What Is the Level of Explanation, Problem Focus, and Scope

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The Answer is Traditionally, social strain and anomie theories focus on explaining structural variations in crime rates. In particular, strain theorists emphasize the criminogenic nature of capitalism. These theories focus on explaining group dynamics of crime and how these relate to larger structural and cultural factors. New theories examine interpersonal dynamics and individual-level factors while still remaining true to the logic in Merton's original social strain and anomie theory. The scope of Merton's (1938) original strain theory focuses primarily on street-level crime committed for profit; however, other types of crime (e.g., drug use, civil disobedience) and emergence of criminal subcultures are addressed in some cases. He discussed the phenomenon of white-collar and upper-class crime, but he assumed that this type of crime was much less common.

What Is the Level of Explanation, Problem Focus, and Scope

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