The term first derived from Merton's essay on Social Structure and Anomie which stated that strain was the outcome of blocked access to socially defined goals, and that strain contributed to the genesis of delinquent subcultures. From this Cloward and Ohlin decided to expand on Merton's ideas and show how societies induce deviant response. Therefore, Deviant response is the point at which individuals are prepared to risk rule breaking as a strategy to obtain that which they want. This term is good for looking at low grade criminality such as fraud. The individual sees money linked with the idea of success in society, and therefore is prepared to break the societal rules in order to obtain the money. This term however, is not good in looking at violent crime as the individual has gone far beyond breaking the societal rules when they have commited a violent crime.
             The term originated in Durkheim's works and has now been applied to various studies in sociology. The theory doesn't look at the individuals so much as it looks at social institutions as the cause of deviance. Durkheim coined the six major institutions in society which are responsible for deviance. The primary institutions include the political structure, the economic structure, and the legal structure. The secondary institutions include the religious structure, the family structure and the educational structure. Each institution performs one of two roles, either social regulation or social integration. The regulatory functions impose entire systems of social restraints and disciplinary regemes. The integrative functions ensure that individual aims and purposes actually coinside with overall aims and purposes of society. The social claims that the institutions impose on the individuals depends on which institution is dominant. The personality of the individual and the society is much different i
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