Anomie

1
Anomie

• Anomie the breakdown of social order as a result
  of the loss of standards and values, normlessness

2
Anomie

• Durkheim believed that rapid social change caused
  crime

3
Mertons Adaptations Conformity

• We accept the goals of society. We have the
  means to attain these goals.

4
Mertons Adaptations Innovation

• OK, We accept the goals of society. There is no
  way we can reach these goals. We can experiment
  with new behavior.

5
Mertons Adaptations Innovation

• AM RECORDS, INC., a corporation GEFFEN RECORDS,
  INC., a corporation INTERSCOPE RECORDS SONY
  MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, INC. MCA RECORDS, INC.
  ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP. ISLAND RECORDS, INC.
  MOTOWN RECORD CO. CAPITOL RECORDS, INC.,
• Plaintiffs-Appellees,
• v.
• NAPSTER, INC.,
• Defendant-Appellant.

6
Mertons Adaptations Ritualism

• Ritualism Abandon societys goals and
  concentrate only on the means.
• Gain pleasure from practicing rituals regardless
  of their purpose
• Manners and customs of religious sects and
  fraternities

7
Robert MertonModes of Adaptation Continued

• Retreatism Individuals who give up on the goals
  and the means.
• Rebellion Individuals who reject the cultural
  goals and the cultural means and substitute new
  cultural goals and means.

8
Mertons Modes of Individual Adaptation
acceptance - rejection /- rejection
and substitution
9
The Goal of Economic Success Causes

• The devaluation of non-economic roles and
  functions
• The accommodation of other institutions to
  economic needs
• The penetration of economic norms

10
Strain Theory and Corporate Crime (Crimes of the
Powerful)

• Illegal strategies which reduce the cost of
  production include refusing to make costly
  changes in products known to be dangerous
• Anti trust Violations
• Illegally Suppressing Labor Unions
• PressuresOpportunitiesCriminal Behavior

11
Criticisms of Anomie Strain Theory

• Why do certain types of people commit certain
  types of crime?
• Why do some juvenile delinquents commit crimes
  and then stop?
• Dont different people share different values?
  Does Mertons Theory take ethnic cultural values
  into account?

12
Criticisms of Anomie Strain Theory

• Is Crime a Lower Class Phenomenon?
• Does nothing to explain Expressive Crimes

13
Crime Preventions Strategies Based on Strain
Theory

• Head Start
• Project Follow Through
• Perry Preschool Project
• Job Corps

14
General Strain TheoryRobert Agnew

• Strain caused by failure to achieve positively
  valued goals.
• Stress caused by the removal of positively valued
  stimuli from the individual.
• Strain caused by the presentation of negative
  stimuli.

15
GST

• Strain interacts with a PERSONS Social Traits.
  This produces Criminality

16
GST

• Criminality is a result of Negative Affective
  States
• Anger, frustration and adverse emotions that
  result from destructive emotional relationships

17
Sources of Strain
Negative Affective States
Antisocial Behavior
Failure to Achieve Goals

• Anger
• Frustration
• Disappointment
• Depression
• fear

Drug abuse Delinquency Violence Dropping out
Disjunction of expectations and achievements
Removal of Positive Stimuli
Presentation of Negative Stimuli
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Sources of Strain

• Social Sources
• Membership in a social group
• Interaction with other (strained) delinquents
• Demands of peer groups force members into
  behavior patterns
• Community Sources
• Influence the goals and the ability to meet them
• Influence feelings of relative deprivation
• Influence that angry strain filled individuals
  will interact

19
GST and Career Criminals

• Certain People have traits that are more
  susceptible to strain
• Aggressive people are more likely to have poor
  interpersonal skills People they associate with
  may not like them either
• Rejection of conventional peers
• Join disruptive groups

20
Empirical Support of GST

• Adolescents who score high perceptions of strain
  are also statistically related to criminality
• Drug Abusers report Life Stress

21
Criticisms of GST

• Assumes that Criminality is the Source for Stress
  Reduction
• Coping Mechanisms Abound
• Does not explain Crime Rate vs. Gender

22
Radical Analysis of Strain Theory

• Merton theorizes that antisocial behavior is
  called forth by strain, Agnew theorizes that
  individual strains produce a certain social
  indignation Why is there criminality
  (historically) in societies with reduced class
  stratification (Communist experiments)
• Reduced Innovation