{"id":12466,"date":"2021-07-27T11:14:21","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T05:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=12466"},"modified":"2025-08-01T10:44:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T05:14:33","slug":"merton-strain-theory-of-deviance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/merton-strain-theory-of-deviance\/","title":{"rendered":"Merton Strain Theory of Deviance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >What's Inside this Blog!<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/merton-strain-theory-of-deviance\/#Merton_Strain_Theory_of_Deviance\" title=\"Merton Strain Theory of Deviance\">Merton Strain Theory of Deviance<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/merton-strain-theory-of-deviance\/#Relevance_Sociology_Paper_I_Sociological_thinkers_RK_Merton_Deviance\" title=\"Relevance: Sociology: Paper I: Sociological thinkers: R.K Merton: Deviance\">Relevance: Sociology: Paper I: Sociological thinkers: R.K Merton: Deviance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/merton-strain-theory-of-deviance\/#Introduction\" title=\"Introduction\">Introduction<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/merton-strain-theory-of-deviance\/#Merton_Strain_Theory\" title=\"Merton Strain Theory\">Merton Strain Theory<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/merton-strain-theory-of-deviance\/#Criticisms_of_Strain_Theory\" title=\"Criticisms of Strain Theory\">Criticisms of Strain Theory<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/merton-strain-theory-of-deviance\/#Relevance_of_Strain_Theory\" title=\"Relevance of Strain Theory\">Relevance of Strain Theory<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Merton_Strain_Theory_of_Deviance\"><\/span>Merton Strain Theory of Deviance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Relevance_Sociology_Paper_I_Sociological_thinkers_RK_Merton_Deviance\"><\/span><span style=\"background-color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Relevance: Sociology: Paper I: Sociological thinkers: R.K Merton: Deviance<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Introduction\"><\/span><span style=\"background-color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Argues that crime is a result of people being socialised into expecting success but not achieving this success due to limited opportunities.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Merton_Strain_Theory\"><\/span><span style=\"background-color: #ffff00;\">Merton Strain Theory<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Strain Theory argues that crime occurs when there aren\u2019t enough legitimate opportunities for people to achieve the normal success goals of a society. In such a situation there is a \u2018strain\u2019 between the goals and the means to achieve those goals, and some people turn to crime in order to achieve success.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Strain Theory was first developed by Robert Merton in the 1940s to explain the rising crime rates experienced in the USA at that time. Strain theory has become popular with Contemporary sociologists.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sociologylegacy.pbworks.com\/f\/1461637946\/image1%20%281%29.JPG\" alt=\"The CSN Sociology Student Legacy Wiki [licensed for non-commercial use only] \/ Robert King Merton\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Merton developed the concept of <strong>\u2018anomie\u2019<\/strong> to describe this imbalance between cultural goals and institutionalised means. He argued that such an imbalanced society produces anomie \u2013 there is a strain or tension between the goals and means which produce unsatisfied aspirations.<\/p>\n<p>Merton argued that when individuals are faced with a gap between their goals (usually finances\/money related) and their current status, strain occurs. When faced with strain, people have five ways to adapt:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Conformity:<\/strong>pursing cultural goals through socially approved means.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Innovation:<\/strong>using socially unapproved or unconventional means to obtain culturally approved goals. Example: dealing drugs or stealing to achieve financial security.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ritualism:<\/strong>using the same socially approved means to achieve less elusive goals (more modest and humble).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Retreatism:\u00a0<\/strong>to reject both the cultural goals and the means to obtain it, then find a way to escape it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rebellion:<\/strong>to reject the cultural goals and means, then work to replace them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Criticisms_of_Strain_Theory\"><\/span><span style=\"background-color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Criticisms of Strain Theory<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Firstly,\u00a0 not all working class individuals turn to crime, and so we need something else to explain why some of them do and some of them do not. Subcultural theorists argued that the role of working class subcultures plugs this gap in the explanation \u2013 deviant subcultures provide rewards for individuals who commit crime.<\/li>\n<li>Secondly, Merton\u2019s reliance on official statistics means he over-estimates the extent of working class crime and underestimates the extent of middle class, or white collar crime.<\/li>\n<li>Thirdly, Strain theory only really explains economic crime, it doesn\u2019t really explain violent crime.<\/li>\n<li>Marxists point out that lack of equality of opportunity is at the heart of the Capitalist system. (Elites make the system work for them, which disadvantages the lower classes).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Relevance_of_Strain_Theory\"><\/span><span style=\"background-color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Relevance of Strain Theory<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Merton\u2019s strain theory is an important contribution to the study of crime and deviance \u2013 in the 1940s it helped to explain why crime continued to exist in countries, such as America, which were experiencing increasing economic growth and wealth.<\/p>\n<p>Baumer and Gustafson (2007) analysed official data sets in the USA and found that instrumental crime rates were higher in areas where there was a \u2018high commitment to money success\u2019 alongside a \u2018weak commitment to legitimate means\u2019..<\/p>\n<p>It is possible to apply Merton\u2019s theory of anomie to explain White Collar Crime \u2013 white collar criminals (those who commit fraud at work, for example) might be those who are committed to achieving material success, but have had their opportunities for promotion blocked by lack of opportunities \u2013 possible through class, gender or ethnic bias, or possible just by the simple fact that the higher up the career ladder you go, the more competition for promotion there is.<\/p>\n<p>The (2009) applies Merton\u2019s strain theory to explain rising crime rates during a period of economic growth in Malaysia, suggesting we can apply this theory to developing countries and that a \u2018general theory of crime\u2019 may thus be possible.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Merton Strain Theory of Deviance Relevance: Sociology: Paper I: Sociological thinkers: R.K Merton: Deviance Introduction Argues that crime is a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1033,114,1030,1029,1028,1032,1026,115,1034,1027,1031],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-optional-sociology","category-sociology-optional","category-sociology-civils","category-sociology-ias","category-sociology-mains","category-sociology-mains-ias","category-sociology-optional-sociology-optional","category-sociology-optional-paper-i","category-sociology-scoring-optional","category-sociology-upsc","category-sociology-upsc-mains"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12466"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31618,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12466\/revisions\/31618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}