criminal Justice
Merton’s theory – key definitions
- Monolithic society - a society where everyone has the same goals
- Cultural structure – our GOALS – what are these in the U.S. culture? Does everyone share the same goals?
- Social structure – the MEANS available to achieve the goals – access to good education, employment, hard work ethic
- Anomie – a societal response when means of achieving goals are not available to everyone in a society – a “sick” society (Durkheim) – crime then is a normal response to abnormal conditions (STRUCTURES ARE NOT INTEGRATED or do not match)
- Strain – An individual response to anomie – alienation, deprivation, hopelessness, individual choice is “constrained” by the social structure
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Assumptions
- We live in a monolithic society
- Structure of society provides the means of achieving these goals (ours is a capitalist structure)
- All have same goal of material success (agree?)
- All subscribe to the cultural norm of achieving goals through hard work at an acceptable occupation (do you agree with this?)
- All have access to means of achieving goals in a healthy society
- Unhealthy society creates crime and deviance
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Merton’s theory of strain
- When there is a dysjunction between cultural structure and social structure (goals and means) and certain groups of people are blocked from the means to achieve these goals, a collective response to this condition is anomie; an individual response is strain
- Strain results in adapting to an abnormal living environment
- There are five different adaptations
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Adaptations
- Conformity + +
- Innovation + - (criminal behavior, shoplifting, underprivileged deviance)
- Ritualism - + (Amish)
- Retreatism - - (alcoholic – homeless example)
- Rebellion +/- +/-* (terrorists, commune-types, Charles Manson family, “street culture”)
- * rejection of goals or means, replacement with new ones
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Questions:
- What policies would this theory advocate to reduce crime?
- Could this theory explain white collar/corporate crime?
- Does this theory explain why Martha Stewart engaged in criminal behavior?
- What about Michael Vick?
- Can this theory explain desistance (when a person stops engaging in criminal behavior)?
- Can this theory explain crime trends over time?
- Can this theory explain crimes of violence?
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Policies based on Merton
- Increase means of achieving goals
- Redistribute the wealth (reduce poverty)
- Programs that increase opportunities for legitimate employment, education (Johnson’s war on poverty)
- Put constraints on cultural goals – revisit the American dream and pursuit of “things” – what is the role of the media in generating a culture which is unrealistic for many to achieve?
- Japan as an example
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Flaws of this theory
- Doesn’t address why some individuals innovate and others rebel, etc. (Agnew’s theory comes in)
- Doesn’t explain WHY means of achieving goals are not available to everyone! What facilitates this? (discrimination, felony disenfranchisement, industrial decline)
- Research suggests a limited/inconsistent relationship between SES and self-reported crime and we would expect a strong relationship
- Doesn’t explain why people with many “means” commit crime (like Martha Stewart)
- Assumptions are not correct – not everyone shares goals, work ethic not shared by all (religion, laziness)
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Flaws (continued)
- Doesn’t address lack of equal access to illegitimate means of achieving goals (Cloward and Ohlin)
- Downplays role of non-sociological factors
- Downplays role of free will in choosing to commit crime
- What role does opportunity play in crime production?
- Deficient policies to reduce crime – don’t work
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Agnew’s general strain theory
- Assumes we all have some strain
- Argues that we must focus on individual differences and quantitative dimensions of strain
- Addresses “why do some respond to strain in one way and some in the other way?
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Dimensions of strain and individual factors
- Duration (length of time it lasts)
- Magnitude (Severe or moderate?)
- Recency (how recent is strain)
- Clustering
- Individual factors that affect response to strain include – IQ, social skills, social support, association with delinquent peers, personality traits (mental illness, temperament)
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Agnew argues that . . .
- Strain most likely to lead to crime when:
- Conditions are perceived to be unjust
- Strain is high in magnitude
- Low level of social control (formal or informal?)
- Great pressures to cope by breaking the law (role of community, peers, sub-culture’s expectations)
- Pulls together individual and social factors
- Are there personality types that are more likely to negatively respond to strain? Why would this be important to know?
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Cloward and Ohlin
- Concept of “differential opportunity”
- Argue that if a person can be denied access to legitimate means of achieving goals they can also be denied access to illegitimate means
- If individuals want to “innovate” they might lack the skills, knowledge, personality, or opportunity to use illegitimate means
- Learning structures and performance structures
- This could explain the FORM innovation takes:
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Access to illegitimate means to achieve goals
- Women blocked from criminal organizations so don’t have access to these opportunities (why women commit non-violence?)
- Women used to be blocked from work outside of the home so lacked opportunities in the workplace
- For adolescents, their access to illegitimate means depends on the resources available to them, such as cars, money, intelligence
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Reaction Formation theory - Cohen
- A more specific “adaptation” as specified by Merton – explains how subcultures that support violence are developed
- Precursor to “subculture of violence” theories
- Argues that middle class promotes values such as hard work, deferring gratification, respecting property, non-violent methods, hope for the future, etc.
- These are taught in school and promoted by the media
- Lack of opportunities to achieve these goals and lack of success in middle-class schools by members of the lower classes leads to strain (middle class, majority teachers)
- Strain produces a “reaction-formation” which is reversal of middle-class values (rejection of middle-class values)
- Subcultures evolve that promote violence (such as gangs)
- This is an adaptation of “rebellion” per Merton’s theory
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