robert k. merton views crime as a desire for success when the legitimate means to achieve it are limited.
robert k. merton views crime as a desire for success when the legitimate means to achieve it are limited.
who views crime as a desire for success when the legitimate means to achieve it are limited?
robert k. merton
robert k. merton discussed deviance in terms of goals and means as part of his strain/anomie theory. where durkheim states that anomie is the confounding of social norms, merton goes further and states that anomie is the state in which social goals and the legitimate means to achieve them do not correspond. he postulated that an individual's response to societal expectations and the means by which the individual pursued those goals were useful in understanding deviance. specifically, he viewed collective action as motivated by strain, stress, or frustration in a body of individuals that arises from a disconnection between the society's "goals" and the popularly used "means" to achieve those goals. often, non-routine collective behavior (rioting, rebellion, etc.) is said to map onto economic explanations and causes by way of strain. these two dimensions determine the adaptation to society according to the cultural goals, which are the society's perceptions about the ideal life, and to the institutionalized means, which are the legitimate means through which an individual may aspire to the cultural goals.
deviance (sociology)
the pope stated that "any restriction whatever of the number of priests is a grave violation of divine rights", urging the "bishops, the clergy, and the catholic laity to continue to protest with all their energy against such violation, using every legitimate means.". (paragraph 20 makes it clear that "legitimate means" did not include renewed rebellion.) as a remedy the letter especially urged that "the priests with their proved spirit of abnegation render ever more intense their sacred ministry, particularly among the young and the common people, striving to carry on a work of persuasion and of charity especially among the enemies of the church, who combat her because they do not know her." it also urged "instituting and furthering to an ever greater extent catholic action", "recourse to the sacraments, sources of grace and strength, and instruction in the truth of the faith. rejecting further rebellion, the letter counseled laymen to "the closest union with the church and the hierarchy, manifesting it by their docility to her teachings and directions".
acerba animi