Exercise 2 solution

(a) Ritualism. The goal (promotion) has been given up, but the approved means (procedures) are still followed rigidly. The Strain page says the means are followed so severely that they become a ritual.

(b) Innovation. The goal (financial success) is accepted, the approved means are not, and unapproved methods such as theft are used instead.

(c) Conformity. Both the goal and the approved means are accepted. The page calls this the most common response.

(d) Retreatism. Both goal and means are rejected and the person withdraws, for example into isolation or substance abuse. The page calls it the least common response.

(e) Rebellion. Both are rejected, and the person seeks to replace them with new ones.

Cases (d) and (e) cannot be separated by the table alone, because both reject the goal and the means. The extra information needed is what the person does next: withdrawing (retreatism) or trying to replace the goals and means with new ones (rebellion).

A good answer gives the goal and means for each case and says the table is a classification of responses, not proof that strain caused them. The Strain page also reports weak empirical support for the theory.