Strain Theory Merton

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Robert Merton was a sociologist in the mid-20th century, his main theory being the strain theory. Merton was born on July 4, 1910 in Philadelphia. He was born to a poor family but used public institutions to further his education and eventually received a scholarship to Temple University. While at Temple he was recruited as a research assistant to work on a project called “The Negro in the Philadelphia Press.” This started Merton’s interest in social research. In 1931 Merton graduated from Temple University with his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and sociology. Soon after he attended Harvard University where he worked on his own dissertation, “Sociological Aspects of Scientific Development in Seventeenth-Century England.” From his dissertation…show more content…
The first adaptation, the most common adaptation is conformity. Conformity is a non-deviant adaptation which is when a person accepts the cultural goal of success and also accepts the legitimate means of obtaining financial wealth. Most people fall into this category because most people obey the law and achieve success in an institutionalized way. The next four adaptations are deviant adaptations. Innovation has received the most attention out of the five. ““occurs when the individual has assimilated the cultural emphasis upon the goal without equally internalizing the institutional norms governing ways and means for its attainment” (Merton 1). Basically a person has the goal of financial success but turns to crime to achieve that goal. The second, Ritualism states that a person uses institutionalized means to obtain the goal but the goal is out of reach or abandoned. Retreatism is the idea that a person will reject the goals of society and the means to obtain those goals. The final adaptation is rebellion, which is just as it sounds; these people reject the goals and means to obtain the goals but are also trying to change the goals and means to obtain the goals of…show more content…
It went to say that in poorer areas where institutionalized means of obtaining one’s goals were hard to come by people would find other means, usually illegal means, to obtain the goal of financial success. “The result is a strain placed upon those persons who desire material possessions essential to individual success. In responding to the pressures of capitalism some will turn to illegitimate avenues, including violence, in order to gain the materials and respect that allow them to acquire the social status society encourages” (Merton 2). As opposed to the Chicago School theories which state that crime is a result of life in the slums, Merton states that crime is a result of lack of opportunity to leave the slums. This comes from the idea of the “American Dream” and how hard it is to really achieve that dream. When you live in poorer areas, slums, you have less opportunities to achieve the dream, or leave the slums with your financial goals achieved. The “American Dream” is all about money and the ways to obtain money in the slums on institutionalized means are very slim, this is why people turn to deviance, according to Merton’s
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