Which mode rejects both societal goals and the means to obtain them?

Which mode rejects both societal goals and the means to obtain them?

• A. Rebel
• B. Retreatist
• C. Conformist
• D. Innovator

Answer: (B)

In Merton’s strain theory, the different modes describe how people respond to the tension between society’s goals and the approved ways to achieve them. A retreatist is someone who rejects both the culturally prescribed goals and the legitimate means to obtain them, effectively withdrawing from mainstream society. This fits the description because the person isn’t pursuing success nor following the accepted steps to get there; they pull back from the entire path laid out by society. By contrast, conformists embrace both the goals and the means, innovators pursue the goals but reject some means, and ritualists go through the motions of the means without chasing the goals. Rebels also reject the current goals and means, but they seek to replace them with a different set of goals and paths rather than simply withdrawing. An example of retreatism is a person who disengages from conventional work, education, and social expectations and lives apart from mainstream society. The key idea is total withdrawal from both the aims and the accepted routes to those aims.

In Merton’s strain theory, the different modes describe how people respond to the tension between society’s goals and the approved ways to achieve them. A retreatist is someone who rejects both the culturally prescribed goals and the legitimate means to obtain them, effectively withdrawing from mainstream society. This fits the description because the person isn’t pursuing success nor following the accepted steps to get there; they pull back from the entire path laid out by society.

By contrast, conformists embrace both the goals and the means, innovators pursue the goals but reject some means, and ritualists go through the motions of the means without chasing the goals. Rebels also reject the current goals and means, but they seek to replace them with a different set of goals and paths rather than simply withdrawing. An example of retreatism is a person who disengages from conventional work, education, and social expectations and lives apart from mainstream society. The key idea is total withdrawal from both the aims and the accepted routes to those aims.