study of crime, criminology, has developed into a subdiscipline separate from the soci-
ology of deviance, with its own special theories about the causes and consequences
of different kinds of crime.
What causes crime?
Strain Theory
Robert K. Merton (1957) argued that while some deviance benefits society, some
deviance also puts an enormous strainon social life. He argued that excessive deviance
is a by-product of inequality. When a society promotes certain goals but provides
unequal means of acquiring them, the result is anomie, a conflict between accepted
norms and social reality. This is called strain theory.
For instance, in the United States, and to some degree in all industrialized soci-
eties, we promote the goalof financial success and claim that it can be achieved
through the meansof self-discipline and hard work. But these qualities will lead to
financial success only when channeled through a prestigious education or network
of prestigious social contacts, advantages that many people do not have. They will
therefore feel pressured to use alternative means,legitimate or illegitimate, to reach
the goal (Merton, 1967).
According to Merton, there are five potential reactions to the tension between
widely endorsed values and limited means of achieving them:
1.Conformistsaccept both the means and the values, whether they achieve the goal
or not. They may not achieve financial success, but they will still believe that it
is important and that self-discipline and hard work are appropriate means of
achieving it. Most people are conformists.2.Innovatorsaccept the values but reject the means. They believe that financial
success is an important goal but not that self-discipline and hard work are effec-
tive means of achieving it. Instead, they seek out new means to financial success.
They may try to win the lottery, or they may become con artists or thieves.3.Ritualistsaccept the means but reject the values. They follow rules for their
own sake, conforming to standards even though they have lost sight of the
values behind them. They will work hard but have no aspirations to financial
success.4.Rebelsreject both the means and the values and substitute new ones. Instead of
financial success, for instance, they may value the goal of spiritual fulfillment, to
be achieved not through hard work but through quiet contemplation.5.Retreatistsreject both the means and the values and replace them with nothing.
They do not accept the value of working hard, and they have not devised any
alternative means. They have no aspirations to financial success, or any alterna-
tive goal, such as spiritual or artistic fulfillment.Critics of strain theory point out that not everyone shares the same goals, even
in the most homogeneous society. There are always many potential goals, conflicting
and sometimes contradictory. And while strain theory may adequately explain some
white-collar crime, such as juggling the books at work, and some property crimes,
such as stealing a television set, it is less effective when explaining those crimes that
lack an immediate financial motive.
DEVIANCE AND CRIME 179