SOC 2700 Lecture Notes - Richard Cloward, General Strain Theory, Lloyd Ohlin
23 Nov 2011
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Document Summary
Crime is functional to society: robert k. merton: strain and anomie theory. Crime due to : inability to achieve goals. Merton"s focus: the dysfunction between goals and means. Merton differs from durkheim: aspirations and strains are in the social structure. Merton sees two components to anomie: cultural goals and institutional goals and institutional means: merton"s five modes of adaptation. Replacement of values occurs: another reaction to merton: richard cloward and lloyd ohlin. Inequality in access to crime success (i. e drug dealing: modern version of strain theory: robert agnew"s general strain theory. Idea of general goals (in addition to money) Solutions: another modern version of strain: steven messier and richard rosenfeld"s. Crime rate is tied to dominance of economy over other institutions (family, school, political system) Umbrella for a number of theories: assumes importance of socialization. But: controlling factors retrain most people from committing crime: social ties to society prevent crime. Controls can be either informal (social) or formal (agents)
