Robert Merton Strain Theory
One of the well know socialists of the twentieth century is Robert K. Merton (1910-2003). He is a major theorist who is known for creating several pivotal sociological concepts. One of his most important achievements has been the established connection between theory and research, thereby making the way for the course of sociology. Merton favored what he called middle range theories: these are theories that “lie between minor but necessary working hypotheses that evolve in abundance during day to day research and all inclusive systematic efforts to develop a unified theory that will explain all the observed uniformities of social behavior, social organization, and social change” ( Sztompka 1986). But what he gets most of his credit for
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. Merton believed that crime did not simply arise from the deviant values incorporated in say, slum neighborhoods. Rather crime emerged from mainstream conventional values, which for example, all Americans were socialized into. Merton believed that the core values stressed material success; however, the problem was that not every American was equally placed to achieve this success. This in turn leads to strain, of which crime is concomitant. American society is criminally programed argued Merton. The idea of the ‘American Dream’ was, according to Merton, a myth, subverted as it were by the persistence of poverty, epidemic racial discrimination and numerous disadvantages faced by blacks and Hispanics. All this helps contribute to the high levels of crime, the solution being to create more opportunities for the poor in order to augment their chances of legitimately achieving material success. Merton’s thinking was that if crime resulted from a lack of legitimate opportunities to achieve the goal of material success, than increasing those opportunities ought to lessen crime. Merton believed that individuals living in American society are subconsciously socialized into desiring certain goals, primarily that of covert material success. Society itself provides the means to do this high school, college, business opportunities and university, however, where opportunities are blocked for individuals because of, for example, social class and race, then problems of ‘strain’ arise. As Merton put it: “there is a contradiction between the cultural emphasis on pecuniary ambition and the social opportunities to achieve it”. This Merton called an “anomic society”, from which crime naturally
. Merton believed that crime did not simply arise from the deviant values incorporated in say, slum neighborhoods. Rather crime emerged from mainstream conventional values, which for example, all Americans were socialized into. Merton believed that the core values stressed material success; however, the problem was that not every American was equally placed to achieve this success. This in turn leads to strain, of which crime is concomitant. American society is criminally programed argued Merton. The idea of the ‘American Dream’ was, according to Merton, a myth, subverted as it were by the persistence of poverty, epidemic racial discrimination and numerous disadvantages faced by blacks and Hispanics. All this helps contribute to the high levels of crime, the solution being to create more opportunities for the poor in order to augment their chances of legitimately achieving material success. Merton’s thinking was that if crime resulted from a lack of legitimate opportunities to achieve the goal of material success, than increasing those opportunities ought to lessen crime. Merton believed that individuals living in American society are subconsciously socialized into desiring certain goals, primarily that of covert material success. Society itself provides the means to do this high school, college, business opportunities and university, however, where opportunities are blocked for individuals because of, for example, social class and race, then problems of ‘strain’ arise. As Merton put it: “there is a contradiction between the cultural emphasis on pecuniary ambition and the social opportunities to achieve it”. This Merton called an “anomic society”, from which crime naturally