Susan would love to be a lawyer but cannot afford to go to law school. Her boyfriend suggested that she steal from her grandmother's estate in order to finance her education, but she refused. Instead, she took a 2-year course and became a librarian. Robert Merton would classify Susan's actions as ______.
A) conformity
B) innovation
C) ritualism
D) retreatism

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to Robert Merton's strain theory, there are five ways that individuals respond to the gap between their aspirations and opportunities. Conformity is the most common response, which means that individuals accept both the cultural goals and the traditional means of achieving them. Innovation refers to individuals who accept the cultural goals but use unconventional or illegal means to achieve them. Retreatism involves individuals who reject both the cultural goals and the traditional means of achieving them, while rebellion involves individuals who reject the cultural goals and traditional means but replace them with alternative ones. Finally, ritualism refers to individuals who abandon the cultural goals but continue to follow the traditional means of achieving them. Therefore, Susan's actions of becoming a librarian instead of stealing from her grandmother's estate to become a lawyer would be classified as ritualism.

Susan Would Love to Be a Lawyer but Cannot Afford