Illegitimate Opportunity
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Illegitimate Opportunity
Illegitimate opportunity theory holds that individuals commit crimes when the chances of being caught are low but from readily available illegitimate opportunities. The theory was first formalized by Richard Cloward Richard Andrew Cloward (December 25, 1926 – August 20, 2001) was an American sociologist and activist. He influenced the Strain theory of criminal behavior and the concept of anomie, and was a primary motivator for the passage of the Na ... and Lloyd Ohlin in 1960.Gangs and gang activity in a non-metropolitan community: The perceptions of students, teachers, and police officers
Social Behavior and Personality, 2001 by Swetnam, Josh; Pope, Jacqueline It is closely related to
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Richard Cloward
Richard Andrew Cloward (December 25, 1926 – August 20, 2001) was an American sociologist and activist. He influenced the Strain theory of criminal behavior and the concept of anomie, and was a primary motivator for the passage of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, commonly known as the "Motor Voter Act". He taught at Columbia University for 47 years. Early life Cloward was born in Rochester, New York, the son of Esther Marie (Fleming), an artist and women's rights activist, and Donald Cloward, a radical Baptist minister. Cloward served as an ensign in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester in 1949, and then a master's degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work in 1950. He then served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1954, and later worked as a social worker in an army prison in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. Cloward became an assistant professor at Columbia's Sc ...
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Lloyd Ohlin
Lloyd Edgar Ohlin (August 27, 1918 – December 6, 2008) was an American sociologist and criminologist who taught at Harvard Law School, Columbia University, and the University of Chicago over his career where he studied the causes and effects of crime and punishment, especially as it related to youthful offenders and delinquents.Fox, MargalitLloyd E. Ohlin, Expert on Crime and Punishment, Is Dead at 90 ''The New York Times'', January 3, 2009. Accessed January 5, 2009. Life and career Ohlin was born on August 27, 1918, in Belmont, Massachusetts, the son of Elise (Nelson) and Emil Ohlin, Swedish-born immigrants. He received a bachelor's degree in 1940 from Brown University and was awarded a master's degree in sociology from Indiana University in 1942. He later earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1954. He served in the United States Army during World War II, performing counterintelligence in Europe. During the Korean War, he investigated conditions ...
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Strain Theory (sociology)
In sociology and criminology, strain theory states that social structures within society may pressure citizens to commit crime. Following on the work of Émile Durkheim, strain theories have been advanced by Robert King Merton (1938), Albert K. Cohen (1955), Richard Cloward, Lloyd Ohlin (1960), Neil Smelser (1963), Robert Agnew (1992), Steven Messner, Richard Rosenfeld (1994) and Jie Zhang (2012). Strain theory Strain theory is a sociology and criminology theory developed in 1938 by Robert K. Merton. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American dream), though they lack the means. This leads to strain which may lead individuals to commit crimes, like selling drugs or becoming involved in prostitution as a means to gain financial security. Strain could be: # Structural: this refers to the processes at the societal level which filter down and affect how the individual perceives his or her needs, i.e. if p ...
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