Social Structure Theories

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how social structure theories attempt to analyze the driving forces that change society and that sociologists who study social change use the study of both criminology and sociology to draw conclusions about criminal behavior. The paper further explains that the three main branches of social structure theories are the social disorganization theory, the social strain theory and the cultural deviance theory. In this paper, the major social structural theories are defined and analyzed. The culmination of this paper addresses the question - How well have social structure theories explained delinquent behavior in society?

From the Paper:

"The strain theories express the discontent of Americans who fail to achieve the American dream. Crimes committed by white collar, middle class workers can be explained by the strain theories. An example of this is workplace violence, which, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Characteristics accounts for 18 percent of all violent crime between 1993 and 1999 . Unfortunately, it is not unheard of for a worker who was recently fired to return to his old employer to vent his anger by opening fire on anyone in site. Such violence demonstrates how competition to succeed prompts crime as the anomie theory contends."

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