theory. Agnew’s general strain theory primarily focuses on the micro-level definitions of crime and the relationship it has with delinquency. By doing this, Robert Agnew made a notation of the effects that a person 's social environment and the position it plays in the determination of crime. As indicated by Agnew, deviance happens when an individual has neglected the idea of accomplishing positively valued goals, positively valued goals are dismissed, or a individual has a confrontation with the negative stimuli. The main strain, failure to achieve the positively valued goals, is the sort that is normally alluded to by exemplary strain and anomie. When dealing with children or juveniles, a study noted that it was more proper to gauge the