Functionalism: Strain Theory (AQA A Level Sociology): Revision Note

Merton's strain theory

• Functionalist thinker Merton (1938) adapted Durkheim’s concept of anomie to explain crime

• He wanted to understand why crime was most common among poorer groups in capitalist societies such as the USA

The American Dream

• In the USA, institutions like the media and education socialise people into believing in the 'American Dream':

  • Anyone can achieve prosperity and upward mobility through hard work

  • Success is measured by shared goals, e.g., financial wealth and home ownership

  • Success should be achieved by legitimate means, e.g., gaining qualifications and securing well-paid jobs

The strain

• In reality, many people are blocked from achieving success due to poverty, discrimination, or lack of opportunity

• This produces a strain or pressure between:

  • cultural factors: society’s strong emphasis on achieving shared goals

  • structural factors: unequal access to legitimate opportunities

Crime as a response

• When legitimate opportunities are blocked, individuals may turn to illegitimate means (e.g., theft, fraud) to achieve success 'at any price'

• At the same time, social norms are not strong enough to stop some people from giving in to this pressure

• For Merton, this explains why crime is widespread in societies like the USA — it is a social product of the gap between goals and means

Deviant adaptations to strain

• Merton argued that when people experience strain, especially the poor, they may feel anomie

• This weakens their commitment to shared values and order

• In response, individuals adopt one of five types of behaviour, depending on whether they accept, reject, or replace society’s goals and the legitimate means of achieving them

Conformity

• Individuals accept society’s goals and the approved means of achieving them

• Most common response, especially among the middle class who have good opportunities

• Merton sees this as typical of most Americans: they work hard and accept responsibility for their own success or failure

Innovation

• Individuals accept society’s goals of success, but cannot achieve them legitimately

• They turn to illegitimate means such as theft, fraud, or drug dealing

• Often linked to working-class crime, where legitimate opportunities are blocked

• Those at the lower end of the class structure face the greatest pressure to innovate

Ritualism

• Individuals abandon society’s goals but continue to follow the rules rigidly

• Characterised by a lack of ambition and a focus on routine

• Common in lower-middle-class jobs, where success is unlikely but conformity to rules continues

Retreatism

• Individuals reject both society’s goals and legitimate means

• They 'drop out' of society, e.g., alcoholics, drug addicts, and vagrants

Rebellion

• Individuals reject existing goals and means but replace them with new ones

• Political radicals or revolutionaries seeking social change

• May involve violent revolution or terrorism, e.g., the French Revolution (1789) or the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1979)

Evaluation of Merton’s strain theory

Strengths

• Explains patterns of crime

  • Merton's theory helps explain why working-class crime is higher in the USA, where opportunities are blocked

  • It fits with official statistics showing higher crime rates among disadvantaged groups

• Capitalism as a cause of crime

  • Merton shows how the capitalist system creates pressure to achieve material success

  • Summer (2004) and Young (2007) argue this reveals the main cause of modern crime: society’s obsession with wealth

• Shared motivations

  • Shows how criminals and non-criminals are driven by the same goals

  • Both conformists and innovators pursue money success — one through legitimate means, the other through illegitimate means

Criticisms

• Too deterministic

  • Assumes everyone is motivated by monetary success

  • Ignores that many working-class people facing strain don’t commit crime and may value helping others or job satisfaction over wealth

• Ignores power and inequality

  • Marxists argue Merton overlooks how the powerful shape laws to protect themselves and target the poor

  • Fails to explain white-collar and corporate crime, often committed by the wealthy

  • Underestimates crime among the middle and upper classes, who are not affected by blocked opportunities in the same way

• Limited scope

  • Focuses on utilitarian crime (e.g., theft, fraud) but not crimes without financial motives (e.g., violence, vandalism)

  • Overlooks the role of group crime and subcultures, later explained by theorists such as Cohen and Cloward & Ohlin