Criticisms:

• Explains why property crime is the most prevalent type of crime as it is based on capital
• Explains why lower-class crime rates are higher as they are unable to achieve success legitimately
• But... takes official crime statistics at face value which over represent working class crime causing Merton to see crime as a working class phenomenon
• Assumes there is a value consensus on the belief to succeed
• Only accounts for utilitarian crime - discounting the reasons for crimes such as vandalism
• Ignores the role of groups in committing crime