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In the fields of sociology and criminology, strain theory is a theoretical perspective that aims to explain the relationship between social structure, social values or goals, and crime. Strain theory was originally introduced by Robert King Merton (1938), and argues that society's dominant cultural values and social structure causes strain ...
Manifest functions are the consequences that people see, observe or even expect. It is explicitly stated and understood by the participants in the relevant action. The manifest function of a rain dance, used as an example by Merton in his 1957 Social Theory and Social Structure, is to produce rain, and this outcome is intended and desired by people participating in the ritual.
Social disorganization theory postulates that neighborhoods plagued with poverty and economic deprivation tend to experience high rates of population turnover. [36] This theory suggests that crime and deviance is valued within groups in society, 'subcultures' or 'gangs'. These groups have different values to the social norm.
Value-added theory (also known as social strain theory) is a sociological theory, first proposed by Neil Smelser in 1962, which posits that certain conditions are needed for the development of a social movement.
Punishment and Social Structure (1939), a book written by Georg Rusche and Otto Kirchheimer, is the seminal Marxian analysis of punishment as a social institution. [1] It represents the "most sustained and comprehensive account of punishment to have emerged from within the Marxist tradition" and "succeeds in opening up a whole vista of understanding which simply did not exist before it was ...
Social control plays a crucial role in providing a more productive and harmonious community. It contributes to the growth of an individual, and the progression of the community. For instance, places with higher crime rates are more likely to be the place where poverty, mobility, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity are most susceptible.
There are also debates over the nature and cause of prisoner social groups. One theory is that social groups are formed to reduce the discomforts of incarceration, and are therefore directly caused by the nature of imprisonment, [9] while others believe that personal experience and the structure of each particular institution have more impact ...
The notion of social structure is intimately related to a variety of central topics in social science, including the relation of structure and agency. The most influential attempts to combine the concept of social structure with agency are Anthony Giddens' theory of structuration and Pierre Bourdieu's practice theory. Giddens emphasizes the ...