Strain

Strain is defined as an overexertion or an excessive demand of resources. Strain is much like asking a student to read a book in the dark. The lack of light strains the eyes and confines the ability to read and comprehend the text. Much like lack of light may make it difficult for someone to read a book, lack of resources and opportunities makes it difficult for some individuals to achieve the goals of society. Individual juvenile strain theory is used to understand and predict criminal deviant…

Rehabilitation in Tears and Strains Rehabilitation is the act of restoring something to its original state, in exercise science this includes muscles, joints, ligaments, and bones. Exercise science is the study of human movement and how the body responds and adapts to physical activity, health, exercise, and sports. Often times people who are in need of this type of rehab are athletes, people who are constantly working out, and the elderly. Athletes being the most common who seek rehab…

Anomie and Strain Theory are two attempts of explaining why people commit deviant actions. These are important theories because it is important for individuals to anticipate behaviors to be able to interact with others. Anomie is a feeling of ‘normlessness’ and claim that society's rules are what cause people to commit deviant actions. Strain theory states that we are taught to follow traditional goals; like having a good job, getting married, and owning a home. These two theories can be used to…

General Strain Theory: Genius? Or Lazy Before one can began to understand General Strain Theory and it being significant or not, one must first understand its forefather, strain theory. A once widely accepted theory to explain deviance and criminality that began as early as the late 1800s and Emile Durkheim,, strain theory continued to receive support for decades receiving more and more input as time went along. In the 1970s and 1980s however, as a result of deviance research done in the 1960s,…

There are many weaknesses evident in both classical and strain theory that limit their effectiveness to explain the crime problem of drug trafficking. In regards to classical theory, it limits its ability to explain drug trafficking because it only focuses on the criminal act and not the offender. This is a weakness because it disregards any personal circumstances that can explain why they committed the crime that isn’t associated with rational choice or free will (e.g. severely needed the money…

Strain theory was constructed by using Durkheim’s ideas and was created by Robert Merton. Strain theory suggests that cultures dictate success goals for all citizens (Adler and Adler, 2016: 63). Yet, access to succeed is limited to just the middle and upper classes. This is the idea of rags to riches and everyone wants to be rich and live comfortable. The strain portion is those who are not in the middle to upper classes will not be able to achieve the higher quality of life because of lack of…

criminals. Theories like rational choice, strain theories, anomie theories, and learning theories offer up various explanations for why people do the crimes that they do. In Criminological Theory the authors Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox (2014) defined rational choice perspectives as the idea that human beings naturally are rational thinkers; they will make careful calculated decisions weighing both the risks and rewards, and…

adopted the idea of anomie to develop the strain theory. But Merton strain theory concept seems slightly different appraisal from the Durkheim where he argues that the culture creates deviance and disunity. This essay will be discussing and evaluating the work of Merton regarding the Strain and anomie theory which originally came from Durkheim theory of anomie. Furthermore, these theories has been critiqued and contemporary studies by Robert Agnew with ‘General Strain Theory’. History In…

their title. However, gaining power over another can be considered deviant based on how to power was gained. For example, rape and murder can be powerful on account that “Murder is the ultimate demonstration of control” (ABC News, 2004). Merton’s Strain Theory suggests that a certain level of deviance is needed within a group to properly function, however the group can allow an excess amount of deviance allowing the group to become dysfunctional and out of control. For example, if…

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…