Bertrand Smothers is a petty bureaucrat with lancaster county Bureau of Social Services. when confronted with a weeping single mother pleading for food stamp relief, Bertrand informs the woman that she doesn't qualify for that program because an obscure section of the statute code can be interpreted as disqualifying her. The mother departs in despair and Bertrand sip her coffee contentedly. Under Merton's strain theory, what deviance category would best apply to Ms.Smothers?

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