One theory that relates well to Tommy Shakur Ross’s involvement in gangs and crime is Robert Merton’s Strain Theory. This theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals even though they lack the means to do so. This strain can lead to criminal or deviant behavior in some people. There are 5 adaptions to this strain according to Merton are conformity, ritualism, innovation, retreatism, and rebellion. Conformity happens when cultural goals can be achieved with institutionalized means. Ritualism occurs when someone has given up on the socially accepted goals but is satisfied in working within the institutionalized means. Innovation is when someone desires to achieve culturally accepted goals but does not do so within the institutionalized means. Retreatism is the rejection of both the goals and the means. Finally, rebellion is seeking to replace the goals and means.
This theory is related to Tommy Shakur Ross because his parents wanted him to be a Baptist minister which was not what he wanted to do. During this stage in his life, his adaptation to strain was rebellion. He did not want to achieve the goals that his father set for him and instead he went off to do what he wanted to, replacing the original goal. He was overwhelmed by a group of gangsters at a young age and that impacted his perception of life. Tommy Shakur Ross wanted to seek out his new goals while replacing the means and for him that was joining a gang.
Some gaps and limitations of this theory to explain Tommy Shakur Ross’s involvement in gangs would be explaining why he wanted to imitate other violent gang members and how he learned criminal behavior from them. That would be better explained with Edwin Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory. This theory suggests that criminal behavior is learned and not inherited, which is very true in this case since he had an abusive childhood with his father beating him whenever he misbehaved. He also learned more criminal behavior and techniques to commit crime from the other gang members. Criminal behavior is also learned even more so when someone is in an intimate group such as a gang. Another aspect that is difficult to explain with Robert Merton’s Strain Theory, is his impulsiveness and anger that led up to the moment when he shot and killed a rival gang member.
