The three main theories of social structure are the social disorganization theory, strain theory and culture conflict theory. These theories explain the various perspectives of crime with respect to society. All three theories have their own representation for the crime. The social disorganization theory represents the relation between crime and society in a pathological framework where the society is the body or organism whereas the crime is a parasite and disease which creates a deviance. These theories mainly relate to the ecological setup of society and were developed in the 1920s and 1930s (“Social structure theories,” n.d.). According to this, crime is a disease which inflicts society, disrupts its normal functioning and is responsible for all problems prevalent in society. The strain theory explains it by a means of economic and motivational goals of society where there comes a lack of deficit in the attainment of successful goals and the lack of social resources and approved means of attaining them. Therefore when there is a lack of legitimate means, people turn to crime and deviant means as the answer to the attainment of their goals. When they become successful in these, they keep turning back to crime for seeking their economic gains. The culture conflict theory suggests that the main cause of criminal behavior and crime, in general, is the disagreement between the varying social groups and the acceptable, social behavior. Therefore if one person has a tendency to commit a crime, he will be considered criminal because he turned to crime as his means of earning and incorporated it in his lifestyle (“Social structure theories,” n.d.).
The positive social theory does not blame society for nurturing and turning a person into a criminal. Rather, it supports the belief that a person is born with a criminal nature and crime is not adapted from society. This is based on the idea that there are always fewer criminals as opposed to the general population, whereas the idea of crime is widespread. Hence, the fault needs to lie in a person and not the society (“Social structure theories,” n.d.).
Work Cited
Social structure theories. Retrieved July 5, 2016, from
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