Strain Theory, by Robert Merton can be seen as something which forces an individual to work within the structure society has produced, or become members of a deviant subculture in an attempt to reach those goals. Merton proposed a typology of deviant behavior that showed the possible differences between cultural goals and the means to achieve these goals. Merton was proposing a typology of deviance based upon the following: an individual's drives or his devotion to cultural goals and a person's belief in how to attain his goals. He came up with 5 types of deviance.
• Conformity: cultural goals and how to attain those goals.
• Innovation: the acceptance of the goals of a culture but the rejection of the traditional and attaining those goals.
• Conformity: cultural goals and how to attain those goals.
• Innovation: the acceptance of the goals of a culture but the rejection of the traditional and attaining those goals.