Strain theory

Scope of study

 Introduction
 Body of report
 Conclusion
 Reference
 Introduction

Strain theories state that certain strains or stressors

increase the likelihood of crime. These strains lead to
negative emotions, such as frustration and anger. These
emotions create pressure for corrective action, and
crime is one possible response. Crime may be used to
reduce or escape from strain, seek revenge against the
source of strain or related targets, or alleviate negative
emotions.
Body of report

Strain theories
 Strain theories see device as the result of a social structure that stresses
achievement but doesn’t provide adequate/legitimate means of
succeeding

Two basic fact

 Happiness is the result of realizing one’s expectations
 Society does not provide equal access to the means of reaching one’s goal
 Anomie theory – *Emile durheim (1858-1917)

Durkheim believed that society

 exerted a powerful force on individuals. People’s norms
, beliefs, and values
 make up a collective consciousness, or a shared way of understanding and
behaving in the world.

Durkheim, the collective consciousness was crucial in explaining

the existence of society
: it produces society and holds it together. At the same time, the
collective consciousness is produced by individuals through their
actions and interactions
Anomie theories – Durkheim
*Emile durheim (1858-1917)
*Suicide (1897)
*Anomie
Normlessness or inadequate regulation
*Occurs because of rapid social change
According to Durkheim, the collective consciousness is formed through social
interactions. In particular, Durkheim thought of the close-knit interactions between
families and small communities, groups of people who share a common religion
, who may eat together, work together, and spend leisure time together. Yet all
around him, Durkheim observed evidence of rapid social change
 and the withering away of these groups. He saw increasing population density and
population growth as key factors in the evolution of society
 and the advent of modernity. As the number of people in a given area increase, he
posited, so does the number of interactions, and the society
 becomes more complex. Population growth creates competition and incentives to
trade and further the division of labor
. But as people engage in more economic activity with neighbors or distant traders,
they begin to loosen the traditional bonds of family
, religion
, and moral solidarity that had previously ensured social integration. Durkheim
worried that modernity might signal the disintegration of society
.
Merton’s classic strain theory

Classic strain theory focuses on that type of strain

involving the inability to achieve monetary success or the
somewhat broader goal of middle-class status. Classic
strain theory fell into decline during the 1970s and 1980s,
partly because research appeared to challenge it. There
were several attempts to revise strain theory, most arguing
that crime may result from the inability to achieve a range
of goals not just monetary success or middle-class status.
 
Merton’s strain theory
*Merton took the idea of anomie and expanded it to strain theory
*merton (1938) argued that anomie was the disjuncture between
culturally accepted goals and means to achieve those goals
* American dream
*American society presents everyone with the goal of achieving
material success but limits access to the means for achieving those goals
* macro- and micro _level perspective
Merton : modes of adaptation
*merton (1938 ) outlined five modes of adaptation, or ways an
individual may resend to strain
* the choice of adaptation varies from individual
*the most common response is conformity
 Legitimate cultural means legitimate goals
( profession, education ) (American dream)

Conformist + +
Ritualist + -
Innovator - +
Retreatest - -
Rebel/revolutionary -+ -+
Robert Agnew : general strain theory (GST)

GST focuses on a broad range of strains, including the inability to achieve a variety
of goals, the loss of valued possessions, and negative treatment by others. GST
has been applied to a range of topics, including the explanation of gender,
race/ethnicity, age, community, and societal differences in crime rates. It has also
been applied to many types of crime and deviance, including corporate crime,
police deviance, bullying, suicide, terrorism, and eating disorders. Much evidence
suggests that the strains identified by GST increase the likelihood of crime,
although the predictions of GST about the types of people most likely to respond to
these strains with crime have received less support.
Agnew’s ( 1992) general strain theory
 Suggests that strains can arise from additional sources

 1. Failure to achieve positively valued goals

 2. Removal of positive stimuli
 3. Introduction of negative stimuli
 
 General strain theory
 Agnew’s ( 1992) general strain theory
 Micro-level theory ( applies to
individuals)
 Causal process

negative affect
Strain delinquency
(anger, depression, etc.)
Institutional anomie theory
 Messner and rosenfeld ( 1994)
 Extend merton’s macro-level strain theory
 Crime is attributed cultural pressure or economic success
associated with the American dream
 Attempt to analyze how various institutions throughout
influence crime
 
*Priority on economic over non-economic institutions
*churches, schools, etc
Institutional anomie theory (IAT) contends that crime can be explained by an
examination of American society, particularly the exaggerated emphasis on
economic success inherent in American culture, which has created a “cheating
orientation” that spread structural institutions, including academia. Consistent with
its macrosocial perspective, previous tests of IAT have examined IAT variables at
the structural level only. The current study tests the robustness of IAT by
operationalizing IAT variables at the individual level and looking at a minor form of
deviance, student cheating. The author also examines the role statistical modeling
has in testing the theory at the microlevel. Undergraduates, 122 American born and
48 international, were surveyed about their cheating behaviors and adherence to
economic goal orientations. Results related to the hypothesis that American
students, relative to foreign-born students, will have an increased adherence to
economic goal orientations that increase cheating behaviors are presented, as are
suggestions for future studies
Conclusion

Strain theories are based on a simple commomsense idea.

When people treated badly they may become upset and engage in crime
Reference

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/
document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-
0005.xml
https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/
Introduction_to_Sociology/Book
%3A_Sociology_(Boundless)/01%3A_Sociology/
1.02%3A_The_History_of_Sociology/1.2F
%3A_Durkheim_and_Social_Integration
Thank you God Bless