Merton's Strain Theory

In Merton's (1938) strain theory, the social structure explains the criminal tendency of criminals. Individuals adapt to social pressure in five different ways. It is most common to adapt to my need to obey cultural norms and means. The spread of such adaptation enabled society to function effectively. In contrast, adaptive IV is not the most common and leads to the rejection of cultural objectives and means. People who adopt this culture model are socially inappropriate and usually include psychiatrists, psychiatrists, chronic autistic patients, cards, chronic drinkers or drug addicts.

The second structural structuralist, Robert K. Merton, developed the strain theory. Merton believes that our culture emphasizes the accidental theory between limited opportunities to gain wealth and wealth, leading to (especially poor) theft, drug trafficking and other street crimes. Merton is a person who uses a means (selling medicine) that is not a type as an innovator of a culturally-recognized goal (economic safety). Compliance pursues these traditional goals through approval, such as going to university and finding a good job.

Robert Merton's strain theory comes from Emil Durheim's anomaly theory. This theory focuses on the impact of society on individuals. Merton believes that the individual's abilities to achieve the goal are not equal. This theory suggests that this can lead to crime and deviant behavior when individuals can not get the means to achieve them. His theory is divided into five elements as shown in the figure (Lotz, 2005, p. 127-131). This theory is contributing to crime as it focuses on how social pressure is putting pressure on people and the means to achieve it. This theory explains why the poor committed a crime. It shows that the poor do not have the means to achieve their goal (Cote, 2002, p. 125-130)

Durkheim (1895) suggested that Merton's theory has high expectations and can not be achieved by structural means, giving individual ideas that can not be achieved by strain generation. "Strain theory" by Robert Merton (1938) modifies Durchem's "anomalies" by referring to pressures exerted on individuals when the recognized norm is incompatible with reality. Symbolic interaction theory is more related to social control agencies, how they mark specific behaviors as anomalies, and the influence of these labels. Interactivists question the functionalist's hypothesis that society has agreement on what is a crime or a deviant. Their purpose is to find out why certain actions are marked as criminals or deviant in some cases and not marked in other cases.