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Micro and macro level general strain theory
Critique Of Strain Theory
Micro and macro level general strain theory
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In the movie Scarface we view go in depth about some life events of Cuban refugee Tony Montana when he enters the United States and receives his green card. We also see what leads him to his criminal activities of becoming a national drug lord. In this film there are a number of different theories that can be applied. I will be using Cornish and Clarkes Rational Choice Theory, along with Robert Agnew’s Strain theory in order to analyze Tony’s reasoning behind committing these crimes. I will be using examples from the film Scarface in order to draw and link these theories with the film.
The strain theory is relatively close to the social disorganization theory, regarding poverty rates, and unemployment rates within
General Strain Theory also displays three different types of strain. These are experiential strain, anticipated strain and vicarious strain. (Wong, Lecture) While Nathan was undergoing experiential strain from his horrific home life, Erik endured vicarious strain from watching his friend having to deal with the circumstances he was suffering from. The immense strain that Nathan was under was what caused him to eventually snap and murder his mother.
a. Use Strain Theory to define and explain the following: i. The theft of a loaf of bread by a hungry person Using strain theory, the theft of a loaf of bread by a hungry person can be explained as a situation where an individual employs different means of success of getting fed, one that is against the agreeable ways in the society of getting money and feeding themselves. ii. Alcoholics Using strain theory, an alcohol has ultimately rejected the society’s goals of conforming to the societal values such as happiness and a stable job, such an individual essentially rejects the goals because they have been ultimately been unable to live up to the society’s standards. iii.
Stress and subsequent aggression may also be induced due to perceptions of injustice in the workplace. As stated earlier, Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory argues that strain is a cause of criminal behavior. He expands upon Robert Merton’s Anomie Theory to include several causes of strain. His categories of strain that produce deviance are, the failure to achieve positively valued goals, the loss of positive encouragement, and the introduction of negative stimuli. Simply put, when people are treated poorly, they may become upset and resort to criminal behavior.
General Strain Theory and Biosocial Theory Connecting the dots to Antisocial Behavior. Jennifer M Frank Liberty University Juvenile Justice CJUS 310 08/14/2023 ABSTRACT Genome research indicates there may be a biometric connection between antisocial behavior and criminality.
Edwin Lement (1951) explained the theory well as he focussed on the primary and secondary deviation. It just comes to show how influential judgements from society can be after one initial act of deviance (Lement, 1951; pp. 603). Both strain theory and labelling theory has changed my stance on issues of crime and deviance around Tasmania, including youth gangs and violent crime. For example, I initially believed that every member of a youth gang was a bad person. There was no question about it in my mind but learning from labelling theory, Marxist theory and strain theory, my stance on this issue has completely changed.
Strain theory has been expanded by other scholars. Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) broadens the concept by identifying three major types of strain: the failure to achieve positively valued goals, the removal of positively valued stimuli, and the presentation of negative stimuli. GST posits that individuals who experience strain are more likely to engage in criminal behavior if they lack the ability to cope through legitimate means, have low self-control, and are in a social environment that encourages criminal
Merton. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American dream) though they lack the means, this leads to strain which may lead the individuals to commit crimes. Two major concerns in strain theory are the sources of the strain, stress or how people adapt to the strain. Positivism are theories of social and structure are strain theories.
The reason why domestic violence is a part of strain theory is because they may have negative stimuli which can involve experiencing victimization. Domestic violence is a part of strain theory because in a relationship there is a person hurting the other person which involves negative responses towards each other. According to a textbook about strain theory and violent behavior, it discusses what strain is to an individual that is involved in a violent relationship (Agnew, 2012). This strain theory can result in a partner possibly passing away due to how many arguments there may be in the relationship that can cause domestic violence in it. When there is a relationship that is going through a domestic violence, there may be drug or alcohol use involved in it.
A few years back, an incident arose with a two of my friends at a corner store. Through detailing this story, it will be illustrated how Merton’s (1938) strain theory and his concept of ‘anomie both has applicability and limitations. According to (BOOK), anomie arises when there is disconnect between one’s wants and one’s means. More specifically, Merton (1938) states that for anomie to occur, it must first consist “of culturally defined goals, purposes, and interests,” which “are related to the original drives of man, but they are not determined by them” (p. 672) and a social structure, which “defines, regulates, and controls the acceptable modes of achieving these goals” (p. 673). It is when there is a lack of congruence between one’s individual cultural aspirations and the acceptable modes of achieving them that anomie occurs, exerting “a definite pressure upon certain persons in the society to engage in nonconformist rather than conformist conduct” (p. 672).
In 1985 Robert Agnew a sociologist come to an interest of studying the theory and finds a potential for the theory in explaining several causes of crime in society, but due to its limitation he developed and reformulated the theory to widen its dimension or scope. After revising the theory he come up into General strain theory of crime and builds its foundation in 1992. General strain theory argues that frustrations and anger leads someone to deviance and may result into committing a crime (Agnew, 1992). GST defines strains as negative life events and conditions which are commonly disliked by the people who experience it or negative experiences of a person in a given group (Agnew, 1992; 2001; 2006). Strain is often classified in two distinct types, the Objective Strain and the Subjective Strain.
Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel Cohen presented the theory of gang constitution that used Merton’s strain theory as a basis for why individuals resort to such group behavior. There are five adaptions to strain and of the five Sanyika was proximately cognate to the adaptation of revolt, which is the most complex of the five adaptations. Strain is considered the primary source for the development of criminals. According to Cohen, delinquent youths begin to value destruction of property and skipping school, not because these behaviors lead to a payoff or success in the conventional world, but simply because they defy the conventional norms and laws as good, thereby psychologically and physically rejecting the cultural system that has been imposed on them without preparation and fair distribution of resources. (Tibbets, p. 116)
However, the social structure often fails in providing the means, thereby creating an imbalance in the fulfillment of the cultural goals. This imbalance that stems from the lack of necessary means to achieve socially accepted cultural goals leads to structural strain. The Strain Theory was propounded by Robert
This refers to the childhood development which is the period of time when children are taught to behave with the aid of negative consequences. A part of socialization that has been proven to be a major cause of committing crime is strain, which is a theory that mentions two main points: surrounding people acts as a barrier to your achievement and negative stimuli leading to failure. As a result, these people who live in this kind of environment are brainwashed to earn abundance of money through illicit means. Aside from that, literacy influences an individual’s violent behaviours. An online article stated that there is a strong relationship between low literacy and crime, with more than half of total prisoners deprived of their rightful education.
