Criminal Theories
Opportunity Theory- when social structures "exert a definite pressure" on individuals to commit a deviant act. Page: 117. Example: The CEO's of Enron saw the opportunity to easily scam millions of dollars without hurting anyone at the time. Living in a society that is capitalistic and driven by money and greed they saw the opportunity and decided to take it. This was going against the normal way (the legal) of running a business. This theory is explained extremely well by Merton on pages 122-123 in the bottom and top paragraphs. Merton states that "The equilibrium between culturally designated means and ends becomes highly unstable with the progressive emphasis on attaining the prestige-laden ends by any means whatsoever." This is precisely what happened in the Enron debacle. I believe that this theory also can be applied to anyone who sells drugs on any level. The deviant I believe is motivated by his culture, that culture is one based on money and good times. The individual involved, I believe, will get as involved as his superior or supplier will allow them to. For example; a kid who normally sells one ounce of marijuana at a time because he/she can not afford anymore will gladly accept a quarter-pound if his dea
To add to this theory of conflict I will add also the strain theory, which deals with the amount of strain on a society will affect its crime output. For instance, a poor society may be more inclined to steal than would a high income society. Cloward and Ohlin, two American sociologists attempted to talk about learning theory. They believed that not only must the society be poor but it must also help to teach people the ways of theft. Basically they believed that if they're people already stealing that more would learn the ways and begin stealing themselves. (Encarta, keyword Structural theories). This theory is basically made up of every excuse in the book. It is everything surrounding the criminal that caused the criminal to commit the crime therefore we should not overlook what caused the crime, Society. This is a fine line to argue about given that someone who sexually molests children should not be able to get a job working in a pre-school. However, the line has got to be drawn somewhere for the sheer fact that as juveniles, kids do stupid things that society has made illegal below certain ages. These things, if arrested for and convicted could then hinder job opportunities in the future, limiting ones capabilities. Personally I believe that it is human nature to make mistakes and there should be a level or a degree of labeling and further prosecution. The Labeling theory attempts to single out the individual and take the blame off of society which is quite different from the conflict and strain theories. This is where an individual is label within the society as a deviant. This can have both positive and negative reactions from society as a whole. The positive can come from the
Some common words found in the essay are:
Conflict Theory-, Society Labeling, CEO's Enron, Ohlin American, Emily Durkheim, Durkheim Durkheim, Opportunity Theory-, Jacks Hagedorn, encarta keyword, labeling theory, theory explained, theory based, instance poor, durkheim believed, deviant act, emily durkheim, modern era,
Approximate Word count = 1154
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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