Robert Merton Anomie THeory

Frank Schmalleger explains the theory of social disorganization as one that depicts both social change as well as conflict, and lack of any agreement as the origin of its cause for both criminal behavior as well as nonconformity to society and closed associated with the ecological school of criminology (Schmalleger, 2012, p. 152). The philosophy behind the organization and structure of a society and how that contributes to criminal behavior within society is by stressing poverty, economic conditions, lack of education, lack of skills, are not sought-after in the work place, and divergent cultural values. Criminal behavior is the result of the person’s assignment of location within the structure of society.

Social control is techniques and strategies used for preventing deviant human behavior in any society. All levels of society such as family, school, bureaucratic and government has some form of social control. Examples of family social control include obeying your parents rules, doing your homework and chores. School includes standards they expect of students such as being on time, completing assignments and following school ground rules. The bureaucratic organization emphasizes the rules and procedures among their workers. The government expresses social control through law

Robert Merton’s (1938) strain theory attempts to explain why the United States had such high crime rates during that time as well as why certain groups are more likely to engage in crime than others (Book). During that time the Great Depression had hit America hard and immigrants were devastated. In addition, World War II had hit European countries hard and the United States was feeling strained. Merton’s macro theory argues that the cultural values in the United States are built on the idea that if an individual works hard he or she is able to achieve their goals. These cultural goals are strictly financial, including money, power, success and wealth and those who do not achieve these goals simply do not work hard enough. However, when society holds out these same cultural goals for everyone but does not provide the same access to legitimate means to achieve those goals, anomie occurs (class lecture). Anomie, a concept borrowed from Durkheim occurs when institutional norms are no longer in place and do not hold any power to regulate human needs and behaviors and thus, normless takes place and crime is a valid means to attain cultural goals. Furthermore, the methods or institutionalized means used to achieve the

There are three types of social structure theories. First, Disorganization theory describes conflict, change and the lack of consensus, as the main cause of deviance and crime. During the 1900’s some of the communities that were prospering could tell that crime increased in certain areas due to displaced people and this caused social disorganization. The inability of the immigrants to successfully instill values for their homeland to their new homes in America added social conflict. According to Sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)” believed that crime was a normal part of all societies and that law was a symbol of social solidarity”. Hence, for Durkheim, an act was “criminal when it offends strong and defined of the collective conscious”.

Rebellion is the denunciation of both conventional and cultural goals, but aims to replace both foundations with new goals and means of obtaining these.

Not every man who 's fought in a war planned on doing so. In fact, not all of them even want to. It 's rare to find enough people voluntarily willing to lay down their lives for their country, so more often than not militaries used what we would call “citizen soldiers.” Citizen soldiers are exactly what they sound like, regular citizens taken from society and turned into people capable of serving in the military. Although it may seem obvious when plainly written out, citizen soldiers had vastly different experiences compared to career soldiers, and Stephen Ambrose attempted to pin down that specific experience in his book Citizen Soldier. Ambrose uses oral interviews from World War II veterans and other materials to explain the experiences of the common American soldier who served in WWII between D-Day and the eventual surrender of the German forces. However, when examining his book, it 's important to ask how successful Ambrose was in painting an accurate picture of this kind of soldier 's life during his service. Is the information he uses specific to the men who served in Europe, or can it also be linked back to the soldiers in the Pacific? This paper will evaluate his work by comparing it to oral interviews from WWII veterans both from the same areas that Ambrose 's veterans serve in and in locations not included in his work.

Those people who are labelled as deviant may seek out others in the same situation. They provide understanding and support since they share the same problems. Within this group a deviant sub-culture may develop in which a deviant lifestyle is a major concern. This can be seen in certain gay communities particularly in the United States. Those forced into ‘deviant communities’ now see themselves as different from the wider society and act accordingly.

Brym, R.J., & Lie, J., & Rytina, S. (2010) Deviance and Crime. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd Canadian Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press. Toronto: Nelson

Rebellion can be an act of violence or resistance of formal rule. It is recognized through written letters, such as Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, or books like “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. Rebellion is a necessary response when there are heinous acts being expound in a tyranny. People don’t conform to society when they refuse to go along with the status quo. Rebelling against their societies status quo means there may be social structural issues as well as political ones. Independence is a desired outcome when a form of rebellion occurs, which is why many people create a rebellious

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.

Social structure theory deals with the social environment which may include; the family circle, neighborhood, school, peer group influences, Socio economic status, gender, and ethnicity. Social structure looks at the unequal distribution of wealth, power and prestige among the different social classes (Siegel, 2011). This According to Merton, (as cited in Schneider & Tilly, 2004) significantly emphasize the role of social and economic structures as the causes of delinquent behavior and tend to look at criminal behavior as the result of the undesirable and dysfunctional structures (P. 3.). Social disorganization, strain, and subculture theories all fall under the umbrella of social

The social structure theory deliberates delinquency as a gathering of the person’s dealings with numerous groups, organizations, and process in the society. Any person irrespective of their prominence in life is likely to become delinquents if they continue with negative social affiliations. Every aspect of the society, social and economic must be viewed using the social structure theories to find the cause of crime and deviance. The social structure theories consist of four types which include social disorganization theory, anomie theory, differential association theory, and labeling theory. Several theories offer different answers to this delinquent of influential the key features of a social group.

Merton’s Anomie Theory believes that society shapes the cultural norms and values of people and also their aspirations and the approved methods of achieving such aspirations. Merton considers that there is a link between anomie in society and the difference between the levels of emphasis placed on aspirations and those placed on the means of realizing these aspirations in society; the smaller the difference the less likely anomie will occur. Merton also believes that crime is caused by society although he believes it is not useful to society; Merton believes that crime is a representation of the poor organization of society. In American culture, monetary success is the predominant cultural goal, but not everyone has the same access to attain it. Some people respond to this disjunction in criminal ways. Components of adaptation to strain include conformity which is when people embrace conventional social goals and also have the means to attain them, they can choose to conform. They remain law-abiding.

Deviance is described as being behaviour that is not part of the norms in your particular society. This can be different throughout the world because some cultures have very different norms (Stephens and Leach, 1998:17). Most deviant behaviour will attract disapproval from others in the society or punishment from authorities. There are many different types of deviance such as addiction, mental illness, alcoholism, criminality and homosexuality. Throughout this essay six types of theories will be discussed about how and why people are deviant. Four of these theories support the idea of deviance being biological and three support the idea of it being caused by your social construction. Also the essay will talk about the differences between

Merton’s work has contributed greatly to criminological theory as he took a different perspective than Durkheim’s concept of anomie and reworked to the American context. The theories and concepts of anomie and strain that Merton argued have influenced the works of Cohen as well as the New Deviancy Theory and the New Penology. Therefore, Strain theory has evolved across time to encompass different situational circumstances of crime. Furthermore, due to the individual’s inability to achieve the appropriate cultural status, the idea of reference groups have also been highly relevant to today’s understanding of crime. Where evaluating oneself against peers constantly occurs as people try to better or compete against others.