SOCY 275 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Social Control, Relative Deprivation, Risk It
15 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 8
Merton Strain theory
- Cultural imbalance
o Society is supposed to provide goals and the means by which you are to obtain the
goals
o In a balanced culture we have a society that emphasizes the goals the same way
that they emphasize the means
o Cultural imbalance
▪ Emphasize the means more than we emphasize the goals
▪ Or when the goals are emphasized much more than the means
▪ The goal of economic success is emphasized more than the means to
obtain that goal
▪
- Stratification
o Upper, middle and lower class
o Important because it means that it will be more difficult for certain people in
certain classes to reach those economic goals
- Cultural universalism
o These goals are applicable to everyone in the society regardless of class
-
GOALS
MEANS
Conformist – use
conventional means to
obtain goals
+
+
Innovator – reach economic
goals using unconventional
means (crime)
+
-
Ritualist – doesn’t aspire to
the goals of society – but
they are still using
conventional means and
conventional behaviour –
almost over conforming
-
+
Retreatist – no longer
aspires to the goals. No
longer using conventional
means (e.g. drug users,
alcoholics)—deviant
because they are not
aspiring to the goals of
society
-
-
Rebel – people who do not
aspire to the goals of
society and create new
goals. They don’t use
- +
- +
conventional means to
reach their goals—will use
their own means. (people
who are revolutionaries,
people interested in
changing society.
Nico Passas
- Relative deprivation
o Gets into the importance of reference groups and comparing yourself to other
people
o Comparing yourself to someone above you, and you aren’t doing well, this is
what leads to crime – it is a sense of unfairness and injustice
o We are encouraged to compare ourselves to those higher than us – and this causes
crime
o This is a good predictor of crime
Agnew’s revision
- Monetary dissatisfaction
o Being unhappy with how much money you have leads to crime
o Number of things that influence this
▪ People will desire large amounts of money
▪ People will attribute different significance to money (?)
▪ People will not pay much attention to the significance of other goals
▪ People will possess little money themselves and lack legitimate means to
get money
▪ People will have to believe that the can’t get money through legitimate
means
▪ People will feel relatively deprived- will have to think that they are worse
off than the others they compare themselves with
o Good predictor of engaging in crime
- Conditioning factors of values and beliefs
o Likelihood of being monetarily dissatisfied depends on values and beliefs
o Some people think it is okay to break the law →then monetary dissatisfaction is
more likely to lead to breaking the law
o If we don’t think it is okay to break the law→them monetary dissatisfaction is less
likely to lead to breaking the law
Baumer’s revision
- Monetary goals x weak norms x blocked opportunities
o Emphasis on monetary goals
o Weak norms – means are not emphasized to the same extent as goals → should
lead to breaking the law
o More likely to lead to crime when we have blocked opportunities
- Monetary goals x weak norms x monetary dissatisfaction
o More likely to lead to crime when we have monetary dissatisfaction
- Monetary goals x weak norms x cultural support
o More likely to lead to crime when we have cultural support
- Monetary goals x weak norms x social modelling
o More likely to lead to crime when we are hanging out with other people who are
breaking the law
- Monetary goals x weak norms x risk
o More likely to lead to crime when we don’t think that we are going to get caught
→ low risk
It is not only the goals and weak norms, but other factors that work together to get people to
engage in crime
Merton’s theory is a good explanation for individual behaviour
Institutional anomie theory (Messner and Rosenfeld)
- Focused on more societal level crime – why one society has more crime than another
- Ties into Parsons’ theory and Merton’s theory
- Argument is about the American Dream
- Core elements of the American dream
o Achievement orientation
▪ In American society you tend to be evaluated on what you achieved
▪ Expected to achieve at all costs
o Individualism
▪ Encouraged to make it on your own
▪ The ultimate validation of your personal work
▪ Leaves you more likely to disregard any normative restraints
o Universalism
▪ Applicable to all regardless of where you are in society
▪ No one is exempt from the expectation of success
o Monetary rewards
▪ The ultimate metric of success is how much money you have
▪ Monetary success is inherently open – you can always get more
Document Summary
Stratification obtain that goal: upper, middle and lower class, important because it means that it will be more difficult for certain people in certain classes to reach those economic goals. Cultural universalism: these goals are applicable to everyone in the society regardless of class. Conformist use conventional means to obtain goals. Innovator reach economic goals using unconventional means (crime) Ritualist doesn"t aspire to the goals of society but they are still using conventional means and conventional behaviour almost over conforming. Retreatist no longer aspires to the goals. No longer using conventional means (e. g. drug users, alcoholics) deviant because they are not aspiring to the goals of society. Rebel people who do not aspire to the goals of society and create new goals. Means conventional means to reach their goals will use their own means. (people who are revolutionaries, people interested in changing society.
