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Social Strain Theory: The Three Main Causes Of Crime

827 Words4 Pages

Social structure theories emphasize poverty, lack of education, absence of marketable skills, and subcultural values as fundamental causes of crime. Three subtypes of social structure theories can be identified: social disorganization theory, strain theory, and culture conflict theory. Social disorganization theory encompasses the notion of social pathology, which sees society as a kind of organism and crime and deviance as a kind of disease or social pathology.
Theories of social disorganization are often associated with the perspective of social ecology and with the Chicago School of criminology, which developed during the 1920s and 1930s. Strain theory points to a lack of fit between socially approved success goals and the availability …show more content…

Cultural deviance theories hold that a unique value system develops in lower class areas.
Lower-class values approve of behaviors such as being tough, never showing fear, and defying authority. A recent book by Todd Clear (Imprisoning Communities, Oxford University Press
2007) offers new evidence that over the years the tough-on-crime stance has actually contributed to fuel crime and second offenses. So in the long run the effect of imprisonment on crime is not that great. After all, what do you expect people to learn in prison? It’s certainly not by stuffing them into overcrowded cell blocks that criminals will learn about social values or the virtues of universal love. The early study of social structures has informed the study of institutions, culture and agency, social interaction, and history. Alexis de Tocqueville was apparently the first to use the term social structure; later, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, Ferdinand Tönnies, and

Émile Durkheim all contributed to structural concepts in sociology. Weber investigated and analyzed the institutions of modern society: market, bureaucracy (private enterprise and public administration), and politics (e.g. democracy).
One of the earliest and most comprehensive accounts of social structure was provided by

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The general strain theory of crime, which was developed by criminologist Robert Agnew, would be best to explain this type of offense. Most stressors in daily life can be seen as easily solvable with money. Rather than working for financial gain, some people find it easier to commit crimes because it is a faster way to get what they want. This encompasses the reason for counterfeiting money because it involves the 3 main ingredients for the strain theory. The first aspect is the inability to achieve positively valued goals.

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Exactly how culture impacts people depends on the environment of the culture as it can create deviant behavior. This theory is supported by Elijah Andersons’ Code of the Streets as, according to Anderson (2000), he indicates that crime is the result of varying cultural influences on the people within the community, specifically urban communities (p. 11). What better way to depict the effects of culture on a community than by comparing it to the community of Crenshaw? Crenshaw is filled with deviant behavior and this behavior has caused the people within the community to acclimate to it. Not only is the community filled with immoral behavior, but it is an area that is filled with struggling ethnic minorities.

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Criminal and conflict gang whose primarily intent of crimes for tangible gains. Social structure theorists consider that the main components to illegal behavior are the ascendancy of social and economic influences that are distinguished in rundown communities where the population is predominantly lower-class citizens (Siegel, 2010). This following theory goes into helping us comprehend ways the human behavior, is the result of physical

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To expand my research to attain the goal of understanding specification of both explanations, The southern subculture of violence theory blames higher crime rates in the South on “cultural values that evolved from that region’s unique history” (Ousey, 2000:268). All cultural explanations are based on the social learning approach, which holds that criminality is learned through intimate interactions with others. Another example is that capital punishment is highest in the South. The economic deprivation explanation to differences of crime rates within regions of the country is synonymous with strain theories.

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There are many differences between sociological theories, psychological theories, and theological theories of criminology. When comparing these theories, we are able to recognize how they work together in describing crime. However, these theories have more differences than they do similarities. Sociological theories take the time to explain the influences of society on criminal behavior. Psychological theories discuss the individual themselves, and how their personalities, IQ, or way of thinking influences criminal behavior.

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1118 Words | 5 Pages

Two of the most important concepts are the Strain theory by Robert K. Merton and General Strain theory by Robert Agnew. Strain theory describes that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goes such as the American dream. Though they lack the means to have the American dream, which leads to strain, but might lead to the individuals to commit crimes. On the other hand, Robert Agnew’s General theory describes as seeing crime as a coping mechanism to help people deal with socioemotional problems that are generated by negative social relations. Each member of society has similar goals and aspirations.

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General Strain Theory In Crime

965 Words | 4 Pages

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