Application of Sociological Theory in Current Issue Essay Example

Application of Sociological Theory in Current Issue Essay Example Application of Sociological Theory in Current Issue Essay Application of Sociological Theory in Current Issue Essay In New York City, United States, a case of the known â€Å"Preppy Killer† and his girlfriend named Shawn Kovell is still ongoing. This is inline with the accusation of selling cocaine within the apartment of the girl Kovell. Still, as of the last trial, they have pleaded of not being guilty in the case. This is according to the October 25, 2007 published news online of the Reuters. Aside from the current filed case against the â€Å"Preppy Killer† man named Robert Chambers, 41, he was already sent to prison during 1988 when he was found guilty of killing an 18 year old girl at the Central Park in New York City. Aside from that, Chamber, himself, described that what he had done to the girl was â€Å"an episode of rough sex† (Reuters, 2007).   He was imprisoned within 15 years and only got out of the jail last 2003. When convicted of drug use, Chamber would face a 150 year sentence in jail while his girlfriend Kovell would suffer maximum of 20 years imprisonment. This social issue of manslaughter and drug trafficking could be found anywhere else in the world. We could highly observe such cases mostly in the third world countries where poverty is still in rapid rate. We could relate this issue in the Strain Theory of Robert K. Merton, one the American Sociologists. Merton borrows the concept of the anomie from Durkheim. However, the difference between the two is that Merton stresses that the societal problem is not created by the abrupt social changes rather it comes from the social structure. This social structure is defined by the social strata which all aiming for one goal despite the fact that the society has no equal means of achieving such goals. That is why, there are members of the society who resort to different kinds of adaptation like conformity, innovation, rebellion, ritualism, and retreatism. These modes of adaptation are the ones that people opt to do since they do not have enough capability to attain the main goal of the society. In the case of the â€Å"Preppy Killer,† assuming that he was not able to attain his goals or he was not able to own what the society had, he was being trapped in learned helplessness, thus, he resorted to a an act of deviance. Killing of that 18 year old girl was kind of deviant behavior in which the killer adapted the retreatism by which the present lifestyle of the ex-convict Chamber could also be included. Since retreatism concept shows that an individual is already giving up the goals and objectives that he wanted to attain before. In the worst case scenario, a man who chose this kind of adaptation also give up the ways and lifestyle of achieving the goal that he just gave up before. In a logical manner, since he already give up his goals and the goal of the society that he wanted to meet before, he would also give up his means of living considering that he only lives for his goals in life. The tendency of this kind of adaptation could be manifested in the case of the â€Å"Preppy Killer.† He resorted to many illegal transactions and activities knowing that these types of actions could gain him power and money at a very efficient manner. However, this would not last long since there is no authority of the legal society, thus, we could say that this is a very non-healthy and non-productive means of living. This could also be a form of escapism into the harsh reality of the society. Looking at the higher social strata wherein people have much power and much ability to manipulate and reach their goals, the inequality might be instilled to the mind of those people who are in the lower stratum. And these people who belong to the lower stratum has no choice but to find themselves of their own way to be as rich as other people in the higher level of society. In Merton’s Strain Theory, basically, it shows how the crimes and any deviant act rooted in the society by merely showing the social structure instead of other societal aspects. Like in the case of Chamber who resorted to retreatism, that man has been allegedly drowned with drug abusing and possibly killing of another life again.