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13 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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The American dream |
The belief Americans can achieve money success a large home and nuclear family through hard work and legitimate means |
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Legitimate means |
Legal work or methods |
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Illegitimate means |
Illegal methods or work |
Breaking bad, los pollos hermanos |
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Cultural goals |
The goals a culture wishes to achieve I.e the American dream |
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Merton 1938 |
Crime happens when there aren’t enough legitimate opportunities for individuals to aches the success goals of society |
Strain theory sociologist and definition |
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Institutionalised means |
The acceptable way of achieving cultural goals |
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Conformity (adapting to strain) |
Continue trying to achieve through legitimate means by conforming to society’s norms and values |
I.e working hard for promotion |
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Innovation (adaptation to strain) |
Innovate own means to achieve goals often criminal |
I.e robbing a bank instead of working in one |
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Ritualism (adapting to strain) |
Continuing through the motions of life and giving up on cultural goals |
Going to work everyday but not actively working for a promotion |
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Retreatism (adapting to strain) |
Reject cultural goals and any means to achieve them, and so, dropping out of mainstream society |
Dropping out of work to be a drug addict |
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Rebellion (adapting to strain) |
Rejecting society’s goals and means of achieving them and so rebelling against society |
Dropping out of work to engage in terrorist activities (Omar in 4 lions, critical of western society and interventionism) |
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Criticism of strain theory |
. Too deterministic . Too much focus on individual response (Albert Cohen notes group crime exists) . Doesn’t explain other working class crime I.e vandalism , just utilitarian (money) crime . Doesn’t consider white collar crime and people who don’t experience strain .do we all have a consensus for means and goals |
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Positives of strain theory |
. Sociological alternative to biological and psychological explanations . Merton shows how criminall and deviant behaviour can arise from the same mainstream goals |
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