User:AlxRgo196/sandbox

Main Plan Outline

The article I am planning on editing is Strain Theory (sociology). My plan is as follows:

1. Adding more on Strain Theory itself, as the majority of the article centers around the people behind it.
2. Introduces studies done on Strain Theory.

That is my plan for editing this article.

Plan for the general strain theory addition:

Main Article: General Strain Theory

General strain theory (GST) is a sociology and criminology theory developed by Robert Agnew. The core idea of general strain theory is that people who experience strain or stress become distressed or upset which may lead them to commit crime in order to cope. One of the key principle of this theory is emotion as the motivator for crime. The theory was developed to conceptualizes the full range of sources in society where strain possibly comes from, which Merton's strain theory does not. The theory also focuses on the perspective of goals for status, expectations and class rather than focusing on money( as Merton's theory does).

GST introduces 3 main sources of strain such as

1. Loss of positive stimuli (death of family or friend)
2. Presentation of negative stimuli (physical and verbal assaults)
3. The unable of blockage to reach a desired goal.

An example of General Strain Theory is people who use illegal drugs to make themselves feel better, or a student assaulting his peers to end the harassment they causes.

Plan for the Robert K. Merton addition:

Robert King Merton was a sociologist who argued that society maybe set up to enough deviance to a large degree. Merton believe that when socially accepted goals put pressure on the people to conform, people are forced to either work within the system or become a member of a deviant sub culture to achieve the goals. Merton's theory became known as Strain Theory. Merton believe that when individuals become faced with a gap between the social goal and their current state, strain will occur. Then, people have 5 ways to adapt:

1. Conformity: pursing cultural goals through socially approved means.
2. Innovation: using socially unapproved or unconventional means to obtain culturally approved goals. Example: dealing drugs or stealing to achieve financial security.
3. Ritualism: using the same socially approved means to achieve more modest and humble goals.
4. Retreatism: to reject both the culturally goals and the means to obtain it and find a way to escape it.
5. Rebellion: to reject the culturally goals and means and work to replace them.

Criticism of Strain Theory

Strain Theory has received several criticisms such as:

1. Strain Theory best applies only to the lower class as they struggle with limited resources to obtain their goals.
2. Strain Theory fails to explain white collar crime, the perpetrator of whom have many opportunities to achieve through legal and legitimate means.
3. Strain Theory fails to explain to us about crimes based in gender inequality.
4. Merton deals with individuals forms of responses instead of group activity which crime involves.
5. Merton's Theory is not very critical of the social structure that he says generate the strains.
6. Strain Theory neglects the inter and intrapersonal aspect of crime.

New strain Theories

Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) is a criminology theory developed by Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld. The theory proposes that an institutional arrangement with a market, where the market/economy is allowed to operate/dominate without restraints from other social intuitions like family will likely cause criminal behavior. Derived from Merton's Strain Theory, IAT expands on the macro levels of the theory. IAT's focus centers on the criminal influences of varied social institutions, rather then just the economic structure.

Bibliography

1. Agnew, Robert. "General Strain Theory." Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice (2014): 1892-900. Web.
2. Agnew, Robert. "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 (2001): 319-61. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.
3. Agnew, Robert. "General Strain Theory and Delinquency." The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice Krohn/The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice (2015): 237-56. Web.
4. Paternoster, R., and P. Mazerolle. "General Strain Theory and Delinquency: A Replication and Extension." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 31.3 (1994): 235-63. Web.
5. Merton, Robert King. Social Theory and Social Structure; toward the Codification of Theory and Research. Glencoe, IL: Free, 1957. Print.
6. Merton, Robert K. 1932. “Social Structure and Anomie.” American Sociological Review 3(5): 672-682.