Merton argues that deviant behaviour starts from the structure of society and because they are unable to gain something from socially approved goals by legitimate means. However, in an unequal society not all individuals have the same opportunity of realising these goals by approved means. This means they face a sense of strain and norm lessness, as the dominant rules about how to achieve success do not meet their required needs, therefore deviant behavior leads to unequal access to legitimate opportunities. Merton argues that there are different 'modes of adaptation', or responses to situations, that range from conformity that most people to display, to one of four forms of deviance, which are Innovation, Ritualism, Retreatism and Rebellion. The first form of deviance, is the Innovation mode of
In this essay we will assess the usefulness of these functionalist theories, and look at how it helps us explain crime. One functionalist who tried to explain crime is Merton and his strain theory, the strain theory argues that people engage in the deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means. Merton explanation combines 2 elements; structural factors- society’s unequal opportunity structure, cultural factors- strong emphasis to achieve goals and weak emphasis on using legit means. Merton uses the strain theory to explain some patterns of crime in society, he argues a person’s positioning in society affects the way they adapt or respond to the strain to anomie. Merton gives 5 different types of adaption; Conformity- the individual accepts socially acceptable goal and achieves it through legitimate means, Innovation- Individual accepts the role of success and wealth but uses illegitimate means to achieve them, Ritualism- Individual give up on legitimate goals but still follow strictly to the rules, Retreatism- Individuals reject legitimate goals and means of achieving them e.g drug addicts, the final type is Rebellion- Individuals reject existing goals and means but replace them with new one in desire to bring about revolutionary change.
Assess the usefulness of subcultural theories in understanding crime and deviance Point | Explain | Research/Evidence | Challenge/Link | Intro: Subcultural strain theories see deviance as the product of a delinquent subculture w/different values from those of mainstream society | Delinquency subcultures are seen as a way for groups (l/w) to gain status they cannot achieve legitimately | They seek to build on and criticise Merton’s theory | However, they have been criticised for over focusing on lower class members and assuming everyone has the same goals | Albert Cohen criticises Merton who sees deviance as an individual response to strain – ignoring the fact much deviance is committed in or by groups – especially among the young | Hence why Cohen focuses on deviance among working-class boys. He argues they face anomie in M/C dominated school system | Status frustration: Suffer - Cultural deprivation + lack of skills to achieve in M/C world = bottom of status hierarchy Lack of status = ‘frustration’ Resolution = rejecting M/C values & joining/forming a subculture of others in same position = alternative status hierarchy – gain status through deviant behaviour (joy riding, vandalising, fighting and substance abuse) | Strength: Cohen offers an explanation of non-utilitarian deviance amongst W/C – unlike Merton (innovation – crime w/profit motive)Cohen ‘s ideas of status frustration and alternative status hierarchy help to explain non-economic delinquency such as vandalism, fighting and truancy Weakness: like Merton, Cohen assumes that W/C boys start off sharing M/C success goals – only to reject these when they fail. He ignores the possibility – they didn’t share these goals in the first place & so never saw themselves as failures | Like Cohen, Cloward & Ohlin take Merton’s ideas as their start point. They agree that W/C youths are
The youth involved in gangs have been introduced to the racially discriminated environment because the hatred of other towns and the people that live there, not only because they are enemies but because of their craving of being superior, being better than another race. By being discriminated people feel sad, mad, or sometimes they might not care at all depending on their educational status. “Welcome back nigger” comments like these don’t bother uneducated gang members because the careless mind, focusing only on anything gang related which is what their life revolves. “In my younger years that wouldn’t have bothered me much. But with my new direction and expanded cautiousness, it struck me hard.” Education is the answer to a better understanding of things and a better
From the language and personalised tone he used in his writing, Rogers may be targeting an audience of young nerds, who are unsure of being proud of themselves. Rogers claims that nerds should embrace their nerdiness and not conform to societal stereotypes of them because of the success they will gain later in their lives. In paragraph 1, he dismisses society’s perceptions of nerds as “narrow-minded and thoughtless” and defines two key features of nerdiness as the “obsession with mastering every insane detail of their interest” and the “inability to understand… societal norms”, which nerds should embrace. He moves on to attributes that “virtually every modern blessing… originated with a nerd”, providing successful examples of nerds like Einstein and Newton in paragraph 3. Stating too their successes are acknowledged by society, who perceives them as “geniuses”, albeit only later in life.
That usually means reverting to street crimes. These crimes include burglary, vandalism, and selling drugs. Those individuals feel that street crime is the only way they will obtain material success. Merton's theory may stand true when comparing social status with street crime; however, his theory becomes weak when the crimes include white-collar and business crimes. Therefore, Merton's theory has become an “anomie theory”.
Critically Analyse the Meaning of Official Statistics, Applying this Explanation to the Patterns of Crime by Factors such as Class, Race and Gender and Consider how the Media may Amplify such Deviancy A lthough crime is deviant not all deviance is criminal, for example spitting in public or swearing at a shop assistant are deviant acts, meaning that they go against social norms, but are not criminal. On the other hand, crime is also deviant, but is punishable by the laws of the land. In this way, there is social order and social control, this creates a consensus of what is acceptable behaviour. Since 1857 police crime figures have been recorded and published annually, and until fairly recently they were considered to be accurate, but not all crime is reported to the police and the police can only publish figures of the crimes that have been reported. Despite this, Positivists see official crime statistics as a reliable indicator of crime patterns.
Identify and explain two reasons for the emergence of deviant subcultures (12 marks) Subcultural Theorists argue Deviance is the result of individuals conforming to the values and norms of a social group to which they belong, if you belong to a social group whose VALUES and norms differ from those of the main society then you will become deviant. Albert Cohen said lower-working-class boys want to achieve the success SPELL OUT WEALTH as Success which is appreciated by mainstream culture. Due to educational failure and the dead-end jobs that result from this they have little chance of achieving these goals, this results in status frustration due to deprivation Ao1. THIS IS HOW SUCCESS IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY IS MEASURED ACCORDING TO COHEN This could also relate to the ‘middle class measuring rods’ WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS – AMBITION, CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF LEISURE ACTIVITIES, DEFERERED GRATIFICATION which Cohen used to describe a school system that favoured middle class boys over lower class boys as these lower class boys were unable to meet standards like the middle class did, therefore leading to a STATUS FRUSTRATION strain AO1. The lower class boys are at the bottom of the social structure and have little chance of gaining a higher status in society.
CULTURAL DEPRIVATION THEORY The cultural deprivation theory, basically states that the culture of the working class people, regardless of race, gender, and ethnicity, is inherently deficient and different from the middle class. For this reason, the working class will always remain poor. Focus has been placed on this theory in terms of educational failure of the working class. Another assumption of this theory is that the educational structure is built on middle class values and since it is believed that the culture of the middle class is different, it would be extremely difficult for them to succeed. Also, because the teachers have middle class values as well, the cultural deprivation theorists believe that they will have a bias against the working class kids and therefore they will not be able to teach them properly since their values and cultures conflict.
As a result, they have no option to not work as they have a poor status in society and work under capitalism is poorly paid, alienating, unsatisfying and something workers have no control of. These two systems are the systems that Marx disagrees with and wanted to change as it is creating conflict between the two classes. He wanted the proletariat to recognise this exploitation and demand higher wages, better working conditions and for the whole capitalism to stop. Furthermore, the Marxist, Louis Althusser has a theory of the role of education as being an important ISA. The ideological state apparatus, which is one of the two elements, that Althusser believes in maintains the rule of the bourgeois by controlling people’s idea, values and beliefs.