01:920:222 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: General Strain Theory, Juvenile Delinquency, Reaction Formation
25 Mar 2019
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Document Summary
Theories of merton, cloward & ohlin, and cohen are traditional strain theories. Cannot explain delinquency in the middle or upper class. In tests of strain theory, strain is measured as: Example: high aspirations of graduating college, but low expectations of graduating. The gap between aspirations and expectations is known as strain. Most high school students don"t experience this gap, so they aren"t strained. Due to the fact that few teens are strained. Another problem with the strain theorist, cohen, is that. School failure status frustration juvenile delinquency. Cohen assumes that status frustration must be so bad that it causes a reaction formation, subcultural formation, and delinquency to cope. Critics of cohen doubt that school failure has that much effect on high school students. There must be other things that are far more important (i. e. popularity and independence) Recasts macro-level anomie theory as micro-level strain theory. Strain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals.
