SPEA-J - Public And Environmental Affairs SPEA-J 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Routine Activity Theory, Social Disorganization Theory, Adderall
25 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
Structural strain theories: merton"s social control & anomie. Agency: capacity to achieve desired ends via individual choice. Structure: enduring patterns of social organization (gender, class) Cultural goals: accumulation of wealth (in america) Institutional means: morals regulations (hard work); socially approved. Anomie: loss of regulatory social control or sate or normalness. Merton describes how crime may result from imbalance in cultural & social structure. Feeling defeated when you don"t achieve a goal. A societies goals may be more stressed than the institutional means. Winning is more important than how you get there (ex: cheating in solitaire) We say drugs are bad but: day/nyquil so we don"t miss work, adderall to study, steroids for sports, speed in the airforce. Anomic societies may highly stress goals but means aren"t there causing possible strain. Crime may result as a psychological norm to strain. This a good theory at a macrolevel, not an individual level: agnew"s general strain theory.
