Strain Theory
Essay III
When dealing with strain theories there are a few things that you need to look at. To understand the theories you first must know what is meant by the term strain. There are six basic components to strain. Poverty, maintenance of conventional rules and norms, strain, formation of gangs and groups, crime and delinquency, and criminal careers. The strain takes place because of a direct result of lower-class frustrations and anger. People that cannot acheive the shared goals of most people, because of stratified socioeconomic class. In these areas people when trying to relieve the stress resort to any means neccessary including criminal activity including drug trafficking and theft. The first of the six components is poverty. Poverty includes: development of isolated lower class cultures, lack of conventional social oppertunities and racial and ethnic discrimination. The second is maintenance of conventional rules and norms which involves: residents of lower class neighborhoods remain loyal to conventional values and rules of dominant middle class culture. The third would be strain itself. Which can be present when there is a lack of oppertunity coupled with desire for conventional success produces strain and frustration. The fourth component of strain theory is formations of gangs and groups. In this youths from law violating groups seek alternative means of achieving their goals. Fifth deals with crime and delinquancy indicating that methods of groups are defined as illegal by dominant culture. Lastly there is criminal careers which has youths aging out of their delinquency and take a homelife with children and a spouse but still retain a life of crime.
Emile Durkheim introduced the term anomie into strain theory. Anomie means to be without norms. Durkheim felt that during periods of rapid change like a natural disaster or war and famine, there would be rapid periods when a society breaks down the rules of behavior. This type of anomic society usually occurs when the society changes from one type of living to another for example an agricultural lifestyle to an industrial lifestyle. There is the theory of anomie in societies where to elements of culture interact to produce culturally defined goals and socially approved means. There are typologies of individual modes of adaption which are conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion each of these modes of adaption have different ways of viewing their goals and means within a society. A person who conforms accepts both the cultural goals and institutional means in their society. If a person is innovative they accept the cultural goals that are expected in their society but either rejects or is incapable of attaing the institutional means. Ritualists have the lowest level of criminal behavior because they have abandoned the success goal. They reject the cultural goals of the community and they accept the institutionalized means. When looking at retreatists they begin to withdrawel from society metally and physically and they reject both the goals and the means in a society and this group of people usually have the pariahs, sociopaths, psychotics and other withdrawen people. Rebellion is the last catagory of people in this group. They can alternate between accepting and rejecting the goals and the means of the community. Rebels substitute an alternative set of goals and means for conventional ones. An example of this maybe a conspiracy theorist. There is then an Institutional anomie theory. According to the text it shows antisocial behavior as a function of culture and institutional influences in the U.S. There is also a relative deprivation theory when discussing strain theories. Lower class people may feel embittered and deprived when they compare their life circumstances to those of the more affluent. There is a general strain theory and in this theory their are elements og general strain. In the sources of strain are failure to achieve goals, disjunction of expectations and achievements, removal of positive stimuli and presentation of nagative stimuli. This leads to negative affective states which are anger, frustration, disappointment, depression, and fear. After this happens it leads to antisocial behavior including, drug abuse, delinquencey, violence and dropping out.
As stated in the text, crime prevention efforts based on social structure can be traced back to the Chicago area projsct which attempted to organize existing community structures to develop social stability in otherwise disorganized slums. There were recreation activities for children, traffic saftey, physical conservation and law enforcement. There was a war on poverty started and they began to develop a sense of community pride.
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