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General strain theory and its reactions
General strain theory and its reactions
Strength and weakness of social learning theory
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learning theory.
Agnew and Passas talked about the similarities between the macrolevel of anomie and control theory, but emphasized that the micro level theory of strain should be considered separate from control theory. Agnew also compared strain theory to control theory and social learning theory. The theories differ by the type of social relations that they stress and the motivations on which they are based. While control theory rests on the premise that the breakdown of society frees the individual to commit crime, strain theory is focused on the pressure that is placed on the individual to commit crime. Social learning theory is based on the forces from a group that lead to a positive view of crime. According to strain theory, individual
The two theories I have decided to merge are Agnew’s General Strain Theory and Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory. I picked General Strain Theory because it does a good job at discussing some of the things that can trigger the release of a person’s negative emotions which in turn may lead to deviant behavior. I also decided to write about Social Bond Theory because it describes some of the factors that keep people from committing crime. Both of the theories have strengths and weaknesses individually, but when merged they help fill in each other’s gaps. (Agnew, 2011; Hirschi, 2011) +1 (888) 295-7904
Researchers are constantly looking for explanations for criminal patterns and crime rates among juveniles. They have presented many theories to serve as such explanations with strain theory being one of them; however, like many other theories, strain theory was pushed aside decades ago. It was not until recently that this theory was given new life by criminologist, Robert Agnew. Robert Agnew introduced this new development as the general strain theory. GST was the first supposition that was not tied to social class or cultural variables as it was in previous implications of Émile Durkheim’s anomie theory. Instead, Agnew’s theory refocused on societal norms that affect juveniles.
Strain Theory, posits the disjuncture between socially and sub culturally sanctioned mean and goods as the cause of criminal behavior. Albert Cohen’s thesis is that class based status frustration is the origin of subcultures. Cohen's focus is on school based achievement status. The institution of the school symbolizes middle class values for honesty, courtesy, personality, responsibility, and the middle class measuring rod. It is this environment where competition takes place for status, approval, or respect. Strain is interpersonal, located at the level of group interaction.
The strengths that general strain theory has are the variety of different strains it provides (Agnew, 2013, p. 203). Another one of its strengths is the fact that it provides individual characteristics. Individual characteristics were important to present in this theory because it is primarily composed of micro-level components. By presenting a more detailed explanation of individuals, this led to the conclusion of what type of “individual’s are more disposed than others to respond to strains with crime” (Agnew, 2013, p. 210). Some people see crime as their only way out and others choose to commit crime and choose to associate with a criminal crowd. As for weaknesses in general strain theory, the only weakness I could think of is the fact that it is not macro-level based. If Agnew’s theory were to contain both micro-level and macro-level components, I believe it would be a harder theory for people to
Various theories have taken approach to this question however we shall take the perspective of Agnew’s general strain theory; to summarize Agnew claims he reasons that people commit crime as a response or coping mechanism
General strain theory is a transformation of many theories into the best possible version of the theory. Agnew created a vision of society, race, gender, and strain that affect a lot of people how they cope with that strain is what determines their future. They found this and theorized this, including how the strains can begin and adding more of into those categories. What I focused on is the broad view on general strain theory.
Theoretical Background During the past decades, various criminologists developed different theories in an attempt to explain the causes of crime within the society. In return, they were successful, as of today it was adopted or accepted, indeed all of theories explain the root causes of crime. One of these theories is anomie or strain theory which originally argues that the lower class frustration to higher class causes crime (Merton, 1938) in an attempt to explain why the majority of the people who commits crime are lower class. In 1985 Robert Agnew a sociologist come to an interest of studying the theory and finds a potential for the theory in explaining several causes of crime in society, but due to its limitation he developed and reformulated
Strain theory means that social structures within society may pressure the individual to pursue their goals legally or illegally by committing crimes. This theory is divided by two concerns such as social goals that state people in the U.S desire wealth, a high paying job that would give them a good income, material possessions such as new cars, and other life comforts. Although these goals are common to people in all economic status, this theory implies that the ability to obtain these goals is class dependent. This leads to members of lower class to be unable to achieve these goals through acceptable standards set by society which builds up a feeling of frustration and anger. The other concern is based on this previous one because since their
In classic strain theory it is said that, Classic strain theory focuses on that type of strain involving the inability to achieve success or gain a middle class status. General Strain theory focuses on a broad range of strains, including the inability to achieve a variety of goals, the loss of valued possessions, and negative treatment by others. General Strain Theory has been applied to a range of topics, including the explanation of gender, race/ethnicity, age, community, and societal differences in crime
... people commit crimes and are not limited to one aspect like the original theory. For example, Merton strain theory just looked one aspect of blocked opportunities to unable achieve economic success. Differential Opportunity theory helped explain the different illegitimate means that causes people to commit crimes for example poverty and high concentrations of youth living in slums (Murphy & Robinson, 2009). Agnew General Strain theory takes a micro approach into looking at the different types of strain that causes people to commit crimes (Lilly et al.2010). Even though these theories explain certain aspects of what causes crime, it does not explain the sole cause of why criminal behavior occurs or why one commits different crimes. However integrated theories are helpful to understand certain aspects of why people commit crimes and engage in deviant behavior.
Merton’s strain theory was advanced by Robert Agnew. Agnew believed that anomie is a macro-level concept, while strain is the micro-level concept. According to the Merton’s strain theory, an increase in aspirations and a decrease in expectations should lead to an increase in deviance, however, this was not found to be the case (Agnew, 1985). There are
This theory tries to explain why there is a surge of crimes in the lower classes and poorer communities because they are trying to keep up with the majority of society. These individuals do not care if they have to break the law in order to get more means to stay even or somewhat even with the rest of society, just as long as they get it. It is the “strain” that individuals are put under that causes them to commit crimes in order to fit in with society. In most of these cases anger seems to play a big role, being frustrated not being able to compete against others that had a fair chance in life. (Robert Agnew’s Strain Theory, n.d.) They almost feel justified in the crimes that they commit because they feel as though society has pushed them to the point of no
This could explain the effect of strains on crime by taken this theory into account. Once strain causes bonds to weaken amongst conventional groups and institutions such as family, school, and peer networks will open up doors to delinquent behaviors, because by being in these social roles causes the person to regulate by role expectations.
Strain Theory is when people who experience a strain (event or conditions that are disliked by the individual) engage in crime. Robert Agnew used the example of a person who is desperate need of money or they believe they are being mistreated by their family members; thus becoming upset, experience rage of all these negative emotions. They may cope with these negative emotions through crime, although we all experience strains but
Strain Theory: Society has values and goals that can be achieved through acceptable means. When individuals are unable to reach their cultural goals, they may resort to or be pressured by society to commit crimes in order to attain their cultural goals.