Abstract
The purpose of the essay is to discuss crime in the society. The reasons of people commit crimes with the aware of the consequences. Yet, some people never commit crime while they are living desperate. Labeling theory will apply and to explain as the reasons of humans act. To discuss the various way of the values, behaviors, cultures in the society that people define in a different way based of their social class. Strain Theory in Sociology explains the five factors on the adaptation of people by conforming to deviating from culture expectation.
The Reasons for People Commit Crimes with Recognize the Consequences and People Never. The Definition of Crime Crime, a term used for any act that violates written criminal
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The main reasons refers to deviant behaviors. Labeled by society usually based on the social class that particular people label them as the outsiders. When individuals get labeled, they usually have low self-esteem and have a chance to become more deviant. The individuals who received labels included criminals and alcoholics. For example, a village boy from a lower class family, he used to hang out with his friends and never seek for a job after he was 18 year-old. He was labeled as a useless and poor person. Most of his neighbours think that he is not able to take care of his parents and remain poor forever. The boy received the labeled as a “useless and poor person” without doing anything towards his neighbours. Meanwhile, he starts to response to it. He starts to drink beer everyday as to show that he will not do any meaningful things. Thus, he become alcoholic and spend most of his money on alcohol instead of gaining salary from a job for his …show more content…
People pursue their achievements in life. Based on obtain of different resources, those who receive lack of it, may commit crime more easily. Strain Theory in Sociology included conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. Conformity is the most common type modes. It involves pursue of goals of culture through the approved means. People have accepted the goals in the society when attaining them. For example, John is going to apply for foreign university. He has to complete the checking of the finance matters, the results of his academics and the health check, in order to get approval to study onboard. Innovation involves the acceptance of goals of a culture, but the rejection of the traditional of attaining those goals. People continue to seek for success but they try hard to obtain the success by taking advantage of the illegal achievements. In the example of John, he failed of taking the test in the second time. He tried so hard to study but still not able to get the good results. Finally, he treat is his exam in order to get the approval to study in the foreign country. It is not a right way as he knew that treating in the test is not permitted but he did it with recognize the consequence. Ritualism means people realize that they do not have opportunity to advance in society and accept the little relevance that they have. It involves the rejection of cultural goals
Labeling theory is derived from the idea that people see themselves through the eyes of others. Individuals have different meanings set aside for similar situations. For example, society might define something as criminal, while other individuals do not. This is the case for several moral vices, such as marijuana, or the use of the death penalty as a method of punishment. When there are negative meanings and interpretations for actions, people tend to label others based on their “evil” actions.
Conformity is following standards and doing what everyone else, more seeing as a follower. Innovation is doing things that are not approved in society but still doing them to achieve goals. For instance, selling drugs or stealing to have money to continue achieving their goals. Ritualism is a sense of being modest and humble. Retreatism: is to reject the cultural goals and means and finding a way to escape from it. Rebellion is to reject the cultural goals and means then work to replace them. In the Merton’s strain theory one of the strength is that it is able to explain the different types of criminal and noncriminal responses to strain. Evidence that support the strain theory can be Philip Bourgeois when he said that even the most despised criminals have become successful in life and that is exactly what happened with Nathan McCall, from going to prison and then landing a career in the Washington Post, shows that anyone can live to the American Dream. Evaluation of strain theory Marxists says that lack of equality opporunties are at the heart of the Capitalist system and that there is not enough evidence to explain who will commit crimes or not. Not everyone who is lacking from oppurnities turn to crimes to
Predominantly, strain theory can be used to explain the criminal behavior of the Homicide in Hollenbeck documentary. In the course on juveni...
Summarise labelling theory and then consider its effectiveness in considering youth crime and anti-social behaviour in contemporary British society
Majority of the citizens in the United States have always strived to obtain, what is known as the American dream. That dream usually involves having a well-paid career, a family, and having a big house in a neighborhood free from crime. According, Robert Merton in his theory of Strain theory believes that these goals are instilled at an early age, which these goals are held to all of its members in society; however the means of obtaining these goals are not equally distributed out. The means being defined as education, the concepts of hard work are ways to achieve these goals. Merton’s strain theory is an explanation of criminal behavior, according to the textbook, Adler, Mueller and Laufer (2010) defined Strain theory as “that people are law-abiding citizen, but when under great pressure will resort to crime. Disparity between goals and means provide this pressure.”(p.106) Merton goes that in a class-orientated society, opportunities to get to the top are not equally distributed. There are two important elements that in any society. The (1) cultural aspirations, or goals that people believe are worth striving for, and (2) institutionalized means to accepted ways to attain the desire ends. Inequality between goals and means fosters frustrations, which leads to strain. (Alder, Mueller, and Laufer 2010).
General Strain Theory was reinvented by Robert Agnew in 1992 and contributed a new perception to the present strain theory that was popularized a couple eras ago (Agnew, 1992). Classic strain theory is connected; first with Merton’s (1938), Cohen’s (1955) and Cloward and Ohlin’s (1960). Founded on Durkheim’s theory of anomie (1893), Merton industrialized his theory of deviancy inside a societal fundamental context. Merton’s interpretation on the topic is that goal-expectation inconsistencies, composed with social stratification generates strain between underprivileged societies in turn leading them to use any means necessary, such as criminal, in order to accomplish socially defined goals (Merton, 1938). Merton specified that deviance was a creation of inconsistency amongst social goals and the genuine means to attain these goals (Smith & Bohm, 2008). Merton shaped a typology of deviance contingent on how diverse human beings adjust to ethnically persuaded strain. Conferring to Merton, crime can be elucidated by the predictable socially acknowledged goals and the conceivable genuine means of accomplishing them.
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
In conclusion, it would be safe to suggest that the labelling theory and the learning theory both have abundant influence over people’s lives, conceivably because of their susceptibility and the way they look at different behavior within their society. With both criminal and deviant acts being shaped and fabricated by society, the behavior displayed by an individual will certainly be labelled if they do not live up to the norms and value’s that are in place in their society. However, as the essay explains young people will gather characteristics of deviance from society’s influential structures.
As much as we try not to care what others think about us, without noticing it we take into account the way others perceive us. This is referred to as the labeling theory, ”a reaction to those labels over time form the basis of their self-identity” (Conley, 2015:203). By looking at others a certain way, they tend to notice and adapt to the way we perceive them. When someone has been known to steal, they are looked at as a thief. We would be more careful to watch our belongings around the person, “rather safe than sorry” as people say. Many times people get tired of trying to prove themselves to society and decide if they are constantly being treated as a thief then they should steal, either way, that’s what they’ve been labeled as. When that same person gets arrested for stealing a purse a month later, our feelings are being validated and we continuing judging the next
Some of the explanations of delinquency insinuates that education, politics, social factors, family issues among others are the main causes of delinquency (Rutter, 2013).Just as these were some of the factors in “There Are No Children Here”. In addition, criminal investigators formulated several theories which explain causes of delinquency. Among them are social factors which are explained through several theories which include Social Reaction Theory also referred to as Labeling theory and Power control
Secondly, the society is based on consensus which displays the matter of traditional aspects of crime. Thirdly, orthodox criminology is based on a historical traditional methodology. Fourthly, police and state organizations have been described as deterrence and rehabilitation through the court system. Fifthly, Orthodox criminology crime issue describes the focus that society is a problematic study which is focusing on the criminal himself of herself. Therefore, this displays a more narrow solution to the individual themselves instead of the society. “Finally, the last orthodox criminology is a distinctive behavior that described as law” (Lynch & Michalowski, p.65). “In the study of crime that it’s stated the orthodox criminology has the acknowledgement of general theories” (Lynch & Michalowski,
In today’s society, one will find that there are many different factors that go into the development of a criminal mind, and it is impossible to single out one particular cause of criminal behavior. Criminal behavior often stems from both biological and environmental factors. In many cases criminals share similar physical traits which the general population do not usually have. For example criminals have smaller brains than properly adjusted individuals. However biological reasons cannot solely be the cause of criminal behavior. Therefore, one must look to other sources as to how a criminal mind is developed. Social and environmental factors also are at fault for developing a person to the point at which they are lead to committing a criminal act. Often, someone who has committed a violent crime shows evidence of a poorly developed childhood, or the unsuitable current conditions in which the subject lives. In addition if one studies victimology which is the role that the victim plays in the crime, it is apparent that there are many different causes for criminal behavior. Through the examination of biological factors, in addition to the social and environmental factors which make up a criminal mind, one can conclude that a criminal often is born with traits common to those of criminals, it is the environment that exist around them that brings out the criminal within them to commit indecent acts of crime.
To gain an accurate understanding of strain theories it is best to first examine their intellectual foundations. One of the most important influences on the development of strain theories was sociologist Emile Durkheim. A structural functionalist, Durkheim argued that deviance and crime were not only normal, but also served a function in society. Durkheim believed that crime served the purpose of displaying to members of society what behaviours and actions are considered unacceptable as determined by societal co...
Crime is seen to just exist however, that is not the case. It is argued that crime is created through society and that crime is both a social fact and a social construction. We are told daily about the problems in which we are facing from crime by politicians through the media. From this it is argued that crime is in fact a social fact and a social construction. Throughout this essay it looks at what exactly is a social construction and a social fact and if crime is in fact both a social construction and a social fact, it will also look at one of the main theories which will help draw a conclusion to if crime Is both a social fact and a social construction.
Generally it has been thought and said by many that unemployment will lead to criminal behaviours in order to survive economically in today’s society. Also it has been theorised that unemployment will be likely to increase the anomie amongst the unemployed public related to criminal behaviour. Strain theory suggests that where societal values encourage expectations and aspirations which are blocked to certain groups by structural constraints, those groups will turn to criminal behaviour to meet those expectations and aspirations.