How Our Society Pressure People to Commit Crime

How Our Society Pressure People to Commit Crime

Robert Merton's Strain Theory and Crime

Why do people still commit crime even when they know that crime does not pay? Merton claims The concept of Anomie is linked to the French sociologist, Emile Durkheim (1858 – 1917) who awarded three different meanings to a situation of normlessness and lawlessness:

(1) Failure to assimilate societal and group norms

(2) Failure to adjust to changing norms

(3) The result of stress emanating from conflicting norms (Carrabine, Lee, Plummer, South, & Iganski, 2004).

            Merton explains crime from Merton’s strain theory on the basis of stress, pressure and frustration as a result of a person’s position in the social stratification and mobility system. He noted that the American society, as is the case with most other societies, overrates the pursuit of materials wealth. Consequently in a material oriented society, society exerts pressure on its members to succeed in life because everything is defined in terms of social class and status. The American dream of beautiful wife, nice home, good car, wonderful job and beautiful children serves as the culturally defined goals (Carrabine et al., 2004).

            A good example is Kenya, where conflict gradually build up with roots in relative deprivation exacerbated by practice of marginalization in successive Kenyan governments. Kenya is becoming a ticking time bomb. Thus narrowing economic perspectives due to declining economic growth, deepening inequality and pauperization due to Structural Adjustment and the arbitrary ravages of corruption have combined to create a multidimensional social crisis. The DPMF’s research on Social Policy Development and Governance has hinted at the inherent dangers of the ever yawning gap between the wealthy and marginalized majority in this country. The resultant social structure creates an environment in which  problem devince thrives (Atieno-odhiambo, 2002).

            According to the strain theory, humans have a natural tendency to observe assimilated norms as exemplified by the psychoanalytic conscience. Stark (1987) argue that “Yet, some people often act against their conscience because of the terrible strain upon them.” Distinguishing between legitimate means of achieving success and culturally valued goals, Merton argued that criminal problem arises when the means to success does not necessarily lead to realization of the culturally defined goals.  This distortion between means and goals, places a person in a dilemma between felling of guilt and human desire, with desire often winning (stark, 1987).

            The measurement of success goal in the society is wealth possession. In stabilized societies, Merton noted that the conventional success was achieved through talent, hard work, education and business for example. But in destabilized societies and banana republics, what was important is not sticking to legitimate means but attaining the goals. Therefore, in stabilized societies hard work and business leads to realization of the culturally valued goals. on the other hand in destabilized societies, the yawning chasms between theoretic and reality, leads not to realization of goals due to inherent relative deprivation (Carrabine et al., 2004).

            More than any other time in Kenyan history, the youth are disenchanted and  frustrated by years of exclusion from decision making platforms and the inability of the ruling elite to create jobs and increase opportunities for upward mobility. Many do not vote and view the electoral process as yet another opportunity for the political elite to entrench their hold on power. Since independence, the possibility of youth upward mobility diminished a situation that saw Kenya’s young people become increasingly disillusioned. These frustrated people have a propensity to engage in crime and deviant activities. (Atieno-Odhiambo, 2002)

            Conformity is living a conventional life involving acceptance of both culture goals and culture means, i.e. the true story of “success” to gain wealth and prestige are through talent, legitimate business and hard work. Such people ply the torturous path through school, business and arts to make their mark in life. Once they get employed they strive to lead decent living from the income generated (Carrabine et al. 2004).

            In Kenya, university education is seen as the make it or break it for conformists i.e. Education is the key to success for many reasons. It broadens one's mind and opens the door to new and better job opportunities, advancing a person successfully in professional life. Conformist seems to internalize the approved means therefore under internal pressure not to innovate.

            Merton called this type of behavior innovation – the attempt to achieve a culturally approved goal by unconventional means. Innovation accepts the goal of success while rejecting the conventional means of becoming rich. Conventional means to success is out of touch with reality on the ground. They scoff at conformists as being naïve and lacking ambition. Going to church is a cover up tactic. They opt for short cuts to go ahead of the others. Crimes in this category include cheating in business, corruption, selling fake products and tax evasion.

            The story of many countries is one of many innovations. For instance, even some conformist’s students have been known to cheat along the way in life in order to attain the culturally defined goals. This is partly due to the slow and painstaking route to success (Cavey, 1978)

            Convinced that the goal of material success was next to impossible, some people abandon it all together and resort to lesser tasks. The strain of limited success convinces them to abandon cultural goals for less stannous assignments but maintain their respect and stick to the culturally approved means. Primarily, this group embraces the rules of the game to the point that they lose sight of goals they once believed to be within reach. It is common for ritualists to settle for lesser goals doing less paying jobs to get ends meet (Carrabine et al., 2004).

            Fate sinks deeper into people’s lives. Many students upon entering first years in college usually believe that first class is attainable. Little do they know that a degree is only possible through working smart? By the end of first year the painful reality makes many lose sight of ever achieving their goals in life. Such students are forced by circumstances beyond their reach to strive for a second class (lower) if at all they are lucky! 

            Retreatism was the rejection of both the cultural goal of material success and access to the approved means they once believed were achievable. They adopt a 'can't make it” and “why try” attitude to life. However they are under internal pressure not to adopt an alternative lifestyle, as vagrants pursue altered states of consciousness. Retreatism means withdrawing oneself, from what an impractical world. In effect, they are “dropouts”. They include the alcoholics, drug-addicts and ‘Area-boys’. They lose faith in hard work, honesty, investment, education and even in seeking wealth (Cavey, 1978).

            Indeed when destitution weighs down too much, humans are forced to abandon not only the cultural goals but institutional means of achieving those goals. Vagaries of life, vicissitude and luckless battle with life hold down heavily on members. There is no wonder that hopelessness renders them so careless about their bodily hygiene that the stench emanating from their bodies is simply unstoppable. You can smell retreats a mile away. Hard living compels them to seek solace in drugs, idling, and other simple forms of entertainment within their reach..

            In contrast to Retreatism, Merton termed Rebellion as involving the rejection of both the cultural definition of success and the normative means of achieving it. People therefore invent a new cultural goal and new means of achieving the desires. That is, they advocated radical alternatives to the existing social order. These are people who dedicate their lives to revolutionary organizations or transformative social movements; substituting new cultural goals and new means of adaptation. In essence they are anti-establishment (Carrabine et al., 2004).

            Again in Kenya, a case of rebellion is liberation struggle against the colonial administration of the day. After fighting for many years for their rights (cultural goal) through peaceful institutionally means without success, the finally gave up on non-violent protests. In fact doors were closed for peaceful processes. Thus even the most patient African movements abandoned culturally defined goals and means took up arms to fight for their goals as replacement of the old order. In the end a new different system from existing order was established. In South Africa the ANC and Nelson Mandela were forced to resort violence as the only way forward after decades of negotiations with iron- fisted apartheid regime failed to yield any results.

References

Atieno-odhiambo E. S. (2002). Hegemonic Enterprises and Instrumentalities of Survival: Ethnicity and Democracy in Kenya. African studies: volume 61 issue 2.

Carrabine, E,  Lee M., Plummer K., South, N., & Iganski, P. (2004). Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. London: Routledge.

Cavey, James T. (1978). Introduction to Criminology. (Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Stark, Rodney (1987). Sociology. 2nd edition. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.