ipl-logo

Robert Merton Typology Of Deviant Behavior

555 Words3 Pages

According to the English dictionary a ‘reference group’ refers to a group with which an individual identifies and whose values the individual accepts as guiding principles. Reference groups are used in order to calculate and regulate the features of an individual or other group's characteristics and sociological attributes. Reference groups provide the criterion and differentiation needed for comparison and interpretation of group and personal characteristics. Robert K. Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who engage the social role to which the individual desires. ‘Reference groups are groups that people refer to when evaluating their [own] qualities, circumstances, attitudes, values …show more content…

The theory states that social structures may pressure civilians to commit crimes . Strain may be structural, which refers to the actions at the societal level that filter down and influence how the individual identifies their needs. Strain may also be individual, which refers to the distress and pains experienced by an individual as they explore ways to satisfy individual needs. These types of strain can signify social structures within society that then cause individuals to become criminals. Merton proposed a typology for deviant behavior that showed the possible distinctions between societal goals and the means available to achieve these goals. Merton’s typology is interesting because people often turn to deviance in the hunt for socially accepted values and goals. According to social strain theory, social values lead to deviance in two ways. An individual can reject social values and thus become deviant, or and individual can welcome social values but acquire these using deviant means. Merton’s theory of social strain has faced many critics who have acknowledged that there is a broad amount of crime and deviant behavior that is “non-utilitarian, malicious, and negativistic” (O’Grady, 2011), which highlights that not all crimes are understandable using Merton’s theory. For example, vandalism cannot be explained by a need to achieve a social

Show More
Related
400 Words | 2 Pages

The strain theory implies that crime may occur because of the stress or frustration placed on people when

Read More
1440 Words | 6 Pages

Agnew’s General Strain Theory in There Are No Children Here Introduction Throughout this semester, we have covered various criminological theories along with their strengths and limitations. These theoretical perspectives provide possible explanations to why individuals commit crimes. In addition to, these theories are indirectly woven within cultural objects such as song lyrics, movies, books, and television.

Read More
1206 Words | 5 Pages

The strain theory is relatively close to the social disorganization theory, regarding poverty rates, and unemployment rates within

Read More
1890 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More
1048 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

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).

Read More
1090 Words | 5 Pages

However, in the book, Criminology the authors have stated, “…Strain theory states that social structures within society may pressure citizens to commit crime” (Adler, G.M., & Laufer W, 2010, p.105). With the increasing stress, the child needs diapers and the parent has no money and enters Walmart, decides to steal a box of diapers, and is caught in the parking lot. The conflict theorist

Read More
565 Words | 3 Pages

Strain theory is a crime theory that was developed by Robert Merton, an American sociologist. According to Robert, strain can be defined as the discrepancies that result from the goals that are culturally defined in reference to the means that are institutionalized and available to meet the set goals. As proposed by Merton, there exists a typological deviance that is based on two criteria; an individual’s belief in how the goals should be attained and an individual’s adherence or motivation to cultural goals. According to the theory, certain stressors or strains are responsible in increasing the likelihood of crime activities around the world.

Read More
1894 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More
442 Words | 2 Pages

The government and American people say, that voting is a privilege, honor and everyone should patriate, if this is true why was that right so long to be establish. The ability to vote has hindered our liberty and equality for numerous years for women and African -Americans. The Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 gave the freedom for African-Americans to vote (Ginsberg, B., 2013); however, many feared of intimidation and retaliation. Finally, 95 years following the Fifteenth Amendment African-Americans was ensured their right to vote due to the Voting Right Act of 1965 (Ginsberg, B., 2013). It was not until the Nineteenth Amendment that was created and passed in the 1920’s that allow American women to vote (Ginsbert, B., 2013).

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

There are many theories that suggest that crime is constructed socially, or is a product of the society in which the crime is committed. One such theory, proposed by Robert Merton, is known as strain theory. While strain theory is a useful model for explaining how societal values can drive people to commit crimes, it has several flaws and does not focus on how laws are made and how this contributes to the formation of crime. While Merton suggests that laws are created from consensus within a society, it will be argued that strain theory can also support the idea that laws are a “product of conflict” (Hagan 5). Strain theory is founded on the idea that the goals of a society and the accepted means of achieving said goal causes strain that can

Read More
2124 Words | 9 Pages

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.

Read More
1840 Words | 8 Pages

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)

Read More
761 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
1877 Words | 8 Pages

As far as crime is concerned, it is defined by the law. Deviance is unexpected behaviour, but not exactly considered criminal. Many consider crime as a social problem – a problem as defined by society, such as homelessness, drug abuse, etc. Others would say crime is a sociological problem – something defined as a problem by sociologists and should be dealt with accordingly by sociologists. This essay attempts to discover the boundaries between these two and ultimately come to an appropriate conclusion.

Read More

More about Robert Merton Typology Of Deviant Behavior

Related Topics

Open Document