Strain Theory In Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can follows the young con artist called Frank William Abagnale Jr., as he escapes the misery of his parents’ divorce. From being a pilot to a lawyer to a doctor, Frank did this all before he was even 19, employing the tactics that he learned from his father. Frank is continually pursued by an FBI agent called Carl Handratty. Frank is also picked on at his new school for dressing up, which leads him to his first impersonation: a substitute teacher.
When his parents are informed, his father is seemingly proud. Soon after the occurrence, frank has the unfortunate experience of uncovering an affair that his mother is having with his dad’s friend. Frank then learns that his mother wants him to keep it a secret from his father, which she tries to do by paying him off. Frank then finds out that his parents are …show more content…
Frank Abagnale Jr.’s, crimes relate to this class because it shows how white collar crimes are often seen as not being particularly harmful to anyone involved, even though they completely rob businesses of their money. The idea that Frank Abagnale learned how to commit various acts of fraud from his father, ties into the Social Learning Theories. Strain Theory also has the potential to be tied to Frank’s circumstances because the argument could be made that the divorce of his parents caused Frank to try and find alternative ways of being successful. Where at the beginning of the movie was the idea of getting away from the stress of trying to choose one parent over the other after having his financial status taken away, and at the end of the movie Frank’s forgeries seem to be done out of more self- preservation. If anything, Catch Me If You Can, shows how far charming and cunning individuals can get in our society because of the inherent trust many of us put in absolute strangers. After all, the pinstripes are all that we