Crime in the United States has been an issue of concern since the nation’s colonization. Common forms of crime which are prevalent in the US include murder, gang violence, man slaughter, aggravated assault, arson, motor vehicle theft, robbery and rape. The current crime rate in the United States stands at 381 cases per a population of 100,000 people ( James, 2015) . Crime is a national wide phenomenon with some state’s violent felony rate being higher than the rates recorded in early 1990s. Criminology studies indicate that violent crime is more prevalent in urban areas. Over time, criminologists have attempted to apply an array of theories to practice in an attempt to quell delinquent behaviours such as reducing crime rate. Despite the criminologists having information on what to do and the data to back their actions, the experts have often faced innumerable challenges in garnering public support leading to their inability to influence policy and practice. However, with the right social, political and moral support mechanisms in place, effective application of theories can significantly contribute in reduction of violent and non-violent crimes. Strain and conflict theories can be adopted to develop a localized understanding of criminal behavior in an effort to influence policy and practice towards minimizing rates of crime in the United States.
Strain theory
Created by Merton Robern in 1938, the criminology theory asserts that the society exerts pressure on individuals to achieve goals which they have no means to realize. According to the theory, deviant behavior stems from the distress experienced by individuals when they are deprived the means to actualize socially and culturally valued ambitions ( Eriksson & Broidy, 2017) . The societal stressors stimulate negative emotions such as anger and frustrations that increase the likelihood of crime ( Agnew, 2019) . As the theory posits, crime is perceived as an escape from the strain and as an avenue to alleviate negative emotions. Case in point, the Western society lays emphasis on economic prosperity even through wealth is easily accessible only to a limited segment of the population. According to Eriksson and Broidy (2017), this results in strain on individuals who fail to economically succeed particularly those from lower classes which compels them to resort to criminal or unconventional means to gain financial resources. According to Merton, individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have the highest propensity to engage in felony such as stealing from one another. The cultural value of garnering wealth looms so large that individuals go to the extent of acquiring wealth by any means.
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Application to the problem
Strains or stressors as discussed by the theory increases the likelihood of committing crime. The emotions such as frustrations and anger create pressure for corrective actions such as engaging in criminal behavior. In this case, crime is taken as a means to reduce the strain or alleviate negative emotions. Example, individuals experiencing unemployment may indulge in selling illicit drugs as a means to achieve monetary success.
Conflict Theory
Karl Marx developed the paradigm and purported that the society is always in the state of conflict due to the continuous contestation for finite resources. The theorist perceived the society as being composed of individuals from different social classes who must contest for limited resources such as employment, food, leisure time, education and housing ( Sedek, 2018) . The implication of Karl Max proposition is that people in possession of resources hoard and protect them while those who are deprived use any mean to access them thereby triggering conflict between the wealthy and the poor. The theorist however viewed conflict as an engine of societal transformation since conflict in some instances stimulate contradictions that are resolved through favorable policy implementation.
Application
Based on the propositions of Karl Max, capitalist societies are characterized by dominance of a wealthy elite who continuously exploit others leading to unequal resource distribution. In such a society, individuals and institutions are marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed ( Sedek, 2018) . In a quest to survive or gain material wealth that induces inequality in such a society, the oppressed and the marginalized resort to committing crimes.
Policies
The strain theory builds the idea that unrealizable goals stimulate negative emotions. This can be used to inform a criminal justice policy on anger management which should be emphasized among populations as an appropriate strategy towards coping with stress rather than resorting to alternative criminal means such as beating or robbing someone ( Agnew, 2019) . The theory can be applied in training and encouraging K-12 schools to educate the learners that accumulation of wealth ought not to be a priority. The theory can be used to develop a policy requiring the institutions to teach children the value of family, job stability and good health rather than focusing on becoming wealthy. The theory can inform policies on equalization of opportunities such as paying females equal wages to their male counterparts, making it easier for populations in lower economic classes to attend college and offering intensive education to individuals in low income areas ( Eriksson & Broidy, 2017) . The policies would have a positive impact in crime alleviation due to reduction of societal stressors that induce delinquency and violence.
The government can explore proposition of strain theory to transform the society through increased funding for school systems and creation of industries to provide employment ( Byrne & Hummer, 2016) . A policy on tracking in high schools, can be formulated requiring institutions to group students according to perceived ability and needs in an effort to provide the learners with level of instruction that changes the behavior of those who are poorly socialized and may have a high likelihood of committing crime. The strain theories assert that the gang problem in urban cities is a result of an education system that is too middle class to address the unique challenges of urban youth. The strain proposition can inform policies on training and hiring significant number of teachers from minority populations, increased funding for treatment of learning disabilities and early learner assessment as well as creation of a range of alternative education programs to address the unique needs of inner-city learners. From the strain theorists’ perspective, probation and parole officers need to collaborate with individuals offenders in area of employment and education. The strain theory can inform a directive requiring parole and probation officers to act as change advocates in employment and education opportunity structure through for example mandatory supervision that require offenders to stay in school.
The conflict theory asserts that social unrest will always be rife if the wealth gap is too wide. The government can rely on principles of conflict theory to draft policies that encourage reallocation of resources between the poor and the wealthy. Criminologists can advise the government to draft mechanisms that influence resource distribution such as minimum wages, progressive taxes, incentives, regulations, social assistance and special programs. In reference to conflict theory, the gap between those who have resources and the poor create a disorganized community whose solution is reorganization. To reverse the tide of social disorganization that stirs conflict in the society, several policies infirmed by conflict theory can be put into practice to influence level of crime in the community ( Carter, 2014) . Residential management of public housing would create stability and increase access of housing resource to the disadvantaged. Tenants’ buyout policy can be put into practice to increase home ownership and encourage locale commitment.
The theory can be applied to practice through a proposition on rehabilitation of exiting low income housing particularly single family homes to minimize the struggle between those with decent homes and people with dilapidated ones ( Byrne & Hummer, 2016) . Conflict theory bases its premise on inequality as can be seen in the punishment imposed on those who commit white and blue collar crimes. The punishment for committing them two is disproportionate since harsh penalties are handed to those who commit blue colar felonies. A criminal justice policy equalizing the punishment imposed on the two crimes would result to a significant reduction in white related felonies.
Obstacles
Deeply ingrained structural racism coupled with systemic bias in criminal justice system would act as a barrier towards seamless implementation of the proposed policies. Lack or necessary resources, requisite education and training would also inhibit implementation. Lack of support from the political class in terms of funding and community failure to collaborate are example of obstacles towards implementation.
Weaknesses/Shortcoming
Strain theory overlooks spontaneous crimes in the society and lays more focus on materialistic items. The paradigm encourages measurement of success in economic terms through accumulation of money. The theory displays difficulties in explaining non-economic felonies ( Eriksson & Broidy, 2017) . Conflict theory on the other hand ignores the possibility that in capitalists societies sport can be a source of experience that give power to individual and groups. The theory also ignores the importance of diversities such as race, gender and ethnicity when explaining how people want to identify themselves.
References
Agnew, R. (2019). The Rise of Social Control Theory, Fall of Classic Strain Theory, and Reconciliation Between Social Control and General Strain Theories. Fifty Years of Causes of Delinquency, Volume 25: The Criminology of Travis Hirschi , 29.
Carter, B. (2014). Capitalism, Class Conflict and the New Middle Class (RLE Social Theory) . Routledge.
Byrne, J., & Hummer, D. (2016). An examination of the impact of criminological theory on community corrections practice. Fed. Probation , 80 , 15.
Eriksson, L., & Broidy, L. (2017). Strain Theory and Crime. In The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice (pp. 543-556). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
James, N. (2015). Is Violent Crime in the United States Increasing? (pp. 7-5700). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
Sedek, N. F. B. M. (2018). Marxist Conflict Theory as a Theory of Crime.
