Across the nation, social scientists and criminologists have researched and hypothesized the major factors that help promote juvenile delinquency. The Strain/Anomie theory, introduced by Robert Merton and subsequently revised by many other theorists, attempts to explain why youth subculture tends to behave in certain ways when confronted with the pressures of everyday life. Reviewed by other theorists, Strain theory attempts to provide the framework of juvenile delinquency and its sources in order to analyze the effectiveness of this assumption, as well as implement some crime prevention policies and programs to curb this problem. This article will analyze how Strain theory contributes its principles on the factors of delinquency in order to explain and understand juvenile delinquency. Social Structure and Anomie Merton's theory of stress or anomie is important for a number of reasons: the significance of culture and social structure; recognition of individuals' responsive attachment to society's standards and values; the idea that defined social characteristics can result in a variety of different categorical responses. Applied to effort theory, Merton believed that society should have a balance between approved social means and approved cultural goals. And in the situation of anomie, it is when the individuals represented are in a state of chaos where there are no norms or values ​​to accept. As the pursuit of the American Dream becomes more and more desirable for most, a fine line is drawn between accessing this concept of stability and maintaining it. Merton argues that there are not enough legitimate resources available to help those who achieve this in American society because everyone is more... middle of paper... having an item of value taken away. According to Agnew, the tension felt by the individual could lead the individual to delinquency as the youth attempts to stop the loss, recover what has been lost, or seek revenge on those who have negatively influenced the positive stimuli. appears to be one of the main causes of juvenile delinquency. Some examples of unwanted stimuli that an adolescent may face are child abuse, abandonment, and exploitation, hostile relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, negative academic experiences, neighborhood difficulties, and poverty. If a young person is surrounded by individuals who sell drugs to finance an easier and cheaper lifestyle than their current lifestyle, they are more likely to imitate that behavior by association..