Merton (1968)

• What sociological perspective is Merton?

  Functionalist
• What does Merton suggest in regard to social order?

  That it is based on a consensus regarding what the goals are in society and the acceptable ways of achieving them.
• What did Merton argue regarding opportunities to achieve the shared goals of society?

  Not everyone had an equal opportunity of achieving these goals by approved means because of unemployment, racism, lack of educational success, etc.
• What 5 possible ways did Merton identify in which individuals could respond to these success goals?

  1. Conformity: working towards achieving goals via conventionally accepted means
  2. Innovation: individuals unable to achieve goals through conventionally achieved means turn to other, often deviant, means - often lower class, denied usual routes to success - less likely to gain high qualifications
  3. Ritualism: often middle class stuck in monotony of work
  4. Retreatism: People from any social group who 'drop out' of society - abandon goals and means
  5. Rebellion: reject shared goals and means, replace them.
• What was Merton's theory commonly known as?

  The strain theory