Three theories of social structure and crime explanation

¶ … social structure that help to explain crime.

There are generally three social theories utilized by criminologists and sociologists to help explain criminal activity -- the social disorganization theory, the strain theory and the cultural deviance theory, all of which are closely related and often depend upon each other as a way of formulating an overall theory for crime.

With the first theory, this generally refers to "the failure of social institutions or social organizations. . . In certain communities and/or neighborhoods" which ultimately leads to criminal activity. Within the social disorganization theory, there are a number of important factors and conditions, such as that crime and delinquency are caused mostly by specific social factors, known as environmental determinism, the basic components of a social structure are unstable (i.e., anomie), and that "instabilities and their effects are worse for the lower classes" or those found living in poverty and broken families (2006, Internet).

With the second theory, strain is a sort of social regulatory valve which when not working properly tends to create a number of serious problems and side effects, one being criminal activity. This is also known as structural strain which refers to "the process by which inadequate regulation at the societal level filters down" to how a person perceives his/her own personal needs and desires. In other words, this is a type of friction which disrupts social regulation and creates criminal activity (2006, Internet).