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Merton's Strain Theory

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Please describe different types of alienation proposed by Marx. Use examples to illustrate. Marx describes Alienation in capitalism. He explains that in alienation the worker does not work for satisfaction or for connection to the process of life but instead they work only for the money. He says that work in this way becomes a bit robotic and people just go to work to make money and no longer have any other connection. It becomes more of routine and this removes the satisfaction of life. For example, now that I am a student striving to become a social worker I have met many people in the field and I hear very often that the system is the worst part of working in this field. They tell me that when they were in school they also loved what they …show more content…

Please explain Merton’s reasons for thinking so, by paying sufficient attention to all aspects of his argument. Merton’s Strain Theory focuses on the relationship between socially accepted goals and the resources people have available to reach their goals. Merton believes that the main reason people turn to deviant behaviors is because they have limited means. There is a high link that exists between crime and unemployment and this is a perfect example to explain his Strain …show more content…

The real sources to become economically successful in this county are to get an education and a job, which are two very limited sources for low-income people. They then turn to deviant behaviors to reach that “economic success”. In Merton’s Strain Theory he came up with five categories of people. These categories are conformists, ritualists, innovators, retreatists, and rebels. Conformists are people who believe in the cultural goals of society as well as the sources provided to accomplish these goals. For example, a successful doctor who has become economically successful because of their education, career, and hard work. Ritualists are people who do not believe in the cultural goals of society but they do believe in the sources provided to succeed. An example of this is a middle class worker that does not care much for the “American Dream” but continues to work hard to climb up to social class ladder. Innovators are people that believe in the cultural goals of society but do not believe in the means to attain theses goals. These people often are the ones to turn to deviant behavior, or crimes. An example of this is are drug dealers or prostitutes that still work hard to achieve economic success but are not using the right means to do this. Retreatists are people who do not believe in neither the cultural goals nor

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Specific theories that indicate the linkage of behavior to the community are Merton’s Strain Theory, Agnew’s Strain Theory, Social Disorganization Theory, Elijah

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Transcendentalism is a term used to describe people who don’t comply to societal norms, and do what they please, instead of what’s expected.

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Due to Bender’s behaviour and personality, he is often alienated by those around him. Merton’s strain theory of behaviour states that deviance is a product of society itself and the conditions that it lays down for each individual. Each society has a certain set of goals and a means of achieving it however when an individual is unable to achieve them, they may resort to deviance (Haskings-Winner, Collishaw, Kritzer & Warecki, 2011). Bender who is unable to meet society’s expectation subtly portrayed by the other students of being academically inclined, popular or athletic, feels the need to go against society because he would not fit in our the school regardless. Moreover, Bender’s household is a distinct factor in his deviant behaviour.

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There are different beliefs within the strain theory, but as stated before, strain theory was developed around the belief that deviant behavior arises as a response to a problem that the individual cannot fix. The original strain theory was started by Robert Merton. He too believed that deviance occurred as a way to solve a problem. He believed this happened when the individual conflicted with societal values. In response to the cause of alcoholism, according to Merton one becomes an alcoholic when they choose to reject society’s goals and approved way of achieving these goals.

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The culture of the United States was established on the American Dream regardless of race, religion, gender, or class. However, the American Dream was not attainable by everyone, so this imbalance created a strain between people’s means and goals. Merton’s strain theory was also prevalent in the documentary, 13th. The theory says that society puts pressure on people to achieve socially accepted goals, even though they lack the institutionalized means, which leads to strain, which may lead people to act out and commit crimes to meet these unattainable goals. People of color, specifically African Americans, don't have the same means that others do in this country.

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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.

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His areas of study are Juvenile delinquency, Youth violence and Criminological theory. The main argument of the source is that General strain theory provides and explanation of crime and delinquency and that it is the latest and broadest form of strain theory. General Strain Theory represents a revision and extension of prior strain theories. “General strain theory is distinguished from other criminological theories by the central role it assigns to negative emotions in the etiology of offending. It is also distinguished by the emphasis it places on particular strains, especially strains involving negative social relations “ (Brezina, 2018).

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Karl Marx defines “alienation” by which laborers are estranged from their self-being because of the capitalists. A result from the lack of identity with the products of their labor and a sense of being are controlled or exploited (en.oxforddictionaries.com). Marx asserts that capitalism is the root cause

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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.

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The main concept of alienated labor was developed by Karl Marx in his early work Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts from 1844 - First Manuscript [Estranged Labor]. As defined, the concept of alienation is profoundly embedded in religions and social and political theories, the possibility that some time in the past individuals feeling like foreigners in the world, however, sooner or later this distance would be overcome and humankind would again harmony with itself and Nature (Encyclopedia of Marxism). Formed from Private Property, the political economy that is Capitalism divided society into two classes¬ - Property owners and Property-Less workers. By exploitation and estrangement, these classes become further designated as masters

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Strain and Deviance: an empirical test of General Strain Theory of in a Philippine Public University LITERATURE REVIEW Theoretical Background During the past decades, various criminologists developed different theories in an attempt to explain the causes of crime within the society. In return they were successful, as of today it was adopted or accepted, indeed all of theories explain the root causes of crime. One of these theories is anomie or strain theory which originally argues that the lower class frustration to higher class causes crime (Merton, 1938) in attempt to explain why majority of the people who commits crime are lower class.

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The core idea of general strain theory is that people who experience strain or stress become distressed or upset which may lead them to commit crime in order to cope. One of the key principles of this theory is emotion as the motivator for crime. The theory was developed to conceptualize the full range of sources in society where strain possible comes from. The strain theory also focuses on the perspective of goals for status, expectations and class rather than focusing on money. A clear example of General strain theory is the people who use illegal drugs to make themselves feel better and that will lead the people to commit

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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)

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The phenomena that Merton 's theory indicates towards can be successfully explained with the help of an example of how people achieve or strive to achieve economic success. For instance, in the U.S which has a capitalist system, everybody is motivated to attain financial profitability for a greater sense of positive identity. There are two legally approved ways of accomplishing this task, education and work. However, not everyone may have access to equal opportunities because of brokered access or discrimination on the basis of class, gender, race, sexuality etc. that is prevalent in most societies (Broidy & Agnew,1997).

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The structural strain theory was developed by sociologist Robert K. Merton as part of the functionalist perspective. Strain occurs when individuals find it hard to achieve cultural goals through institutionalized means (Merton, 1938). This theory suggests that there are five responses to strain, which include conformity, ritualism, innovation, retreatism and rebellion (Andersen and Taylor, 2009). The responses are developed based on two factors, which are, first, whether the individual accepts or rejects the cultural goals of the society and second, whether the individual accepts or rejects the instituitionalized means of achieving them. To understand this theory, we first have to understand what cultural goals and the institutionalized means of achieving them mean.

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