Provide An Overview Of The Criminological Theory You Selecte

Provide An Overview Of The Criminological Theory You Selected Include

Provide an overview of the criminological theory you selected. Include the main tenets and propositions in your overview. Describe how this theory explains the occurrence of crime. Include biological, psychological, social, and structural variables. Provide three crime reduction strategies or policies that are based on the theory that you selected. These may be existing strategies or policies, or ones that you create. Analyze how each crime reduction strategy or policy is based on the theory that you selected. Identify which theoretical tenet each crime reduction strategy or policy is based on. Summarize your presentation by explaining which types of crimes each of your strategies or policies will most likely impact and how they might contribute to social change. three scholarly resources that focus on a criminological theory. Select one criminological theory to use in your presentation.

Paper For Above instruction

The criminological theory selected for this analysis is the Strain Theory, a prominent sociological perspective that seeks to explain the occurrence of crime through the tensions between societal goals and the means available to achieve them. Developed primarily by Robert K. Merton in the 1930s, Strain Theory posits that crime results when individuals experience a disjunction between culturally approved goals and the structurally available means to attain them. This strain creates pressure that may lead individuals to commit crimes as alternative routes to achieve success or relieve frustration.

Main Tenets of Strain Theory

The central tenets of Strain Theory revolve around the concept of societal pressure or strain resulting from unequal opportunities. Merton identified five modes of individual adaptation: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. Of particular importance is the mode of innovation, where individuals accept societal goals but resort to illegitimate means when legitimate opportunities are inaccessible. The theory emphasizes that structural factors, such as economic disparity, lack of education, and unemployment, generate strain that increases the likelihood of criminal behavior.

Moreover, Strain Theory highlights that societal structures often marginalize certain groups, making criminality more prevalent among the economically disadvantaged. The disparity between cultural aspirations and available opportunities fosters innovation through crime as a way to achieve societal success or as a response to the inability to attain success through legitimate channels.

Biological variables have a limited direct connection to Strain Theory but are considered in broader criminological frameworks addressing individual responsiveness to strain. Psychological factors, such as frustration tolerance and personality traits like impulsivity, influence how individuals cope with stress and strain. Social variables are central; societal inequalities, community disorganization, and lack of social cohesion amplify experiences of strain, increasing the propensity for criminal behavior. Structural factors, including economic inequality, unemployment rates, and access to education, shape the societal environment that fosters or mitigates strain.

Crime Reduction Strategies Based on Strain Theory

1. Economic and Educational Opportunities Expansion: Policies aimed at reducing economic inequality by providing better access to education and employment opportunities directly target the structural strains that produce crime. By alleviating the lack of legitimate means, individuals are less likely to resort to criminal activities to achieve societal success. This strategy is based on the tenet that improving structural opportunities decreases the pressure or strain leading to innovation through crime.
2. Community Development and Social Cohesion Programs: Strengthening community networks and fostering social support systems aim to reduce social disorganization and marginalization. These programs decrease social strain by creating environments where individuals feel integrated and supported, reducing frustration and the likelihood of criminal responses, aligning with the tenet that social disintegration fosters deviance.
3. Remedial Justice and Rehabilitation Policies: Implementing restorative justice and rehabilitative programs that address the underlying frustrations and psychological strain experienced by offenders helps reduce recidivism. These policies focus on healing the individual’s social and psychological deficits that result from structural strain, based on the understanding that personal and psychological adaptation to strain influences criminal behavior.

Impact and Social Change

The strategies rooted in Strain Theory primarily target property crimes, economic crimes, and certain types of violence related to social frustration, such as gang violence. By alleviating economic hardship and fostering community resilience, these policies can contribute to social stability and decrease crime rates associated with economic deprivation. Furthermore, these strategies promote social equity and inclusive development, fostering long-term social change by addressing root causes of strain and reducing societal disparities. They help in creating a more equitable society where legitimate opportunities are accessible, thereby reducing the societal pressures that lead to criminal behavior.

Conclusion

In summary, Strain Theory offers valuable insights into how structural inequalities and societal pressures contribute to criminality. Crime reduction strategies that focus on improving economic and social opportunities, strengthening community ties, and rehabilitating offenders address the core elements of the theory. These approaches can lead to meaningful social change by reducing the societal strains that foster criminal behavior and promoting more equitable and cohesive communities.

References

• Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672-682.
• Bursik, R. J., & Grasmick, H. G. (1993). Social Disorganization Theory. In Richard J. Bursik & Harold G. Grasmick (Eds.), Neighborhoods and Crime (pp. 27-55). Lexington Books.
• Oxford University Press.
• American Journal of Sociology, 94(4), 774-802.
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• Journal of Social Issues, 76(2), 357-375.
• Oxford Handbooks Online.
• Harvard Law Review, 109(8), 1713-1771.
• Criminology & Public Policy, 17(3), 755-772.
• Annual Review of Criminology, 5, 25-43.