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Durkheim&Merton

Durkheim&Merton. Anomie or “Strain” Theories. Emile Durkheim . French Sociologist Suicide Crime is “Functional” Mechanical vs. Organic Solidarity Altruistic vs. Common Criminal. Durkheim as the Root of all Sociological Theory. Durkheim emphasized several different themes

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Durkheim&Merton

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  1. Durkheim&Merton Anomie or “Strain” Theories

  2. Emile Durkheim • French Sociologist • Suicide • Crime is “Functional” • Mechanical vs. Organic Solidarity • Altruistic vs. Common Criminal

  3. Durkheim as the Root of all Sociological Theory • Durkheim emphasized several different themes • Social Integration • Humans as greedy, self-interested • “Insatiable Desires” • Anomie

  4. Two Main Traditions in Sociolgoy • Chicago School of Crime/Social Disorganization • Social Integration • Capping Human Desires • Differential Association • Informal Social Control (Control Theories) • Anomie/Strain • Industrial Prosperity • Anomie

  5. 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 • The “American Dream” as a virtue and VICE

  6. Anomie -- Macro Level • The “road not taken” • Explanation of high crime rates in the United States? • Follows close to Durkheim • Gist = Unrestrained American capitalism and fetish with money creates anomie • Picked up by Messner and Rosenfeld

  7. Strain Theory--Anomie at the Micro Level • Cultural Goals in U.S.? • The American Dream = $ = Universal • Institutionalized Means? • Given social structure in the U.S., the means are to achieve $ are unequally distributed • Segment of society with no way to attain goal b/c they lack means

  8. MODES OF CULTURAL INSTITUT. ADAPTATION GOALS MEANS 1. Conformity + + 2. Innovation + - 3. Ritualism - + 4. Retreatism - - 5. Rebellion +/- +/- Strain Theory (Micro)

  9. Support for Micro Strain Theory • First tested as the disjuncture between educational or economic “aspirations” and “expectations” • Little empirical support for this • Delinquents tend to have low expectations and aspirations • BUT—is this really a great measure of strain?

  10. More recent empirical studies • “Blocked Opportunities” • 50/50 odds study finds a relationship • Even here, weak association • Disappointment with current financial status • One study, but found moderate relationship, even after controlling for other theories

  11. Criticisms of Merton and “Strain” Theory • Is crime a “lower class” phenomena? • Cannot explain “expressive” crimes • In Merton’s defense, this was a “mid-range” theory of crime • Why ritualist vs. innovator? • Weak empirical support • Hirschi = “Oversocialized Man”

  12. ANOMIE—The Legacy • 1950s-1960s = “Subcultrual” theories • Mix anomie tradition with differential association • 1990s = Revisions of Merton’s theory • Individual Level = “General Strain Theory” • Macro Level = “Institutional Anomie”

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