For our purposes, these situations exhibit two salient
features. First, incentives for success are provided by the established
values of the culture and second, the avenues available for moving toward
this goal are largely limited by the class structure of those of deviant
behavior. It is the combination of the cultural emphasis and the
social structure which produces intense pressure for deviation. Recourse
to legitimate channels for “getting in the money” is limited by a class
structure which is not fully open at each level to men of good capacity.
Despite our persisting open-class-ideology, advance toward the success-goal
is relatively rare and notably difficult for those armed with little formal
education and few economic resources. The dominant pressure leads
toward the gradual attenuation of legitimate, but by and large ineffectual,
strivings and the increasing use of illegitimate, but more or less effective,
expedients (1968, pp. 199-200).