The fast changing society is demanding improvement of the existing legal frameworks each and every day. Indisputably, this is considerably challenging the decisions made by policy makers and more especially the judiciary sector. The challenge is more intensified by the way we define the defendant, victim, and penalty imposed for any crime committed. The underlying problem is that there exist various cultural norms and natural law which significantly differ with constitutional requirements. In other words, legal procedures are not sufficient in providing criminal facts that can help us clearly understand the criminal elements mentioned above. Nevertheless, many scholars in the field of criminology such as Robert K. Merton and Keith Hayward now believes we can rely upon the strain and cultural criminology theories.
Inarguably, the relationship existing between the two theories goes beyond our expectation, more especially when analyzing any criminology case. In fact, many people have been convinced it would be appropriate if policy makers integrate some of the facts unrevealed by these theories when making or amending the criminal laws. The paper offers a detailed explanation of the two methods and more importantly, how they can be applied in the criminal case study of Mr. Heffernan convicted of the crime of cultivating cannabis plant which is an illegal plant and supply of the same plant products as drugs to the community. The case took place in the district court, New South Wales and has since sounded the trumpet over how the proceedings were unraveling the case that Mr. Heffernan was convicted with.
This will be discussed along with the criminal elements and criminal facts which were evident in the case. Strain theory argues that when an individual is pressurized by the community or by the factors in his environment, the pressure overwhelms him which forces him to satisfy his cultural inequalities and material requirements by engaging in crime as stated by (Agnew, 2001, p319) The crime, in this case, is a subject to…