Messner and Rosenfeld drew from Merton’s theory to create institutional anomie theory. Institutional anomie theory seeks to explain America’s high crime and incarceration rates. Akers et al, (2017) stated that this theory argues that America’s social institutions look at money and success as equals. He list four values in which the “American Dream” causes people to believe that they must have these value in order to be successful (Akers et al. 2017). The four values are achievement orientation, individualism, universalism, and fetishism or money. These four value orientations are conducive to criminal behavior. Robert Agnew (2010) also revised and made his own version of general stain theory that consists of three key parts which are failure
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According to Agnew’s theory, this failed goal leads to the student becoming angry and frustrated and disappointed (Akers et al. 2017). The student is then notified that his parents are getting a divorce and instead of living with his mother and father, the student now only has one parent in his household. Lastly, the student is confronted by the school bully who picks on him and punches him in the arm. Agnew’s general stain theory states that when these stressful life events have occurred, the individual chooses to either deal with their problems through deviance or use coping skills. Not all people have healthy coping skills to deal with strain and they may result to deviant behavior to try to work through their emotions. There are certain strains that are more easily resolved with committing a crime. Several of these trains are being rejected by a parent, child abuse, negative school experiences, and chronic unemployment (Agnew, 2010). According to Agnew (2010), there are also several reasons why individuals decide not to engage in antisocial behaviors. The first reason is because of their emotional ties that they may have with family and friends, whom would be disappointed if they were caught engaging in delinquent behavior. The …show more content…
According to Akers et al. (2017) the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program has been used in the past to try to divert juveniles from joining gangs by teaching them the dangers of them. Another policy implication associated with anomie and strain theories are job skills training. One of the main arguments for both theories is that individuals lack opportunities which may lead them to offend. There has been a small amount of research for anomie and strain theories and the empirical validity for programs like GREAT have not shown to be significant in deterring juveniles from joining gangs. There has been a large amount of research on Agnew’s general strain theory. Agnew has indicated a number of prevention programs such as family and school intervention, programs for parents to learn how to better discipline their children, and programs that train juvenile’s to learn to cope with negative stimuli (Akers et al. 2017). Agnew (2010) suggest that the use of social support programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters can teach juveniles coping skills and also show the parents how to better support their child. With job training skills programs job corps, individuals are given skills which they can use when the opportunity comes. Other policy implications include family counseling, restorative justice programs, neighborhood
According to Agnew’s theory, this failed goal leads to the student becoming angry and frustrated and disappointed (Akers et al. 2017). The student is then notified that his parents are getting a divorce and instead of living with his mother and father, the student now only has one parent in his household. Lastly, the student is confronted by the school bully who picks on him and punches him in the arm. Agnew’s general stain theory states that when these stressful life events have occurred, the individual chooses to either deal with their problems through deviance or use coping skills. Not all people have healthy coping skills to deal with strain and they may result to deviant behavior to try to work through their emotions. There are certain strains that are more easily resolved with committing a crime. Several of these trains are being rejected by a parent, child abuse, negative school experiences, and chronic unemployment (Agnew, 2010). According to Agnew (2010), there are also several reasons why individuals decide not to engage in antisocial behaviors. The first reason is because of their emotional ties that they may have with family and friends, whom would be disappointed if they were caught engaging in delinquent behavior. The …show more content…
According to Akers et al. (2017) the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program has been used in the past to try to divert juveniles from joining gangs by teaching them the dangers of them. Another policy implication associated with anomie and strain theories are job skills training. One of the main arguments for both theories is that individuals lack opportunities which may lead them to offend. There has been a small amount of research for anomie and strain theories and the empirical validity for programs like GREAT have not shown to be significant in deterring juveniles from joining gangs. There has been a large amount of research on Agnew’s general strain theory. Agnew has indicated a number of prevention programs such as family and school intervention, programs for parents to learn how to better discipline their children, and programs that train juvenile’s to learn to cope with negative stimuli (Akers et al. 2017). Agnew (2010) suggest that the use of social support programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters can teach juveniles coping skills and also show the parents how to better support their child. With job training skills programs job corps, individuals are given skills which they can use when the opportunity comes. Other policy implications include family counseling, restorative justice programs, neighborhood