People have always sought to discover what causes crime. Ever since the appearance of philosophy there have existed theories of what can push human beings to commit criminal acts. It was not until the appearance of sociology as a science that people have began to study crime scientifically and to design complex theories as to what may cause this behavior. Often times socio-economic status is quoted as a potential reason for crime. There are several major theories of crime but strain theory is one of the most commonly used for explaining crime with the help of a socio-economic element. There are several strain theories but the most important are Robert K. Merton’s original strain theory and Robert Agnew’s general strain theory.
Strain theory …show more content…
Merton’s strain theory. Merton rejected Durkheim’s claims that strain resulted from a breakdown in societal structure, and actually theorized that present societies are stable. Instead Merton focused on the modern cultural goals in relation to the institutional means of achieving those goals. He states that the most important goal in society is to achieve wealth. In order to achieve this goal society created several institutionalized means or rules. Merton says that the problem arises when the need to achieve a goal overshadows the importance of using the institutionalized means or rules. Crime is a result of individuals being more interested in achieving the cultural goal – wealth, than in respecting the laws (Merton, 672). Merton places some of the blame on society, stating that societies place high emphasis on wealth and low emphasis on the rules by which wealth should be achieved. In his view the social class most affected by the inability to use societal norms to achieve goals is the lower class. Ever since 1938, when he first published his theory, sociologists and scholars have used Merton’s strain theory to explain crime as it relates to lower socio-economic classes and other types of minority …show more content…
There have been several attempts to modify strain theory in order to generalize it and the most important of these modern strain theories is Robert Agnew’s general strain theory. Agnew argues that emotions not goals play an important part in an individual’s decision making process. He states that negative relationships with other individuals produce negative emotions such as anger, and hatred. The strain or frustration resulting from these emotions leads to crime (Agnew, 48). This theory is not a psychological attempt to define crime, rather it is an attempt to better understand strain and how the though process behind crime
Strain theory …show more content…
Merton’s strain theory. Merton rejected Durkheim’s claims that strain resulted from a breakdown in societal structure, and actually theorized that present societies are stable. Instead Merton focused on the modern cultural goals in relation to the institutional means of achieving those goals. He states that the most important goal in society is to achieve wealth. In order to achieve this goal society created several institutionalized means or rules. Merton says that the problem arises when the need to achieve a goal overshadows the importance of using the institutionalized means or rules. Crime is a result of individuals being more interested in achieving the cultural goal – wealth, than in respecting the laws (Merton, 672). Merton places some of the blame on society, stating that societies place high emphasis on wealth and low emphasis on the rules by which wealth should be achieved. In his view the social class most affected by the inability to use societal norms to achieve goals is the lower class. Ever since 1938, when he first published his theory, sociologists and scholars have used Merton’s strain theory to explain crime as it relates to lower socio-economic classes and other types of minority …show more content…
There have been several attempts to modify strain theory in order to generalize it and the most important of these modern strain theories is Robert Agnew’s general strain theory. Agnew argues that emotions not goals play an important part in an individual’s decision making process. He states that negative relationships with other individuals produce negative emotions such as anger, and hatred. The strain or frustration resulting from these emotions leads to crime (Agnew, 48). This theory is not a psychological attempt to define crime, rather it is an attempt to better understand strain and how the though process behind crime