Emile Durkheims And Merton's Views On The Structure Of Society

The social structure theory is defined as a crime committed based on your status in society. The Summer Night Lights program is made up of volunteers that

issues of social structure", and how it helps us to understand the society in which we live in.

Please describe the impact Marx, Durkheim, & Weber had on sociology as prominent contributors of the discipline.

Everyone in criminology is striving to find the extent and the cause of criminal behavior. One of the major theories of causation is the social structure theory of crime. In this theory they believe that crime is primarily caused by being in a disadvantaged economic class. In this paper I want to take the position of explaining the social structure theory and some of its subparts. I will be focusing on two main subparts: the anomie and strain theory and the social disorganization theory. But, first let me start off by talking about the association between social structure theory and crime itself.

Emile Durkheim studied deviance with the functionalism approach. Functionalism argues that each element of social structure helps maintain the stability of society (156). Durkheim actually viewed crime and delinquent behavior as a normal and necessary occurrence in a social system. These societies see the behavior as wrong and a punishment is the consequence. Functionalists believe that deviance helps clarify moral boundaries. It helps society’s moral compass to distinguish the difference between what is right and what is wrong. A function of deviance is to promote social cohesion; people can be brought together as a community in the face of crime or other violations (156).

A society with an internal consensus of social norms and cultural values is essentially the BASIS of a social system. Contrarily, this system is labeled socially disorganized when there is a breakdown in social control or SOMETHING among its elements. The theory suggest the absence or reduction of cohesion and solidarity in a community, will result in a increase of crime rates and deviant behavior. To support these

Social structure is an institutional framework created by patterns of social relationships and interactions among people. These patterns often influence and impact the ways people shape their attitudes and perceptions. Social classes are measured by the wealth,

The social structure theory is a theory that makes use of several assumptions. The first assumption is that the criminal behavior begins during the youth of the perpetrator. The other assumption is that the perpetrator of the crime comes from a disadvantaged class. There must also be a group dynamic where the crime could develop. The other assumption is that there exists a social structure that its degree of organization contributes towards the occurrence of criminal behavior (Hirschi, 2017).

The term Social Justice can be traced back to the twentieth century where the pursuit began by individuals, communities and societies, some argue that perhaps the fight for social justice maybe ending (Miller, 1999). Robert Merton’s work had major influence on the school of functionalism, especially in America during the 1940s and 1950s especially as functionalism was mainly concerned with social order (Tierney, 1996). Merton’s focus was crime and deviance even though he was not a criminologist; his ideas were first published in 1993 in an article titled ‘Social structure and anomie’ which illustrated his connection to Durkheim. A book called ‘Social theory and social structure’ was later published which discussed strain theory, the first attempt to answer the prominent question of how society impacts individuals to act in a deviant / criminal manner.

Emile Durkheim was a French Sociologist and philosopher and is currently known as one of the principal founders of modern sociology. That being said, he has coined and established many sociological theories throughout his time that still are relevant today and have been studied by many sociologists during his time and now currently. One of the more popular theories that has been altered slightly but still used today is Durkheim’s Anomie Theory. The Anomie Theory has been studied by many other famous sociologists such as Robert King Merton and Robert Agnew. It eventually branched into what is now known as the Strain Theory. Currently, these theories are being changed and “improved” as time goes on to try and fix any mistakes previously made in the creation of the old theories as new research is conducted constantly.

Within the field of sociology the term “structural” is often mentioned; however, in the terms of social problems structural is meant as finding problems within society that is related to the institutions in which people in a society interact and live among one another and also deal with forces that change a social structure and how a society might be organized. Therefore, social structure ties individuals and organizations to a larger social network, so it relates person to person rather than a single individual. So, social structures are different compared to a view of a problem being framed as an individual problem. This is because a social problem is again structured to involve a whole society, rather than being an individual problem that

Anomie theory presents the issue of crime as inconsistent or nonexistent norms. If norms from the personal realm of life conflict with norms in society there is strain that is put of the people. Social order of this theory looks at a power class in charge of defining the social and other groups being forces to conform or rebel. Policies in this view seem to come from consensus models. The people agree on what is normal and the class in charge is

Much like social disorganization theory, anomie theory suggests that the more disorganized or lack of social control within a group or community, the higher the rate of crime and deviant behavior. Akers, Sellers & Jennings et al. (2017) stated that if a community lacks unity or the standards of a social system, or if there is an interruption, then that community is labeled as anomic. Akers et al. (2017) described a social system as a society that has order in which all people in the society have a complete understanding of the entire group’s standards and ethics. Anomie theory is used to explain crime and delinquency between groups such as those belonging to the lower class, ethnic minorities, and gangs (Akers et al. (2017). Unlike anomie theory, social disorganization theory attributes crime and deviance to fast changes in the group. If the group is unable to adapt this then weakens the community’s capability to manage its member’s behavior, which then results in crime and deviance. According to Akers et al. (2017), anomie theory proposes that when a community or society experiences interruptions in the social control of the community it can cause laws and norms begin to deteriorate which leave the community with a weak on its member’s behavior. When this is combined with people’s access to economic goals being hindered, crime is more likely to occur.

The social structure of a society refers to the dispersal of opportunities for attaining success goals through socially adequate means. In the United States, these opportunities are not evenly distributed.

Robert Merton’s Theory: Bezuidenhout (2011) explains that Robert Merton’s Theory, also known as Strain Theory or Anomie Theory, is a theory that is focused in regards to deviance rather than criminality. Robert Merton used the terminology “anomie” from Emmanuel Durkheim who came up with the original meaning of anomie. The theory divided society into two structures that although they have a disjunction between them, when combined, help society accept and achieve the goals they have set. The cultural structure focuses on the goals of society which are what the people value and strive for. The social structure is focused on the means of achieving societies goals.