Durkheim and Mertons Anomie - Essay Example

Durkheim and Mertons Anomie Society by its very nature has created conflict around the world. On a global level the United s is involved in twowars that are not really their wars but somehow they have grown out of a small task that was completed years ago. The global economy is faltering and people are afraid of what is coming next. We hear of atrocities in different countries and we hear about crime everywhere. These challenges are a normal part of society according to Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton. Crime is also a part of regular society that according to Durkheim, benefits society. In fact, crime is a social construct that helps to identify the cultures values, mores and the acceptable behavior within the society. Mertons theory says that society shapes the way people are to act and appear within certain confines. He says that aspiration is very important to the achievement in people and that society determines how people should aspire to their goals. He suggests that anomie in society creates a link between how people place emphasis on aspirations and the "levels of emphasis" they place on these aspirations (Davis, 2005). Merton says that crime is not a positive aspect of society and that it does not help it. Instead, crime is an example of how poorly a society is organized. When examining these theories it is very easy to see what Merton is talking about when you look at crime in the United States. There are a number of people who aspire to the goal of attaining wealth or some level of comfort. They have prescribed to the need to take care of their homes and families and they have good jobs that support their ends. However, there is a large group of society who does not have access to good jobs or to wealth. They live in poverty or they are homeless. Still others are involved with crime because this is the "easiest way" in their minds to create the money they need for their basic needs or to acquire wealth. They do not prescribe to societys social order but instead make rules of their own. One of the greatest reasons why this happens is because the basic needs have not been met by a society that is more influenced by power and achievement than it is on making sure that all citizens achieve. According to Derkheim (1897): No living being can be happy or even exist unless his needs are sufficiently proportioned to his means. In other words, if his needs require more than can be granted, or even merely something of a different sort, they will be under continual friction and can only function painfully. Movements incapable of production without pain tend not to be reproduced. Unsatisfied tendencies atrophy, and as the impulse to live is merely the result of all the rest, it is bound to weaken as the others relax. (Durkheim, 1897, p. 246). Crime is not only an aspect of poverty in this society but it is also a part of corporations. Within the last few years the United States has been inundated with a variety of corporate criminals that have been prolifically brought into the news. This society has heard about Enron, Tyco and other corporations that have allowed their greed to take over. This seems to negate Durkheims statement but it actually supports it. As he said, "It is not human nature which can assign the variable limits necessary to our needs. They are thus unlimited so far as they depend on the individual alone" (Durkheim 1897, quoted in Stephens, 2003, p. 1). According to Stephens (2003) Durkheim would say that corporate crime is the result of certain CEO personalities wanting more than other CEOs and this is a matter of power. She suggests that when there is an economic crisis a CEO who has already enjoyed the fruits of his labors may have to readjust to those that are not at the top of the ladder which makes them suffer from anomie because they have not had a chance to adjust to the new aspects of their lives which can create the need to do crime (Stephens, p. 2-3). According to Merton the CEOs success would have to come from within the construct of his corporate environment. Specifically, "continuing satisfaction must derive from sheer participation in a competitive order as well as from eclipsing ones competitors if the order itself is to be sustained" (in Williams and McShane, p. 103). This supports Durkheims theory that the corporate individual would have to stay within his own environment (that of the corporation) at the level of his success to become more successful. Both Durkheim and Merton see anomie as a state where people are not paying attention to the norms of the society for one reason or another. However, where Durkheims theory states that these norms are created by society Merton is not so certain. Merton suggests that in the state of anomie people are able to ignore the norms of the society rather than feeling unsure about them. He further suggests that in order for people to be more willing to support the norms of the society "the distribution of statuses and roles through competition must be so organized that positive incentives for conformity to roles and adherence to status obligations are provided for every position within the distributive order "(Merton in Williams and McShane, p. 103). In other words, this points to the disorganization of society and how it has been created to show differences between those who have and those who have not. According to Collins anomie has "two specific categories: macroside and microside" (Collins, n.d.). Macroside happens when the society does not establish clear goals and therefore has a difficulty regulating the way that the members of the society conduct themselves. Microside speaks to the strain that an individual has when attempting to go through society without basic needs. Because of this some facets of society are susceptible to an "increase in deviance" because they have more pressure to commit crime from their need to have basic needs met. Both Durkheim and Merton see the relevance of these aspects. Within the frameworks of crime Durkheim and Merton agree that crime is something that cannot be ignored in society. For Durkheim, as stated before, it is a necessary part of society. It could be said that he sees crime as a kind of balance within the society that counterbalances conformity. He suggests that getting rid of it would upset this balance. Merton on the other hand suggests that crime is more something that should be taken out of society and should be controlled more by laws and statutes. He sees crime as a blight on a civilized society (Davis, 2005). A question that comes up within the framework of the comparison between these two theories is the question of deviant behavior. Durkheim saw deviant behavior as an important aspect of society as it relates to crime. He went further to say that if a society was functioning fully deviance was a natural part of the society. Jones (1981) suggests that Durkheims work was really about an evolution of a society in the context of how crime, punishment and social change were related and therefore today we do not know how these relate well (Jones, p. 9). Merton suggests that when there is a difference between an individuals goals and a legitimate way to gain their results that there is pressure from within them to "remedy the situation" (Konty, 2005, p. 3). This means that an individual may act out deviant behavior in order to obtain their goal, especially when they see no other choice. According to Konty: "Criminal behavior is thus viewed as a response to structural conditions that prevent one from achieving positive social goals, such as wealth and status, by approved means such as hard work and achievement" (Konty, p. 3). Within the constructs of deviant behavior than both authors believe that deviance comes out of a stronger need in the society for people to have something they think they cannot obtain. This leads to anger and frustration which brings about a behavior that will satisfy the need. In all respects it seems that crime is a result of something that is lacking in society that again gives an understanding that something is wrong within the society. For Merton the social structure is what creates deviant behavior and people who commit crime are caught in the middle between a lack of achievement and a need for basic needs to be met. We can see the influence of both of these theories on the world today. As the economic crisis continues and people have to deal with walking away from homes or living without, many of them will not be able to sustain themselves without committing some type of crime. Perhaps this is a kind of balance when a society gets to a point where there are people who have more than others and when finances are so strained that there needs to be some sort of outlet. References Collins, K. M. (n.d). Anomie and Strain Theory. International Encyclopedia of Justice Studies. Retrieved November 10, 2008 from http://www.iejs.com/Criminology/ anomie_and_strain_theory.htm. Davis, Kevin (and others) 2005. The Durkheim Merton Page. Retrieved November 9, 2008 from . Durkheim, E. (1897). Suicide. Excerpts retrieved November 13, 2008 from http://www.sociology.ccsu.edu/adair/anomie.htm. pp. 246, 247-49, 250-51, 252- 54, 256, 257-58. Johns, A.T. ( 1981) Durkheim, Deviance and Development: Opportunities Lost Regained. Social Forces. 59: 4, p1009-1024. EBSCOhost Database. Academic Search Premier [AN 5293028]. Konty, M. (2005). Microanomie: the cognitive foundations of the relationship between anomie and deviance. Criminology. 43(1). P. 107-131. EBSCOhost Database. Academic Search Premier [AN 16438267]. Merton, R. K. (1938) Social Structure and Anomie in Williams, F. and McShane, M. (1993). Criminology Theory: Selected Classic Readings. Ohio: Anderson Publishing Co. Stephens, D. (2003, August). The Culture of Corporate Crime and Anomie as They Relate to Material Happiness. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta Hilton Hotel, Atlanta, GA Online . Retrieved November 13, 2008 from http://www.allacademic.com/ meta/p107151_index.html. 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