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Strain Theory: An Explanation Of Criminal Behavior

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A person’s behaviour becomes deviant through the process of social construction, some behaviours considered deviant or criminal in one society may be honourable in another society. The social response towards these behaviours determine the legal status of the behaviour, changes to the legal status are carried out and changed by social policies. (oxfordbibliographies.com, 2016) Sociologists believe that crime is culturally constructed as policies and laws such as smoking in cars around infants has only recently been considered as a deviant behaviour.
One explanation of crime is based around the functionalist ideologies. Functionalists such as Durkheim (1947) argue that crime is essential for society to function properly, that it is a normal …show more content…

He claims that status frustration is a factor to the increase in criminal behaviour. The working-class males want to achieve the same success that is valued by society but lack of education and opportunity stops this from happening. Although unlike Strain theory, Cohen claims the working-class males turn to the values and norms of a delinquent subculture such as a gang, as they can achieve success easier. The subcultures place high value on petty criminal acts such as vandalism and theft as these acts help the individuals to gain respect. Since the crimes reward behaviour with more respect than financial gain, it explains why people commit non-utilitarian crimes. (Burke, …show more content…

The subcultural approach can be criticised as it assumes delinquency is socialised into the proletariat. In contrast, this approach gives insight into non-utilitarian crimes such as vandalism. Cohen also explains what functionalist Merton misses about group based crime. Another criticism could be that official crime statistics do not cover unreported crimes so this means that subculturalists base their theories on unrepresentative samples.
The Marxist approach believes that crime reflects the inequalities within society. Like functionalism, they believe that crime is unavoidable but believe that it will only be resolved when capitalism is overthrown. Marxists believe that the problems with criminal behaviour lies with the bourgeoisie as they are the ones who create the laws, and these laws only benefit them. (Bown et al,

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In F. T. Cullen, J. P. Wright & K. R. Blevins (Eds.), Taking stock: The status of criminological theory, advances in criminological theory (Vol. 15, pp. 251–273). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Kramer, R. C. (1985). Defining the concept of crime: A humanistic perspective. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 12(September), 469–487.

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Within the past couple of decades, criminologists have developed different criminological theories that apply to the social behaviors and decisions of criminals. One of the earliest theories developed regarding criminality is the rational choice theory, in which describes the rationalization of determining if the rewards from committing the crime outweigh the consequences. In Scarver’s case, his decision to engage in criminal activities outweighed the potential consequences, or the other alternatives if he did not engage in such criminal activities. In addition to the rational choice theory, Scarver’s criminality can be related to the social disorganization theory, which describes the influence of one’s social and physical environment on one’s decision to commit a crime. Lastly, the strain theory can be related to Scarver’s criminality as well, as it is used to describe an individual who lacks the means to obtain such goals, and aspirations, so therefore, he or she engages in criminal activities to acquire the goals.

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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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Introduction Jennifer Ebarhardt who, through her collaboration with different experts in various fields such as law, criminology, novel studies that further law enforcements and judges as well as criminology discover in her studies found out that there is racial bias in today’s policing and sentencing of criminals such that black color is stereotype as group of people who are associated with violence and therefore they mostly received death sentence especially when their victims are whites and therefore they are blacks who are arrested. These behaviors can be best explains using the following theories: General Strain Theory According to this theory, people are involved in crimes because they are not in a position to achieve their goals making them to be frustrated and has the following sources: A person aspiring to become wealth and famous but these aspirations are impossible making them to engage in vandalism or physical attacks which are antisocial forms of behaviors, a person may experience strains due to removal of highly valued stimuli such as migration to new residence will make him/her to get involved in criminal activities in efforts to revenge the loss of highly valued stimuli. Black American youths are unable to meet making them to develop frustration and delinquency.

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It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays a significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach,

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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

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Deviance and crime is a common characteristic of Canadian society. Deviance is defined as: “recognized violation of cultural norms” (2013, pg.465). While crime is defined as: “recognized violation of society’s formally enacted criminal law” (2013, pg.464). There are some universal similarities about what we as humans consider morally deviant, still, what is regarded as deviant or criminal behavior in Canada may not resonate with other societies. Some behavior “can fall right in between deviant and criminal” (Healy, 2012).

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Structural functionalism argue that deviant behaviour plays an active constructive role in society by ultimately helping to cohere different populations within a society. The possible solution to social deviance is to carry out social reforms that will have an impact on the social condition that cause crime in the first place. Police need law enforcement procedures that would enable them to catch serious criminals. Many judicial reforms could be carried out that would make the courts more effective. To control criminal deviance, government should guarantee equal opportunity to all individuals increase legitimate opportunities for advance and obtained a good wealth in area when these not exist.

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It is impossible to pinpoint one reason why people partake in deviant behavior. While a person’s own pathology may have some effect on whether a person will commit crime, I think that most acts of deviance are the result of their social environment. Different people react in their own way to different opportunities handed to them. Whether these responses to their environment are either “deviant” or “criminal” is determined by the society they are a part of. While Emile Durkheim discusses the effect of anomie on mental states, Robert K. Merton elaborates on the concept of anomie created by a society where success is based on material goods.

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2.0 The ideas about definition about deviance and crime change over time. The definition of deviance and crime are deviate over time and places which influences by many factors such as economic, social and politic. This influence term of deviance of crime and deviance does not maintain in a fixed period. Krohn, Lizotte & Hall (2009) claim that time main idea for cross-national criminology due to society’s chronological development is fundamental for understanding current macro-level conditions and varieties across country.

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They seek to gain answers to what really happens on the streets, police stations, behind prison bars and courtrooms, They collect much of their information by analyzing data sets and statistical studies mainly on topics relating to drug use and homicide rates. Not only does it attempt to explain crimes within a societal background and the variations between our society, but this brings me to the three distinct theories as stated in the book on page 67, that attempt to explain why criminals behave in a certain

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Social Disorganization Theory Name Institutional Affiliation Crime in our societies is a widespread social phenomenon dating back centuries ago and ranges from low-level delinquencies to high-level offences. Chances are high that one would be involved in crime during their lifetime, either as a victim, or as an assailant. Nevertheless, what really motivates individuals to commit crime? Studies have shown that in different political, economic, and cultural backgrounds, crime occurs in diverse patterns making it a serious social problem. Hence, criminology and sociology experts have examined numerous aspects of crime in an attempt to elucidate why individuals commit crime, and cogently explain its social context.

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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.

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TERM PAPER TOPIC: CRIME FACTORS INTRODUCTION A crime is essentially an act forbidden by the law, and considered sufficiently grave to warrant providing penalties for its commission. It does not necessarily follow that such an act is either good or bad; punishment follows for the violation of the law and not necessarily for any moral contravention. Before 1968, most theories of crime were resulted from recommendations given by sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, and criminologists.

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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.

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