Tenants, Assumptions and Propositions
Rober K. Merton's social structure and anomie theory explore how social systems' organizations influence crime. Social structure is the set of organized social interactions preset by society to guide society members' relationships and actions. Every society has a predefined set of rules and expectations that each individual has to obey to belong. Members of these societies, therefore, ensure that they follow these guides. Anomie is the state in which the values and norms of a specific social group are disregarded (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox, 2017). It is the disorganization of society. In theory, Robert K. Merton explains that society's extreme goals, values, and beliefs to enable people to become organized cause them to become disorganized and resolve crime (Merton, 1938). He mentions the discrepancies between the culturally approved goals and the means approved socially for achieving them. Merton believed the social structural inequalities present in society necessitate the need for crime.
Robert Agnew developed the general strain theory. This theory improved the Social Structure and Anomie theory by conceptualizing the possible causes of social strain. He argued that the members of a society resolved to crime not because of society's expectations but because of the lack of means to achieve them. Society sets high goals but provides little resources for achieving them, causing the people to strain to achieve them. This discrepancy between goal and means causes the individuals to innovate other ways of achieving the goals, resulting in crimes (Agnew, 2001). He also mentions that the emotional perspective of the strain invokes the motivation to crime. This theory, therefore, proposed that the social class and the youths were more prone to committing a crime.
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Critical Reaction
Both Merton and Agnew present theories that classify a crime as a means to an end. They state that those who lack the means to achieve the goals set by society commit a crime to achieve them. This perspective is limited since not all crimes are committed to gain societal goals. Firstly, some billionaires have achieved wealth and social recognition by committing white-collar and corporate crimes. Sachmechi (2020) explores several billionaires who committed financial crimes even after becoming rich. By specifically targeting the economically disadvantaged, these two theories of crime ignore other factors contributing to crime.
Secondly, crime can be committed with motives other than achieving social goals. There are types of crimes that are not covered by these two theories, such as hate crime and violent crimes (Crossman, 2018). Although these can be possibly done to achieve society's goals, it is not always the case. Psychological, mental states of individuals or their need to achieve a certain gratification other than that defined by society can contribute to this. Therefore, crimes are not always to achieve societal norms.
Theories Modification
Modification of these theories can ensure they cover a wider variety of components. The theories cover the societal structures, norms, and anomalies. They present an overview of crime on societal discrepancies. This is a strength because societal structures largely influence crime. However, the strength lacks a defined limitation (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox, 2017). Therefore, including the people's emotions and their extent of obedience to these societal structures despite the strain, in theory, can improve this strength. Including this will bring out the idea that not all those under strain commit crimes. The theories should also include motives other than achieving societal goals to capture the diversity of crimes. These will strengthen the theory.
References
Agnew, R. (2001). Building on the Foundation of General Strain Theory: Specifying the Types of Strain Most Likely to Lead to Crime and Delinquency. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency , 38 (4), 319–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427801038004001
Crossman, A. (2018). An Overview of the Different Types of Crimes . ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/types-of-crimes-3026270
Cullen, F. T., Agnew, R., & Wilcox, P. (2017). Criminological theory: Past to present: Essential readings . Oxford University Press
Merton, R. K. (1938). Social Structure and Anomie. American Sociological Review , 3 (5), 672–682. https://doi.org/10.2307/2084686
Sachmechi, N. (2020, January 25). Behind Bars: Billionaires And Ex-Billionaires Who Have Served Time . Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesachmechi/2020/01/25/behind-bars-billionaires-and-ex-billionaires-who-have-served-time/?sh=284bca874606
