Limited Value of Anomie Theory in Criminology - Essay Example

ANOMIE by The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Anomie Introduction It would not be a mistake to suggest that living in society should be considered to be an irreplaceable prerequisite for the development of the inner potential of a person. Indeed, if it had not been for the presence of other people around, a lot of features that are considered to be characteristic to our kind would not have developed. However, it must be noted that in order for the society to prosper, the latter should adhere to certain rules and regulations that guide the social life in it. In the majority of the cases, it is manifested in the form of legal system. Nevertheless, some people still continue to commit crimes. This paper will analyze the theory of anomie and point out that it does not have a very limited value to the study of criminology as it is able to explain the crimes which are committed by the disadvantaged as well as other citizens. Anomie theory as a way to interpret crimes of the disadvantaged To begin with, it may be particularly important to give a brief account of the theory. Thus, according to it one of the major factors that contributes to emergence of crimes is the inability of a person to achieve the level of success that one is expected to (Brinkerhoff, 2007, p. 124). In other words, encourages every citizen to move up the social ladder in many different ways, but when a person sees that there are virtually no opportunity to do legally, one might turn to illegal (“anomie” stands for “illegal”) means (Walklate, 2007, p. 24). That is why as one can clearly see, the very definition of the theory focuses on the disadvantaged categories of the population. Another point that should be mentioned with this regard is that the theory in question often provides a relatively broad look at the society. Indeed, it provides the researcher with a general state of affairs which is later used as a platform for social interaction (Brym, 2005, p. 196). Keeping in mind, that in the majority of societies all over the world, the number of people who are located at the bottom of the social ladder exceeds the number of people who are at the top of it, one would not make a mistake pointing out that the major focus of anomie theory is on the disadvantaged part of the population. What is more important is that this approach often takes into account different kinds of deviant behavior (Adler, 1995, p. 113). Indeed, activities such as drug dealing, robbery or prostitution may be seen as negative social phenomena, but they also might be regarded as deviant activities that people willingly carry out. Moreover, this kind of activities is primarily found in the environment of those who belong to the disadvantages category of citizens (Miethe, 2004, p. 266). This means the anomie theory was designed to explain the existence of deviant behavior and not shed light on the behavior in general. As a rule, the criminals come from troubled neighborhoods; so, the approach in question suits this situation the best. Finally, anomie theory argues that crime should be seen as a logical result of the conflict between interests and desires of a person and the available opportunities (Vito, 1994, p. 154). Therefore, this strong connection is able to provide a perfect explanation of common crime, a robbery for example. The latter is primarily committed for financial reason. The lack of money can be explained further economically. That is why there is almost no mystery in understanding this kind of crimes. With this in mind, one might suggest that anomie theory is tailored for this kind of analysis and surely should be engaged while examining actions of the disadvantaged. Anomie theory is able to explain other crimes as well Nevertheless, the above mentioned success of the theory in question while analyzing crimes that were committed by a specific category of people should not be seen a limitation for it. In other words, it would be an exaggeration to suggest that anomie theory has a small value as it is only able to explain the crimes which were carried out by the disadvantaged (Gerber, 2007, p. 272). The current researchers argue that the same approach may appear to be rather effective while analyzing the so called white collar crimes as well (Tierney 102). Indeed, a crime should not be seen as something that is committed in a troubled neighborhood by a person who is deprived of an ability to satisfy one’s primary needs. They also occur in the corporate environment and are committed by people who have every opportunity to satisfy their needs. The existence of this phenomenon should be seen as one of the major threats to the validity of the theory in question. Yet, the latter is able to explain their as easily as it explains the crimes which are carried out by the disadvantages. To begin with, it must be noted that every citizen, regardless of one’s income should be see as a part of the society. That is why everyone is subject to propaganda of conventional value, such as strive for success and prosperity. So, while a part of the population think that a different part is already successful, the latter still thinks it needs more money, social status or power (Deflem, 2006, p. 65). Indeed, this greed might provoke those who live a happy life to commit crimes. Secondly, it is important to keep in mind that the notion of deviance is a rather broad one. In other words, excessive spending or collection ridiculously expensive items should be seen as a deviance too (Akers, 2000, p. 119). The experience of the wealthy people shows that they tend to like hobbies that are not only time, but also money consuming (Burfeind, 2006, p. 232). That is why the fundamental features of deviance can be found not only at the bottom of the social ladder, but at the top of it as well. Finally, as the evidence shows crimes are not always connected to deprivation and can be explained by the external, often economic factors. Acts of kidnapping, torture or robbery are committed by prosperous citizens as well. That is why it is a rather one dimensional understanding of crime as an inevitable consequence of deprivation (Delaney, 2009, p. 137). It must be noted that anomie theory has developed a broad perspective on this issue, pointing out that lack of ability to achieve a certain goal always brings up the desire to commit a crime, but the deprivation can be manifested in numerous ways, not only in the most literal one. So, as one can easily see, the same theoretical approach can be used in the process of explanation of crimes that were committed by different categories of people. The value of anomie theory of criminology in general Keeping in mind the above mentioned peculiarities, some scholars might suggest that anomie theory has a rather limited value (Horwitz, 1999, p. 114). To a certain extent they might be true while pointing out some of the restrictions of application that it has. On the other hand, these restrictions should not be seen as disadvantages, but rather as characteristic features of the theory (Simpson, 2009, p. 35). Indeed, unlike many of its counterparts, the theory in question provides a rather detailed examination of certain factors that cause crimes. This means that the level of precision should be regarded as an advantage of the approach. In addition to that, as it was presented in the previous section, the theory possesses a potential to explain not only the crimes which are committed by the disadvantages, but by the people who belong to a completely different category. This means that if a researcher engages it in the correct way, the theory has almost a universal power to explain the crimes (Einstadter, 2006, p. 172). There is no doubt that this should be see as a tremendous advantage and conditions the high value that it has for criminology, the very goal of which is to provide a viable explanation of crimes that are committed by the people who live in a society. That is why it should be seen as a valuable contribution. Conclusion Having examined all the points that were brought up in the paragraphs above, it is quite logical to come to the following conclusion: anomie theory does not have a limited value for criminology as it is able to explain a wide array of crimes that are committed by different citizens. Indeed, some might argue that the theory in question puts too much emphasis on those who are at the bottom of the social ladder. Nevertheless, this approach can be as effective when it is engaged to explain the so called white collar crimes. This it conditioned by the fact that the theory does not limit its investigation to some financial aspects of the social well being, but provides a valuable insight into the nature of the people. References Adler, F 1995, The legacy of anomie theory, Transaction, New Brunswick, NJ. Akers, R 2000, Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and application, Roxbury, Los Angeles, CA. Brinkerhoff, D & White, L 2007, Essentials of sociology, West Pub, St. Paul, MN. Brym, R & Lie, J 2005, Sociology: Your compass for a new world, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Belmont, CA. Burfeind, J & Bartusch, D 2006, Juvenile delinquency: An integrated approach, Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, MA. Deflem, M 2006, Sociological theory and criminological research views from Europe and the United States, Elsevier/JAI, Amsterdam. Delaney, T & Madigan, T 2009, The sociology of sports: An introduction, McFarland & Co., Jefferson, NC. Einstadter, W & Henry, S 2006, Criminological theory: An analysis of its underlying assumptions, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD. Gerber, J 2007, Encyclopedia of white-collar crime, Greenwood Press, Westport, CN. Horwitz, A 1999, A handbook for the study of mental health: Social contexts, theories, and systems, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Miethe, T & Regoeczi, W 2004, Rethinking homicide exploring the structure and process underlying deadly situations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Simpson, S 2009, The criminology of white-collar crime, Springer, New York, NY. Tierney, J 1996, Criminology: Theory and context, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London. Vito, G & Holmes, R 1994, Criminology: Theory, research, and policy, Wadsworth Pub, Belmont, CA. Walklate, S 2007, Understanding criminology current theoretical debates, McGraw-Hill/Open University Press, Maidenhead. Read More