Social Strain Theory Of Crime

At around 11pm on the 8th of September the police were called to a property in Kennedy Parade in Lalor Park with reports of a man threatening a woman with a knife. Once police arrived, they discovered the body of a 63-year-old woman in the front yard of the property. Upon further investigation the body of a 7-year-old boy was found in the neighbours’ front yard. Both had stab wounds and other injuries. A 35-year-old man was found nearby allegedly armed with a knife, he was the son of the woman and the paternal uncle of the boy. Later he was charged with two counts of murder and assault of police. It has been stated that the young boy’s two sisters as well as his female cousin witnessed the attack, police have said that “it was a very horrific …show more content…
Social Structure Theories proposes that a persons’ socioeconomic status (SES) effects their probability to be involved with criminals and possibly becoming one themselves. People with a low SES have a higher chance of committing crimes as they have no other means of reaching their social or financial goals. Within the social structure theory there are three more in depth theories which are social disorganisation, which says that poorer people commit crimes because they live in areas that have little or no social control. There is also the social strain theory which shows people who can’t succeed in their social or financial targets experience rage which leads them to criminal behaviour. Lastly there is the cultural deviance theory that suggests that a hierarchy establishes in lower SES areas. These areas support actions of defying authority, being tough as well as not showing …show more content…
Social process theory contains 3 key principles: firstly, there is the social learning theory which states that people learn how to commit crimes. It also suggests that a person learns criminal behaviour as much as they learn behaviour classified as the social norm; secondly there is social control theory that considers the failure of society to control criminal tendencies in people. It is also indicated that everyone has the ability to become a criminal but the is a connection to social norms with stop them from breaking the law; and finally there is the labelling theory which argues that a negative label leads to criminal careers. Generally negative labels originate from family or friends. Overall the social process theories have really swayed social policies for the