Assignment Paper

How did Messner and Rosenfeld’s institutional anomie theory expand Merton’s theory? Specifically, what did Messner and Rosenfeld cite as a deficit in Merton’s theory? How does institutional anomie theory explain crime in the United States and what policy implications could come from this theory? Opinion——-Merton’s theory was that criminal behavior stemmed from cultural and social aspects such as achieving certain goals. Messier and Rosenfeld institutional anomie theory extended Merton’s theory because they went more in depth about how the social institutions had an effect on society. For example, in the text they mentioned how the “institutional balance of power is tilted toward the economy” (pg 79). This means that the economy has a great influence on the values and behaviors that people live by. So if one wants to pursue being financially successful one would do so by any means necessary leading to high crime rates because not all are given the same opportunity to earn their money the normative way. A policy that could be implicated is one that helps generate more opportunities. An example would be prison rehabilitation programs to help inmates earn an educational degree so they can have skills to help them get a job.

Use only the attached file. Chapter 4.!!!!!!!!!!1