Albert Kircidel Cohen (June 15, 1918 – November 25, 2014) was a prominent American criminologist.
They become frustrated at the disadvantages and inequalities that they face, and this leads to Cohen's second principle; reaction formation.
Unlike Merton's strain theory, Cohen holds the view that the reaction to status frustration is a collective response rather than an individual one.
This theory accounts for the increasing rates of non-utilitarian crime (vandalism, loitering and joyriding) in western societies.
Although actions such as these do not provide monetary gain to the perpetrator, they come to hold value to members of the sub-culture.