One of the well know socialists of the twentieth century is Robert K. Merton (1910-2003). He is a major theorist who is known for creating several pivotal sociological concepts. One of his most important achievements has been the established connection between theory and research‚ thereby making the way for the course of sociology. Merton favored what he called middle range theories: these are theories that “lie between minor but necessary working hypotheses that evolve in abundance during day to
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expecting so much from a person‚ it can create unnecessary pressure. “Merton’s theory blames deviance on society’s failures to provide all people with legitimate means to achieve success. This theory‚ explains the higher rates of robbery and theft among lower class people‚ who are pressured to commit crimes by their lack of good jobs and other legitimate means of success.” (Thio 174) Somewhat similar is the Power Theory‚ in which people who have more power are more likely to continue to gain more
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explore the contributory factors proposed by established theories in determining the causation of crime. In order to achieve this‚ one psychological and sociological approach will be selected from the many available to enable providing an analysis to establish the fundamentals behind each concept in to explaining the reasons why criminal and deviant behaviours occurs The first concept to be evaluated is Robert K Merton’s (1938) Strain Theory‚ ‘Social Structure and Anomie.’ Its composition is a functionalist
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In this next section I will be talking about how biker gangs apply to Robert K. Merton’s strain theory. Strain theory assumes that criminal behavior‚ social class‚ and deviant behavior are closely related‚ but are different based on the nature of the relationship. It was a way to explain human conduct and to explain the abnormality of the criminal. Human conduct is not within the individual but rather in the social institutions‚ social groups and social organization. People respond to different situation
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commit crimes? Why do they steal‚ rape‚ and murder? There are many suggestions as to why people commit crimes‚ especially in impoverished areas. One of the more common and sensible explanations for this phenomenon is that of Merton’s Strain Theory. Merton’s strain theory is fairly straightforward in its application. It explores the idea that many people who commit crimes in impoverished areas do not do so out of maliciousness or simply because they can. Rather‚ they commit these crimes because they
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“The ends justify the means‚” is the epitome of Robert K. Merton’s social strain/anomie theory‚ one of his biggest contributions to sociology and criminology. According to Calhoun (2003)‚ Merton’s work in sociology include theories of the middle range‚ the sociology of science‚ the sociology of knowledge and mass communications‚ the notion of structural-functional analysis‚ the interaction between social and cultural structures and science‚ several concepts including but not limited to self-fulfilling
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the preservation of this breadth there exists deviance in the society. In light of this comment it is the purpose of this write up to explain the occurrence of deviance in society using the strain theory. The writer will define the terms values‚ deviance and the strain theory and make illustrations how the theory explains the occurrence of deviance giving relevant examples in different societies. Values from a sociological perspective refer to the views that are shared by society and of what is desirable
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Robert Merton’s Anomie/Strain Theory James King Jr. Savannah State University Theories of Criminal Behavior Prof. W. Brooks March 4‚ 2012 Since the beginning of mankind criminality has been a major problem and the most debated topic of interest by theorist on the grounds of why crime is committed‚ who is more prone to commit crime‚ and what prevents people from committing delinquent acts. The formulation of the Stain theory and Anomie Theory by Robert Merton give insight on the many question
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Meyer R. Scholnick also known as Robert King Merton was born on the 4th of July 2010 in Philadelphia in a Jewish family from Russia that immigrated to the United States of America. He took advantage of the culture riches surrounding him by frequenting nearby cultural and educational venues when he was in High School. Merton’s numerous childhood encounters composed a basis for his theory of social structure. The field of criminology and criminal justice has employed many of Merton’s prominent concepts
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The Strain Theory There are many theories to crime causations one in particular caught my attention‚ one that I believe is the most accurate. The strain theory was developed in 1938 by Robert Merton and then updated by Robert Agnew in 1985. Agnew’s general strain theory is based on the general idea that “when people get treated badly the might get upset and engage in crime”. The general strain theory identifies the ways of measuring strain‚ the different types of strain‚ and the link between strain
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