Strain theory posits that societal pressure to achieve socially accepted goals through legitimate means can create strain, leading to deviant or criminal behaviors. Emile Durkheim first developed the concept of anomie to describe a lack of social norms. Robert Merton expanded on this, arguing that a disjunction between cultural goals and legitimate means of achieving them can result in innovation (crimes), ritualism, retreatism, or rebellion. Albert Cohen focused on how status frustration from blocked opportunities can lead to reaction formation and delinquent subcultures. Criticisms argue these theories may overdetermine criminal behavior and not account for alternative value systems.

1. Strain Theory

2. The Concept of Anomie
The idea of anomie means the lack of normal ethical or social standards. This concept
first emerged in 1893, with French sociologist Emile Durkheim
According to Durkheim, an anomic society is one in which rules of behavior (values,
customs, and norms) have broken down or become inoperative during periods of rapid
social change or social crisis such as war or famine.

3. Anomie and Suicide
 In the book ‘Suicide’ Durkheim linked anomic suicide to disillusionment and
disappointment. Durkheim defined the term anomie as a condition where social
and also moral norms are confused, unclear, or simply not present. Durkheim also
felt that lack of norms led to deviant behavior.
 Durkheim hypothesized that, as an expression of suffering, societies and groups
experience an increase in suicide rates.

5. Strain model
 It is defined as the deformation to external loading.
 Strain theory is a sociology and criminology theory developed in 1938 by Robert
K. Merton. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve
socially accepted goals , though they lack the means. This leads to strain which
may lead the individuals to commit crimes.
 examples being selling drugs or becoming involved in prostitution, to gain
financial security.

6. Causes of Stress
 Failure to achieve positively valued goals.
 Disjunction of expectations and achievements.
 Removal of positively valued stimuli.
 Presentation of negative stimuli.

7. Types of Strain
 Structural: this refers to the processes at the societal level which filter down and
affect how the individual perceives his or her needs. if particular social structures
are inherently inadequate or there is inadequate regulation, this may change the
individual's perceptions as to means and opportunities.
 Individual: this refers to the frictions and pains experienced by an individual as
he or she looks for ways to satisfy his or her needs. if the goals of a society
become significant to an individual, actually achieving them may become more
important than the means adopted.

8. Sources of Strain (Seigel,2010)
There are various sources of strain:
 Social sources of strain
 Community sources of strain
 Strain and criminal careers.

9. .
The Basic components of Strain Theory
 Poverty
 Maintenance of conventional rules and norms
 Strain
 Formation of gangs and groups
 Crime and delinquency
 Criminal careers

10. Robert K. Merton
 He was an American sociologist.
 He is considered a founding father of modern sociology.
 Theories:
1. Middle range theory
2. Strain Theory
3. Dysfunctions
 Books:
1. Social Theory and Social Structure (1949)
2. The Sociology of Science (1973)
3. Sociological Ambivalence (1976)
4. On the Shoulders of Giants: (1985)
5. On Social Structure and Science (1996)

11. Merton’s Theory of Anomie
 Merton argued that in a class-oriented society, opportunities to get to the top are
not equally distributed.
 He emphasized the importance of two elements in any society.
1. Cultural goals
2. Institutionalized means or ways

12. Modes of Adaptation

13. Merton's theory and United States.
 The success inherent in money and material wealth for America.
 They are expected to gain the goal through legitimate means that is education and
hard work.
 Poverty, discrimination and inequality blocked opportunities for many individuals
like black people. As a result people try to achieve their goal through illegal way.
Most crime in America is property crime because material wealth is so valued by
American society.

14. Criticism of Merton's strain theory
Strain theory has received several criticisms, such as:
 Merton does not explain crime which does not have a financial profit
 Merton deals with individuals forms of responses instead of group activity which crime
involves
 Ignores ruling class power to create and enforce laws to prevent the deviant
adaptations(innovations, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion)
 Crime statistics are used at "face value" - It only provides a very small viewpoint of genuine
crime and fails to account for crime that remains unrecorded, primarily corporate crimes which
go unnoticed
 His argument is incredibly deterministic - he assumes that anyone under strain will essentially
fit into an adaptation, but large amounts of people face strain and still manage to cope with it.

15. Criticism of Merton's Strain Theory
 No solution is essentially offered. Merton doesn't state how society can reduce
strain, how a form of collective conscience/value consensus can be altered so that
strain doesn't occur or whether societies should even have a shared set of goals to
aspire to wealth like the American Dream.

16. Albert K. Cohen
 American criminologist
 Theory: Subcultural Theory of delinquent urban gangs.
 Book:
1.Delinquent Boys: Culture of the Gang.

17. Cohen's Theory
 Gang delinquency is an attempt on the part of juveniles to acquire status
among the delinquent peers. These gangs are the subculture of a society.
 Robert K. Cohen concluded that most delinquent behavior occurred in gangs
and most of them were non- utilitarian, malicious and negativistic.
 Strain is most pronounced upon the youth. Strain causes crime to our
society.

18. Cohen's Theory
Cohen termed two ideologies:
 Status Frustration
Status frustration is directed mainly to the young people of lower classes. There is no
parallel between their own social realities and the rest of society's promoted goals. They
become frustrated at the disadvantages and inequalities that they face, and this leads to
Cohen's second principle; reaction formation.
 Reaction formation
Reaction formation is the reaction from status frustration, and the young men of the lower
classes find themselves replacing their society's norms and values with alternative ones.

19. Cohen's Theory Cont.…
 At school disparity between working class and middle class is
brought into focused.
 Students having ascribed status are valuable to teachers and
administrators in the school. Alternatively having no ascribed status,
students are placed under a severe strain.
 They remain in lower class status with lower values or develop a
new value structure by which they try to raise their status. As a
result lower class children join in delinquent gang.

20. Cohen's Theory Cont.
 Strain causes for being failure at gaining status not for material
wealth.
 Failing to achieve status, the youths are left with 'status frustration'
where they suffer a 'problem of adjustment' caused by failure at
school. This problem has been solved by the delinquent subculture.
 Cohen saw the gang delinquency as non- utilitarian. He also include
that serious delinquents commit crime for money. They generally
crime for "fast cars, fancy clothes, swell dames," and others.

21. Cohen's Theory Cont.…
 Cloward include that , Those who can not reached at goal with gang
and whose successes are obstructed due to lack of legitimate
opportunities, drop out and turn to alcohol and drugs.

22. Criticism of Cohen's Theory
 A weak spot in Cohen's theory is that he assumes that these mainstream goals are deemed to be
desirable and greatly accepted by working-class youths and that there delinquent behavior is a
response to the goals they cannot achieve.
 Miller (1962) argues against this and suggests that the working-class have always had their own
independent culture, and so they are neither rejecting mainstream values nor wanting revenge
against society's goals, as they have never lived by or held them.
 Matza's (1964) study on delinquency found that most young people were not committed to
delinquent values and instead accepted society's aims but drifted in and out of delinquency rather
than showing commitment to the norms and values.
 Cohen's theory does though explain working-class delinquency as a group response and not just as
individual's behavior, as with Merton's theory. Paul Willis (1979) argued that the creation of deviant
sub-cultures amongst working class boys was not simply a response to such things as status denial.
Such sub-cultures also represented an organized, realistic, attempt to come to terms with a wider
cultural world that had already, by the time they had entered secondary school, earmarked the boys
in Willis's study as "failures”.

23. References
 Karzon, S. H. R. (2008). Theoretical and Applied Criminology. Shahbag,Dhaka, Palal
Prokashoni.
 Siegel, L. j. (2010). Criminology. Criminology,theories,patterns and typologies. USA,
WADSWORTH: 190-196.
 Adler, et al. (2001). Criminology, Mc Graw Hill.
 Farnworth, M. and M. J. Leiber (1989). "Strain Theory Revisited: Economic Goals,
Educational Means, and Delinquency." JSTOR 54(2): 263-274.
 Aseltine, R. H., et al. (2000). "Life Stress, Anger and Anxiety, and Delinquency: An
Empirical Test of General Strain Theory." American Sociological Association 41(3): 256-
275.
 Wikipedia (2018). Strain Theory.