SOC 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Lloyd Ohlin, Richard Cloward, Anomie
15 May 2018
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Strain Theory of Deviance
Sometimes people find that when they attempt to attain culturally approved goals, their paths are
blocked. Not everyone has access to institutionalized means, or legitimate ways of achieving success.
Strain theory, developed by sociologist Robert Merton, posits that when people are prevented from
achieving culturally approved goals through institutional means, they experience strain or frustration
that can lead to deviance. He said that they also experience anomie, or feelings of being disconnected
from society, which can occur when people do not have access to the institutionalized means to achieve
their goals.
Example: In a class of graduating high school seniors, 90 percent of the students have been accepted at
various colleges. Five percent do not want to go to college, and the remaining five percent want to go to
college but cannot, for any one of a number of reasons. All of the students want to succeed financially,
and attending college is generally accepted as the first step toward that goal. The five percent who want
to atted ollege ut a’t proaly feel frustrated. They had the sae goals as eeryoe else ut ere
blocked from the usual means of achieving them. They may act out in a deviant manner.
Institutionalized Means to Success
In the 1960s, sociologists Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin theorized that the most difficult task facing
industrialized societies is finding and training people to take over the most intellectually demanding jobs
from the previous generatio. To progress, soiety eeds a literate, highly traied ork fore. “oiety’s
job is to motivate its citizens to excel in the workplace, and the best way to do that is to foment
discontent with the status quo. Cloward and Ohlin argued that if people were dissatisfied with what
they had, what they earned, or where they lived, they would be motivated to work harder to improve
their circumstances.
In order to compete in the world marketplace, a society must offer institutionalized means of
succeeding. For example, societies that value higher education as a way to advance in the workplace
must make educational opportunity available to everyone.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Sometimes people find that when they attempt to attain culturally approved goals, their paths are blocked. Not everyone has access to institutionalized means, or legitimate ways of achieving success. Strain theory, developed by sociologist robert merton, posits that when people are prevented from achieving culturally approved goals through institutional means, they experience strain or frustration that can lead to deviance. He said that they also experience anomie, or feelings of being disconnected from society, which can occur when people do not have access to the institutionalized means to achieve their goals. Example: in a class of graduating high school seniors, 90 percent of the students have been accepted at various colleges. Five percent do not want to go to college, and the remaining five percent want to go to college but cannot, for any one of a number of reasons.
