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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.
The strain theory implies that crime may occur because of the stress or frustration placed on people when
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.
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.
Socrates died yesterday at the age of 71 when he was executed because of his religious beliefs. He was known by many people in Greece and was well liked by some as well as hated amongst crowds of people. His views on politics turned many people against him including the Athenian government. Socrates was sentenced to death because he refused to recognize the gods and the government thought he sought to corrupt the youth by teaching them to ask questions to find the answers. The Socratic method is a form of discussion when people ask questions to stimulate thinking and discovering people’s ideas, and his thoughts got him in a lot of trouble.
Between the mid-late 1970s and the early 1980s, Dennis Nilsen began mass murdering young men in Great Britain that had at least 15 men through strangulation (Crime Investigation, 2014). In analyzing his life, many of contributions throughout his life could have influenced his criminal behaviour when committing his crimes. Many theories such as broken home hypothesis and schema therapy theory use psychological explanations that determine how the individual resulted into committing their crimes. With schema therapy theory, not only does it discuss the justification for criminal behaviour, but suggests how to reduce the relapse of criminal acts by identifying the cause or the trigger of the individual’s criminal behaviour (Vos et al., 2016). In Dennis Nilsen’s life, there are several indications such as the abandonment of his family members, the termination of a past relationship, and the reclusiveness from society that could have resulted
a. Deviance: Page 194, the violation of norms (or rules or expectations). This gang is a deviant group of people because they are breaking the rules of law. They extort money from business owner for protection. They are taking over large areas of entire cities and they are expecting non-gang membered people to follow their rules or face the consequences.
In comparing and contrasting classical theory and strain theory in light of their application to drug trafficking it is evident that both theories have the ability to explaining drug trafficking but strain theory is slightly more effective/useful as it provides a more tailored explanation to the crime. But in saying that, it should be noted that this crime problem fits nicely in line with strain theory’s approach to crime and thus this application should not dictate it’s superiority over classical theory overall in explaining CCB. For example, although strain theory explains drug trafficking well it would be ill-suited in explaining white-collar crime or instances where individuals commit a crime without experiencing any social strain as their
One of these people were Robert Agnew who thought that strain theory could be very important in explaining crime and deviance that happens but that it needed to be in a different context so that it was not tied to social class or cultural variables, but have it focus more on norms according to society. “In sum, we would expect certain strains to affect crime in all or most societies, while the effect of other strains may differ across societies. A general strain theory that explains differences in criminal offending will systematically list all of those strains that function as “extreme stressors,” as well as those societal factors that affect the magnitude of given strains, the interpretation of such strains (e.g., their perceived magnitude and injustice), and the likelihood of criminal coping”(Sigfusdottir & Kristjansson , 2012).The general strain theory have 3 categories of strains according to Agnew which are the inability to achieve positively valued goals ,the removal or the threat to remove positively valued stimuli and to present a threat to one with noxious or negatively valued stimuli. The inability to achieve positively valued goals are difference between the expectation influenced by factors such as social class
The sociology theory that I chose to explain the deviance of human trafficking is General Strain Theory. General Strain Theory is defined as, “positively valued stimuli are removed while an introduction of negative stimuli enters, challenging the inability to achieve goals. ”(Agnew 1992) Such negative relations will likely result in anger and frustration, which then prompts to acts of deviant behavior, such as physical violence, delinquency, or self-harming behavior. To support this theory, researchers argue that those who experience strain feel negative emotions and then are more likely to be subjected or reeled in by traffickers to “open” new opportunities and further engage into deviant behavior.
In this view, there are many different moralities, which compete to become law. In several ways, this theory seems to match strain theory better than the consensus theory. As discussed previously, strain theory suggests that when goals become impossible to achieve through accepted means (defined by laws) crime is likely to occur. But why do these means fall short? It could simply be a natural consequence of society, or it could be a result of lawmakers, who are generally rich and powerful, seeking to protect their wealth by limiting the upward mobility of the economically disadvantaged.
Being a difficult question and weighing the circumstances of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, it’s difficult to take a side of either theory, classical or neoclassical. But if I was to use the Constitution and Bill of Rights to enhance the neoclassical theory and methods of policing then I would have to side with the neoclassical theory. Assuming that criminal behavior is situationally dynamic and individually-determined then the theory of neoclassical is what I believe should happen. Deterring, reducing, and eliminating crime through strict practices, enhanced punishments, and an increase in security is what I would determine to be a more effective method of maintaining lower crime. In meaning that this would advocate for an increase
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.
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).
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.
