SOCL 3501 Chapter : Chapter 2 Notes
Document Summary
Sociology 3501: merton wanted to explain crime and deviance rates within the lower class, the strain theory says how society is arranged can cause crime and deviance. We have access to education, but it isn"t as equal as we think it is: this creates a strain. It comes about because of a disjuncture between goals and means: that strain can lead to anomie. Means: the most common mode of adaptation. This means you have goals and the means, but this doesn"t mean that economic success has been reached: most people conform. Innovation: trying to achieve goals, but doing it the wrong way, most linked with crime. Sociology 3501: drug use, prostitution, etc, retreatist, societal drop-outs exist among us, but not with us. They don"t actively participate with us as society tells us they should. They don"t do anything criminal necessarily: hobos, tramps (not a slutty connotation), vagabond, ritualism, going through the motions.
