History and Development of Anomie Theory - Essay Example

?History and Development of Anomie Theory The term Anomie refers to the normlessness or the “personal feeling of lack of social norms” (Durkhiem, 1897). It talks about the classification of social norms and biases. In the past the word anomie had been used for various human behaviors but for last few hundred years, the word is more commonly associated with rapid changes in the social behavior. Anomie is now more frequently used when referring to the intersection of cultural and social sector (Baumer, 2010). Anomie in common language means anything that is “at loose ends”. Oxford dictionary lists many sociological terms defining them under absence of a divine rule. Many sociologists associated the term “Anomie” with Durkheim. Durkheim was the man that spoke about ways in which an individual’s social behavior is integrated and matches with a system of norms and practices. Anomie may also refer to ‘mismatch’, indicating those societies that are too rigid and have lesser individual discrimination may also contribute to anomie or a mismatch between the individual circumstances and larger social mores (Star, 1997).  Durkheim also studied the effects of certain disasters on the human behavior. For instance war is always considered catastrophic for human race but he measured that it increased altruism, made possible the economic boom and causing anomie mismatch (Dohrenwend, 1959). This speaks avolumes about Durkheim’s take on anomie. If we look down the history of definition of this word, it has gone through a lot of changes becoming more loaded in its meaning and definition. History Durkheim first introduced the concept of Anomie back in 1993 when he presented and studied the mismatch between the guild labor and changing needs of society. In his opinion, the guild community was consistent and stagnant. He said that homogeneity was the equivalent of stoppage, and ignorance to free thinking and the essence of it was it repelled adaptation to new learning methods. In his opinion, the division of labor was more up to the task of ‘need changes’ and elaborated that organic solidarity lacked the inertial force making it more appropriate to deal with change. Durkheim further observed that these two labor divisions, the organic (ready to accept change) and Homogenous (stagnant) could not exist in the same environment. He said that it is very likely that when these two labor divisions are exposed to each other, in the long run one system will simply disappear in the presence of the other. “This social type rests on principles so different from the preceding that it can develop only in proportion to the effacement of that preceding type" (MacMillan, 1933). And “The history of these two types shows, in effect, that one has progressed only as the other has retrogressed" (MacMillan, 1933) He further said that when solidarity becomes organic anomie becomes impossible to take effect or even exist when solidary organs are prolonged considerably. Their need sensitivity fuels evolution in labor division. This happens because sensitivity makes them very alert and they can feel even slight changes from one part to another, they can predict and make adjustments to the equilibrium. In 1897, in his studies, ‘Suicide’, Durkheim related anomie with absence of norms or the presence of rigid social norms. But this rigidity in norms was a symptom and not the disease itself which was caused by less differential adaptation. Extricating Anomie and Strain Numerous scholars have merged Merton’s idea of anomie with his philosophy of strain, thus overlooking the alterations between the two models (e.g., Sharma 1980; Walsh 2000). The difficulty is occasionally additionally convoluted by addition of the notion of hostility (e.g., Mitchell 1984; see Besnard (1987:354-365). At other stints the anomie model is entirely snubbed in remedies for Merton’s theory of deviance. Trusting on an idea that differentiates two philosophies in Merton’s example, Francis Cullen (1984:75-87) therefore correctly contends that “few assessments have been made of the anomie portion of his general paradigm of deviant behavior” (p. 76). Johnson (1979), doesn’t refer the word anomie in his deliberations of strain theory, while Merton’s strain theory is mainly reliant on his concept of anomie. This reliance, though, is not mutual, because anomie theory does not need the notion of “blocked access” for prevention of ways to befall. However, in the subordinate scholarship, discontent with Merton’s strain archetypal of eccentricity has frequently lead to an absolute dismissal of his theory of anomie as well (see the overviews by Besnard 1987:284-298; Bernard 1984, 1987; Burton and Cullen 1992; Menard 1995; Rosenfeld 1989). Development Though Durkheim did not emphasized on crime as such, his academic literatures on anomie from the late 1800s have been predominantly persuasive in determining numerous criminological concepts, as well as social control theory, social disorganization theory, and classic and contemporary anomie theories. Underlining the penalties of swift social modification, Durkheim highlights the position of societal standards in amending discrete objectives and hunts, and he perceives of anomie largely as a state of feeble social rule of such aims.  There are certain ostensible discrepancies in how anomie is demarcated and smeared in Merton’s theoretical writings (Sztompka 1998) As expounded in this debate of theoretical standpoints of anomie (Merton 1938), Merton sights anomie as a dominant spring of the extraordinary stages of eccentricity witnessed in United States. Durkheim’s works on this theme centers on charting several of the social changes that may excite anomic societal settings, and on several of the penalties of great heights of societal anomie, possibly most prominent suicide amounts (Durkheim 1997a, Durkheim1997b). Merton (1968b) contends that the social arrangement pressures the social standards, making act in agreement with them willingly conceivable for those inhabiting definite ranks within the general public and hard or unmanageable for others. Majority of folks in civilization agree with the cultural aims, but the admittance to authentic paths for goal fulfillment are clogged for other individuals, instigating them to castoff the authentic (and often legal) ways of attaining the established aims. Rendering to Merton, this distinction and its penalties are not arbitrarily dispersed across civilization. The classic assembly functions in such a manner that “the greatest pressures towards deviation are exerted upon the lower strata” (Merton 1968a:198). For whereas the accomplishment worth is prevailing through society, reasonable ways are not at the same time correspondingly reachable. Henceforth, the divergent method of novelty is unreasonably present in those levels where legal prospects for accomplishing social objectives are fewer or not available. Steady with this origination, the view of prospect has only just progressed to the forefront in Merton’s deliberations on deviance (Merton 1995, 1997a). Merton now mentions his concept of aberrant behavior as “the theory of anomie-and-opportunity-structures,” a design which more noticeably embosses the strain factor following the theory of anomie (Merton 1997a:519). Constructing openly on crucial visions from two previous trials of the official anomie theory, it is foretold that the optimistic consequence of economic disparity on the level of deadly vehemence is narrowed to nations branded by comparatively feeble shared institutes of social security. This hypothesis is verified with two corresponding cross-national statistics. Both backgrounds disclose an undesirable communication outcome concerning economic disparity and the strong suit of the welfare state. Countries that defend their people from the changes of market powers seem to be resistant to the destructive effects of economic disparity. This discovery delivers acute care for institutional anomie theory (Savolainen, 2006). Messner and Rosenfeld in Crime and the American Dream compete that socially and fundamentally shaped burdens to shelter financial plunders, together with frail reins of societal non-economic centers, endorse extraordinary stages of active crime. Pragmatically, they propose that the properties of economic situations on profit-related offenses rests on the forte of noneconomic organizations. In short; nonlinear simulations display substantial, secondary backing for Rosenfeld's and Messner’s institutional anomie theory, illuminating that the properties of insufficiency on property crime hang on the points of fundamental signs of the capability of noneconomic establishments to upgrade the criminogenic influence of economic deficiency (Cochran, 1995). Merton's theory of anomie and divergent conduct has not been tried sufficiently. Simplified trials concerning the association between crime and social class or between crime and the inconsistency between ambitions and prospects disregard both essential and social-psychological features of the theory, chiefly the crucial character of the style of version as an effect on the kind and incidence of unlawful conduct (Menard, 1995). . Criticism of Anomie Theory 1. According to critics attributes like devastation, flexibility, keenness and comprehensive pessimism which is part of aberrant subdivision are beyond the scope of this theory. Therefore, some anomie cliques have supposed that theory of anomie is singly premeditated to interpret for certain, but not entirely methods of divergent behavior routinely defined as antisocial or unlawful. 2. Several have critiqued the theory for being to boot distinctive in its explanation of the variations to anxiety/stress. 3. One of the major reproaches is the vagueness with respect to the meanings behind the language engaged by the theory. An example is of “dual meaning” specified for the idea “legitimate means”. It is unclear if this denotes to a requirement for identical opportunity through valid means to truly reach the wanted end or just equal prospect to try to grasp the preferred ends. Some also disapprove the theory for certainly not fully enumerating concepts so that the theory might be suitably verified. With all of the slight reformations and protracted deliberations on anomie theory, definite concepts continue to be indistinct. 4. A concluding criticism is that there is an incorrect reason in founding programs, for example, Mobilization for Youth, in theory. Strain theory does not forecast that extra chance would result in fewer crimes. Subsequently programs that were grounded in a proposal for “further opportunity” could have been ill-advised from the start. Conclusion Grounded in our study, researchers who are precarious of strain theory should not inevitably reject Merton’s anomie theory, for it is truly attuned with numerous other models of aberrant conduct and, if correctly engaged, may support these theories fine-tweak their own clarifications of aberration. While it was outside the scope of our study to conclude which sociological model of deviant conduct might best suit the Mertonian pattern, we reasoned that Merton’s social-structure-and-anomie example rests as a respected standpoint for the learning of deviance in culture. Merton’s proposal that there is incoherence in American society between cultural aims and institutionalized ways might still be productive in constructing a sociological infrastructure for comprehending delinquency and deviance, today as much as 60 years ago. Work Cited Dohrenwend, Bruce P. "Egoism, Altruism, Anomie, and Fatalism: A Conceptual Analysis of Durkheim's Types", American Sociological Review, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Aug., 1959), p. 473 The Division of Labor in Society, The MacMillan Co. 1933, Free Press edition, 1964, p. 182 The Division of Labor in Society, The MacMillan Co. 1933, Free Press edition, 1964, p. 183 Durkheim, Emile, and W. D. Halls. The Division of Labor in Society. New York: Free, 1997. Print. Durkheim, Emile. The division of labor in society. Translated by Lewis A. Coserorge. (1997a.) New York: Free Press. Durkheim, Emile. Suicide: A study in sociology. Edited by George Simpson. Translated by John A. Spaulding. (1997b). New York: Free Press. Merton, Robert K. Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review 3 (1938): 672–682. ______. “Social Structure and Anomie.” Pp. 185-214 in his Social Theory and Social Structure. Enlarged edition (1968a). New York: The Free Press. ______. “Continuities in the Theory of Social Structure and Anomie.” Pp. 215-248 in his Social Theory and Social Structure. Enlarged edition (1968b). New York: The Free Press. Sztompka, Piotr. “Robert K. Merton’s Four Concepts of Anomie.” in Robert K. Merton and Contemporary Sociology (1998): p 163-175. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Chamlin, Mitchell B., and John K. Cochran. "Assessing Messner And Rosenfeld'S Institutional Anomie Theory: A Partial Test*." Criminology 33.3 (1995): 411-29. Print. Sztompka, Piotr. Robert K. Merton’s four concepts of anomie. In Robert K. Merton and contemporary sociology. Edited by Carlo Mongardini and Simonetta Tabboni, (1998) 163–171. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Walsh, Anthony. “Behavior Genetics and Anomie/Strain Theory.” Criminology 38 (2000): 1075-1107. Sharma, R. N. “Anomie of Economic Deprivation: Merton Re-examined.” Sociological Bulletin 29 (1980): 1-32. Mitchell, Richard G. Jr. “Alienation and Deviance: Strain Theory Reconsidered.” Sociological Inquiry 54 (1984): 330-345. Rosenfeld, Richard. “Robert Merton’s Contributions to the Sociology of Deviance.” Sociological Inquiry 59 (1989): 453-466. Savolainen, Jukka. "Inequality, Welfare State, And Homicide: Further Support For The Institutional Anomie Theory*." Criminology 38.4 (2000): 1021-042. Print. Menard, Scott. “A Developmental Test of Mertonian Anomie Theory.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 32 (1995): 136-174. Besnard, Philippe. L’anomie: Ses Usages et Ses Fonctions dans la Discipline Sociologique Depuis Durkheim. Paris (1987): Presses Universitaires de France. Cullen, Francis T. Rethinking Crime and Deviance Theory: The Emergence of a Structuring Tradition. Totowa, NJ (1984): Rowman and Allenheld Publishers. Johnson, Richard E. Juvenile Delinquency and Its Origins: An Integrated Theoretical Approach. New York (1979): Cambridge University Press. Menard, S. "A Developmental Test of Mertonian Anomie Theory." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 32.2 (1995): 136-74. Print. Baumer, Eric P. "Anomie." Oxford Bibliographies Online (2010). Http://oxfordbibliographiesonline.com. Web. 8 Aug. 2011. http://oxfordbibliographiesonline.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0006.xml;jsessionid=878BF8C830298CF78A3A4B44E1C87EB4 Susan Leigh Star, Geoffrey C. Bowker, and Laura J. Neumann, "Transparency at Different Levels of Scale: Convergence between Information Artifacts and Social Worlds", Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1997 Read More