Positivists Strain Theory

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Destinee Starcher Professor Rachel Stein Sociology 324 02/12/15 Traditional positivist theories advocate determinism, or the belief that factors outside of an individual’s control are to blame for criminality. The positivist’s theories were also the first school of thought to use the scientific method in research. Early, traditional positivist’s theories included only biological explanations of crime, such as Lombroso’s concept of atavism. However because positivists theories are based on the concept of determinism, Merton’s strain theory is also classified in this category. Providing a non-biological explanation for criminality traditional strain theory states that lack of structural opportunities lead an individual to crime. Specifically …show more content…

First in positivist’s theories when women are discussed at all they are usually stereotyped, therefore many of these theories are not applicable to women. While feminist theories are from the viewpoint of women and do not assume a monolithic experience for all women. Second feminist theories tend to track individuals throughout the course of their lifetime, while positivist’s theorists do not produce longitudinal studies. The positivist theory discussed above for example, Merton’s strain theory is very sexist. Merton assumed that women did not experience “real” strain, compared to men. The sole role of women was to be supporters of men and to have children, which does not cause strain. In the case of Andrea Yates, Merton would argue she was conforming to her natural feminine role and strain could not be the cause of her crime. Therefore strain theory could not be applied to Andrea Yates, because of the stereotypical nature of positivist theories. However a feminist theory would explain the case of Andrea Yates very differently. Life course theory for example would claim Andrea Yates experienced certain transitions in life such as having a fifth child, marrying a controlling man, becoming extremely religious which put her on a trajectory to commit crime. Life Course theory did not assume all women are the same, or stereotype Andrea Yates simply for being a woman. Thus life course theory could be successfully applied to Yates, unlike Merton’s strain theory. Another more subtle distinction between the perspectives is the method of study

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