General Strain Theory

Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST) extends and refines the classical anomie and strain approaches by broadening the range of sources of strain and by offering a more nuanced, psychologically informed explanation of how strain leads to crime. Unlike Merton, who focused on the disjunction between culturally valued goals and socially legitimate means, Agnew emphasized

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Robert K. Merton’s Anomie Theory expands Émile Durkheim’s concept of anomie by linking deviant behavior to social structures that create unequal access to culturally approved goals. Crime is understood not as individual pathology but as a collective adaptation to blocked opportunities in a stratified society. Merton argues that when socially approved goals (such as economic

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