Strain Theory

Strain in Society

Marking the inception of research in this area, Robert Merton argued that a socially induced disjunction between culturally valued goals and the means available for their attainment facilitates an anomie breakdown, or state of deregulation, leading to high rates of deviance. As opposed to Emile Durkheim's earlier conceptualization of anomie as an abnormal, pathological phenomenon, this social-structural formulation presumed that the U.S. market economy of the 1930s, a utilitarian culture that placed great emphasis on the conditions of success and failure, was characterized by a built-in disposition toward moral normlessness amid the “American dream” ideal. Here, the link between strain and delinquency is instrumental as delinquency becomes a way of obtaining what one wants but cannot get through legitimate channels.

Adaptations

Individuals facing such pressures, particularly those in the lower socioeconomic classes who are at a disadvantage, are thought to have a number of ways to respond to the stressful situation of being unable to achieve monetary success through legitimate channels. Robert Merton described the possible adaptations as innovation, conformity, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.

Most crime manifests through a process of innovation. Innovators remain allegiant to monetary culture goals but find they cannot succeed through education, a legitimate career, or other legitimate paths. Although adaptations focus primarily on the lower classes due to the potential for inadequate socialization in that social stratum, innovation may take form in variants of White-collar crime and in more traditional operations such as prostitution, drug dealing, or robbery. Despite the foundational work's relative lack of attention to the precise factors that determine whether one reacts to blocked goals by innovating, so-called Mertonian strain theory predicts that those who are less likely to internalize dominant societal norms are more likely to violate such norms in the pursuit of goals.

Conformists generally accept cultural goals (e.g., monetary success) and institutionalized means (e.g., education, legitimate career) and strive to achieve wealth through “approved” middle-class values. In stable societies, most persons will choose conformity; because such behavior aligns with basic societal values, Merton argued that conformity is critical for the stable formation and sustainment of society.

The third adaptation, ritualism, might best be depicted by novelist Herman Melville's well-known character Bartleby, the scrivener: a man who would “prefer not to” face life on life's terms. Although ritualists reject the goal of material success, they concentrate on retaining what little is to be gained by adhering to norms such as honesty and hard work. Retreatists, in contrast, drop out: [Page 775]They withdraw from society by rejecting both the cultural goals of material success and the conventional means of achieving this success, often through excessive substance use. Rebellion, the final adaptation, is marked by individuals who replace societal values with new ones, values that can be political (e.g., socialist renewal) or spiritual (e.g., transcendence) or can take other forms.

...