Dr. Merton expanded on the work of French sociologist Émile Durkheim on anomie with his theory on deviance and social strain. Robert K Merton argued that a society may be set up in a way that promotes too much deviance. He believed that when socially accepted goals and social norms place pressure on individual to conform, they force the person to opt to work within the societally defined structure or be a member of deviant social group in attempt to achieve those goals. Merton termed this theory strain theory. Merton believed that the societies do not provide adequate means of achieving cultural goals. Taking the case of United States, to achieve the American Dream, the American society would need to provide access to education and employment. When the society do not do well enough individuals are faced with a gap between ‘what ought to be’ and ‘what is.’ Based on strain theory, Dr. Merton defined five types of deviance: • Conformity: When the person or group accepts cultural goals and the means of attaining them. • Innovation: This involves accepting the goals of a culture but the rejecting the traditional and/or legitimate means of attaining those goals. • Ritualism: the person or group reject cultural goals but accept the traditional and/or legitimate means to obtain cultural goals. • Retreatism: When a person or group rejects both the cultural goals and the traditional means of achieving those goals • Rebellion: Is when the person or group rejects both the cultural