Durkheim

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DurkheimMerton

• Anomie or Strain Theories

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Emile Durkheim

• French Sociologist
• Suicide
• Coined the Term Anomie A state where
  institutionalized norms lost their meaning and
  ability to control human behavior and human needs
• Mechanical vs. Organic Solidarity

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Robert K. Merton

• Social Structure and Anomie (1938)
• From Durkheim Institutionalized norms are
  weakened in societies that place an intense value
  on economic success
• Applied this to the United States
• Culturally Valued Goals
• Institutionalized Means

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Conflict Means and Goals

• Cultural Goal in U.S.?
• This goal is universal
• (The American Dream)
• Institutionalized Means?
• Due to the social structure in the U.S., the
  means are unequally distributed
• Segment of society with no way to attain goal

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Anomie as a Macro Level Theory

• Explains the high crime rates among the lower
  class
• Explains the high crime rates in the United
  States? (Means/Goal conflict)

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Strain Theory (Micro)
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Criticisms of Strain Theory

• Is crime a lower class phenomena?
• Cannot explain expressive crimes
• Only instrumental crimes
• Weak empirical support

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Agnew General Strain Theory

• Overhaul of Mertons Strain Theory
• Four types of strain
• Failure to achieve valued goals
• Removal of valued stimuli
• Cant escape noxious stimuli
• Disjuncture between expectations and aspirations

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Agnew (GST)

• Strain?Negative Affective States
• Anger, fear, frustration, depression
• In lieu of Coping Mechanisms, anger and
  frustration produce delinquency
• Strain?Neg Emotional?Delinquency

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Agnew (GST)

• Tests of GST are more favorable
• But, is it STRAIN or something else?
• Is this theory a theory of Strain or a theory
  of STRESS?

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ROBERT MERTON

• Culture
• THE American Dream
• Social Structure
• Unequal distribution of means for achieving the
  American Dream

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CRIME AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

• Messner and Rosenfeld

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Elements of the American Dream

• Achievement
• Individualism
• Universalism
• The fetishism of money
• These elements encourage Anomic conditions

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THE AMERICAN DREAM PRODUCES ANOMIE

• MERTON Pursuit of financial success is limited
  only by considerations of technical expediency.
• Lombardi Winning isnt everything, its the
  only thing.

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Institutions in Society

• Social institutions as the building blocks of
  society.
• The Economy
• The Polity
• The Family
• Education

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Key Issue for M R

• These institutions sometimes have conflicting
  goals and values.
• All societies can therefore be characterized by
  their distinctive arrangements of institutions
• The U.S.? Economy Dominates we are a MARKET
  SOCIETY

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Indicators of Economic Dominance

• Devaluation of non-economic institutional
  functions and roles
• Accommodation to economic requirements by other
  social institutions
• Penetration of economic norms into other social
  domains

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Implications of Economic Dominance

• Weak institutional controls
• Family and School are handicapped in efforts to
  promote allegiance to social rules
• Single parent families
• Poorly funded schools
• Weak institutions invite challenge

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Culture, Social Structure, and Crime Rates
CULTURE The American
Dream ANOMIE
SOCIAL STRUCTURE Economic Dominance Weak
Institutional Controls
HIGH CRIME RATES