Classical And Strain Theory Essay

As per the nature of theories of crime, they all take a different approach to explaining and conceptualising CCB, classical and strain theory are no different and present two very different explanations for CCB. Classical theory takes a literal approach to conceptualising crime, explaining that crime is simply the violation of current law (White, Haines and Asquith, 2012, p30). As mentioned previously, classical theory explains crime as being chosen. Individuals chose to violate the laws of their own free will to gain something and thus, should be held fully responsible for their actions (Loughran et al. 2016, para 4). The theory chooses to address/react to the issue of CCB through punitive punishment. It is critical to the effectiveness of
Drug trafficking is the illegal trading of drugs in the global market which encompasses the manufacturing, distribution and sale of illegal drugs (Bright, Hughes and Chalmers, 2012, p152-154). Classical theory would explain this crime as individualistic and chosen i.e. the individuals have chosen of their own free will, after weighing up the pros and cons of committing this crime to sell and distribute illegal drugs. In this case, the benefit of receiving large monetary rewards from this crime outweigh the potential punishments if caught. Strain theory, on the other hand, takes a very different approach to explaining this crime. Merton’s strain theory would argue that this is an example of innovation, where the individual accepts cultural goals but takes an alternative means of achieving due to the inability of using conventional methods (Clinard and Meier, 2008, p72-73; Merton, 1957, p195). The theory would highlight that although the individual did commit the crime, it was not by free will, but instead due to societal pressure put on them to reach SAG that they haven’t been able to achieve through legal