What drives an individual to commit crimes? If one follows a certain formula, can they refrain from criminal behavior? What characteristics of an individual make them inclined to become deviant? These questions are evaluated by two theories presented by sociologists Travis Hirschi and Robert Merton. Anomie and the strain theory often go hand in hand — the strain theory explaining what presses people to commit crime, and anomie offering a potential solution to prevent individuals from committing acts of criminal deviance. It is worth noting what similarities and differences the two ideas share, as well as common weaknesses.
Travis Hirschi presents an interesting premise that four “social bonds” (attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief) control society and the individuals who live within it. He believes that what other people think of our own behavior, the commitment to relationships we have with peers, the involvement we have in activities, and the belief we have in abiding the law prevent members of society from committing crime. An adolescent may refrain from drinking alcohol underage in concern of disappointing their loving parents if they discovered the illegal behavior. A student who is involved with extracurriculars and sports doesn’t have the time to shoplift from the grocery store after school. It makes sense that people who have social and legal obligations would protect themselves and the relationships they have given the correct environment. But what happens if an individual lacks the necessary assets?
Robert Merton presents the strain theory, which greatly coincides with many of Hirschi’s ideas involving delinquency. Merton believes that there are two aspects involved in success — the goal, and the means of achieving that goal. In Merton’s analysis of Anomie he states, “The same body of success-symbols is held to be desirable for all. These goals are held to transcend class lines, not to be bounded by them, yet the actual social organization is such that there exist class differentials in the accessibility of these common success-symbols” (Merton, 680) In simpler terms he means, people in society generally have the similar goals, however only those who are “lucky” have the resources to achieve those goals. As an example, affluent families have the funds to send their child to college, allowing them to find successful careers and ultimately be able to buy a house and support a family. Someone in a less developed area may belong to a broken school system that doesn’t encourage higher education therefore preventing many students from obtaining long-term, well-paying jobs. The individual who belongs to this corrupt institution may still want economic success, but doesn’t have the means to do so. This individual is more likely to depend on illegal activity to achieve this success.
In some ways, the social strain imposed by members of society that causes people to turn to deviance can be solved by Hirschi’s control theory. By developing interests, relationships, and commitment to certain activities, deviance and crime can be avoided. However Hirschi fails to consider that not everyone has sufficient resources to follow the aspects of the control theory. Without this ideal environment, people may be less inclined to dedicate themselves to morale and instead fall into criminal behavior. For example, a child who has an absent parent may not have an apparent concern with the impact their behavior may have on their relationship, and therefore has no inclination to follow the rules.
Both Merton and Hirschi’s ideas both happen to be impacted by a racial factor. Merton highlights that access to success is limited depending on the social group that an individual is placed into. In the United States, living in a “rough neighborhood” with high crime rates and poverty can make people turn to crime in order to achieve success in life. Being raised in an area like this also leads many adolescents to take-part in gang activity and robbery amongst other things. Although this may not be a moral way to succeed both economically and socially, youths are oftentimes convinced by the people that they they are surrounded by that this is the only way to get what they want. In other words, the control theories imply that when a factor of control is missing, an ethical standpoint means very little. When morale is low, that is when individuals succumb to deviance and crime. Hirschi presents a similar idea to that of Merton: individuals with heavily structured lives are less likely to deviate from society’s norms and turn to crime. Those individuals are typically people who have jobs and families — people who have something to work and protect. This idea oftentimes creates a racial divide. According to the NAACP, “in 2014, African Americans constituted 2.3 million, or 34%, of the total 6.8 million correctional population.” (2014) Minority groups have a reputation to be provided with an unstructured environment due to the unfair racial divide of our world, which may be one reason why people of color have such a high imprisonment ranks.
Although this may be true in many aspects, there are certain weaknesses of both sociologist’s theories. Hirschi’s hypothesis that if you followed the four forms of social bonding, conformity to the law would be essentially assured. This idea cannot explain the trend of crime in white collar industries. People who work in professional environments tend to conform to Hirschi’s control theory — many having family, busy schedules, commitment to their social connections and reputations, even racial advantages. Despite having these qualities, things like tax evasion and embezzlement are common crimes amongst corporate employees. For example,
President Donald Trump is in the midst of accusations of tax fraud on a major scale. It is worth noting Trump’s personal background, being a child of a wealthy, American real estate developer. Even more recently, Trump has endless incentive to stay faithful to law — to protect his relationships, his power, and his reputation. If these allegations of evasion are accurate, we must question if the formula that Hirschi proposes is reliable. Similarly with Merton’s idea, Trump began his life with the means to follow all legal rules: financial encouragement, even racial privilege yet still likely partook in illegal behavior. The counterarguments against the strain theory and control theory cause these questions to be asked: Is it just coincidental that certain characteristics of a person, such as race, is often implied to deviance? Is deviance strictly a result of greed?
Although both Merton and Hirschi have their theories about what causes and prevents deviance in our society, it can be difficult to identify the true drive that makes people fall into criminal behavior. The theories that the sociologists propose both however support the idea that “missing pieces” or in a person’s life or the environment that they are surrounded by may lead to criminality. These theories, although have certain criticisms, may also explain part of the relationship between race and crime. Anomie and the control theory overall help us begin to understand the roots of crime and give us an understanding of why people deviate from society.