Transcript Strain

Strain theories
Two kinds of “Strain”
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Anomie (Emile Durkheim): Society cannot regulate “natural” appetites
of individuals
– Rapid social change breaks down social controls
Strain (Merton) – Social change not required to explain some types of
crime
– Individual “appetites” originate in the culture
– Heavy emphasis on material wealth
– Social structure limits the ability of certain groups to satisfy this
appetite
– Result: pressure on certain persons to engage in deviant behavior
Imbalance between goals and means
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American culture is criminogenic
– Strong forces promote goal of material success
– Weak forces promote culturally accepted means
 Protestant work ethic
 Honesty
 Education
 Delayed gratification
Egalitarianism – everyone has an equal chance to gain wealth
– If you can’t it’s your own fault – perhaps you’re “lazy”
Strain and lower classes
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Lower classes may have fewer opportunities to gain wealth through
accepted means
– Limits imposed by social structure - not by talents or efforts
Severe strain on lower class persons
– Lack of socially acceptable “means” to achieve ends
– Excessive emphasis on the “ends” - to become wealthy
– Little reward for following institutionalized means
– Those who use deviant means are not punished
Overall social consequence of strain
– Merton - crime is a rational choice – a way to adapt to strain
 Higher crime rates in the lower classes due to restricted
opportunities
Individual responses to strain
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Conformity (accept goals and means)
– In stable society, most persons will keep trying even if they do not
succeed
Innovation (accept goals, seek out new means)
– Non-criminal adaptations – training, education
– Criminal adaptations – steal, deal drugs
Ritualism (reject goals, accept means)
– Achieve minimum success
Retreatism (reject goals and means)
– Drop out – vagrants
Rebellion (replace socially accepted values with new values)
– Political rebellion, spiritualism
Explaining gang delinquency - Cohen
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Mostly not caused by strain
– Non-utilitarian, malicious, negativistic (vandalism)
Goals are intangible
– Status and self-worth
Who?
– Youths without ascribed status (from a poor family)
– Youths who cannot gain achieved status (competition with others)
Cohen’s theory similar to Merton’s “rebellion”
– Form that “rebellion” takes is shaped by a group - not just by an
individual
Explaining gang delinquency –
Cloward and Ohlin
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Goals are both tangible (Merton) and intangible (Cohen)
Goal of serious delinquents: conspicuous consumption
– Fast cars, fancy clothes, “swell dames”
– Clashes with conventional values
Serious delinquents are looked down on:
– What they do not want (middle-class lifestyle)
– What they do want
If they lack licit and illicit opportunities to get what they want, may form
a violent or “conflict” gang to express their anger
Public policy adaptations of
strain theory
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Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act of 1961
– Improve education
– Create job opportunities
– Organize lower-class families
– Provide services to individuals, gangs, families
War on Poverty - Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
– Crime and poverty based on social structure
– Original intent to change social structure
– Implementation geared to change poor people
Criticizing strain theory - Kornhauser
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Strain is evenly spread through society
– Rich and poor always want more
– Economic gain not a cultural value - it is intrinsic
– Hard work (Protestant ethic) is a very weak value, easily overcome
by gain motive
– Criminals and delinquents not strained
 Have low aspirations (what they want) and low expectations
(what they expect to get)
Defending strain theory -- Bernard
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Strain not evenly spread through society
– Concentrated in lower classes
Delinquents do have a gap between expectations and aspirations
Strain is primarily structural – not cultural
– Illusion of street-corner men who generate “public fictions” to justify
themselves: “too much of a man for any woman”
– These excuses are misinterpreted as components of a “lower-class
lifestyle
Adaptations described by Merton are real
– Simple reactions to socially structured situations that individuals
cannot control or overcome
Meanings of strain -- Cullen
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Strain means two different things
– Characteristics of a society - doesn’t provide legitimate means to
achieve culturally valued ends
– Individual feelings of frustration, anxiety, depression that can flow
from above
Structural inequalities encourage deviance
– Unequal legitimate opportunities caused by social structure
Deviant response varies according to “structuring variables”
– Social/economic circumstances
– Technological advances
– Specific opportunities (e.g., Columbian drug cartel)
– Individual psychological responses
It’s the “feelings” that directly cause crime
Social structural inequality  frustration  crime
Individual strain -- Agnew
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Negative relationships & stressful life events
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Juveniles stressed by “noxious”, negative interpersonal
relationships
If home or school is the locus, may not be able to escape
Delinquency and drug use a way to cope or manage
the strain
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May provide “relief” from stresses
Societal strain -Messner and Rosenfeld
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Agree with Merton that high levels of crime explained by cultural pressures for
tangible success
BUT - expanding opportunities may cause more crime unless culture changes
– Newly “enabled” persons lose their excuse to stay poor
Economic goals override influence of social institutions
– Families, schools, politics – all are subservient to the economy
Recommendations
– Support families with child care and flexible work schedules
– Disentangle education from worker training
– Protect citizens from the marketplace with social safety nets
– Engage young people in community service
– Give greater social prominence to goals other than material success