Topics

For my critical insight blog, I will be exploring the topics of deviance and inequality. I want to research and discuss inequality with an emphasize on poverty in the United States. In regards to my deviance research, I find structural strain theory particularly interesting and will focus most of my research on this more specific subtopic. It will be fascinating to compare my findings about structural strain deviance to my research about poverty in the United States, as these topics are intricately intertwined. A typical example of structural strain theory would be that a cultural goal in the United States is to achieve financial stability and success. However, there is a gap between this goal and the means of all US citizens to meet this goal. Those who don’t have the means to financial success may revert to crime/deviance in order to make ends meet. I want to examine structural strain theory and how it either explains or fails to explain why an affluent teenager might partake in deviant activities. I also think it will be interesting to compare and contrast drug usage rates amongst the different socio-economic classes to see if economic inequality has an effect on drug usage.