s lower-class youths to become alienated from the middle-class clique and leads to a culture of destructive ôpeer pressureö (Elliott and Voss 1974). Eventually, many of these students leave school early, before they have even attained a high school diploma. These youths, deprived of legitimate means to achieve their goals, often turn to illegitimate means (crime).
Jarjoura (1995) articulated another variation on the Strain Theory that is relevant to this discussion. Social class is irrelevant. Instead, the strain on these young people is an incongruence between the pressure to succeed and the actual ability to succeed. This leads to unrealistic demands that manifests itself as delinquent behavior, particularly violent acts.
MertonÆs strain theory identified five particular groups in strain theory. The conformist accepts both the means (good grades in school) and the goal (success in life), though they do not always achieve those goals. The innovators reject the means but accept the goals, leading them to adopt their own means (such as robbery and embezzlement). Ritualists accept the means but reject the goals, only because they cannot attain them. Retreatists reject both, for whatever reason, and often end up as addicts or alcoholics. The rebel also rejects both means and goals, but instead of self-destructing, the rebel creates new means and goals.
Social Control Theory, by contrast, focuses on the various influences that shape human behavior. At the macrosocial level are formal controls such as laws, law enforcement, government, and other groups that place parameters around behavior. At the microsocial level are the informal controls such as family. The level of attachment at this level is determinative for the Social Control Theory.
Hirschi (1969) attempted to explain how these controls work by linking them to bonds. An individualÆs acceptance of societal norms depends on that personÆs attachment ...