Apply Strain Theory to the episode of Cocaine Cowboys
In the episode of Cocaine Cowboys, Willy and Sal are prime examples of people who experienced strain and turned to criminal acts to obtain wealth. Willy and Sal were both impoverished immigrants who had dropped out of school, which are all factors that cause enormous amounts of strain on a person. Because of the environment they were in, they were able to gain knowledge on illegal ways to make money: in this case it was drug dealing. They formed connections with the people around them and formed one of the biggest drug-smuggling organizations in the area, earning themselves the title of “cocaine cowboys”. They were innovators because they used unconventional means to obtain the wealth and fulfil the “American dream”, and they were only able to use these criminal means because they were available in their environment. The type of strain theory that fits most with them is innovation, because they accepted the goal of the American dream but rejected the conventional means to obtain that goal.
