Anomie and Strain Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton Understanding Criminology 11 th November 2008

Lecture Outline Emile Durkheim –Functionalism –Crime as normal –Anomie Robert Merton –Strain –Adaptations

Emile Durkheim Early pioneer of sociology Positivist Functionalist Macro-level sociology

Social cohesion How could society hold together during a period of fundamental and rapid social and economic change?

Functionalism Societies should be analysed as a organic whole: each aspect of society should be analysed with reference to its function for society as a whole Society is essentially consensual As deviance was universal across all societies, it must have a function: crime is normal

Crime is normal What function can crime have to society as a whole? Crime, and the reaction to it: –Reinforced collective sentiment "Crime brings together upright consciences and concentrates them" –Defined the boundaries of acceptable behaviour “We must not say that an action shocks the common consciousness because it is criminal, but rather that it is criminal because it shocks the common consciousness” –Represented a litmus test for legal codes

Functional Analysis of Deviance Example: prostitution (Kingsley Davis, 1937) Prostitution: a safety valve against sexual frustration leading to assault Prostitution is functional to the nuclear family Adultery would threaten an essential societal institution Stigmatisation (informal disapproval) of prostitution confirms the collective approval of monogamy

Pathological levels of crime? Too little crime? –Social control is too excessive –Social stagnation Too much crime? –Society’s capacity to regulate is being swamped: social cohesion is at risk There is, therefore, a functionally desirable level of crime

How can Durkheim explain the continued existence of crime? Key concept: Anomie (normlessness) Anomie as a characteristic of industrial societies –Unfettered individualism Anomie as a characteristic of individuals –“A process whereby social norms lose their hold over individual / group behaviour” A symptom of underdeveloped division of labour

The Division of Labour Mechanical Solidarity –Pre-industrial –Simple normative system: a unified, simplified moral code Organic Solidarity –Industrial society (though yet to be achieved) –Complex division of labour –Conscious Collective: social cohesion achieved despite moral diversity Anomie: results from the decline of mechanical solidarity, and the lack of development of regulatory forces Individualism > Social Responsibility

Robert Merton and Strain Shared Durkheim’s functionalist concerns –Esp. Individualism v. Societal Needs Anomie: a strain existing between two powerful sets of normative codes –Goals – material success, power etc. –Means of achieving them legitimately The vast majority of the (American) population by definition could not achieve the goals

Al Capone F.D. Roosevelt

Merton’s adaptations to Strain Response: MeansGoals Conformity++ Innovation-+ Ritualism+- Retreatism-- RebellionRejects means Rejects goals

Criticisms of Merton Unwarranted assumption of shared goals –Not, though, ignoring the possibility of conflict Overly deterministic: everything explained by socialisation: no conscious choice Paradoxically, also underplays the importance of structural position e.g. the mediation of expectations in different class positions Does not account for different types of “innovation” Subjectivity absent

Criticisms of Functionalism Consensus based –Functional in whose interests? –Conservative –Ignores conflict Tautological: Deterministic: little room for consideration of individual agency (choices) Other structural explanations still possible e.g. Marxism Inability to distinguish the functional from the dysfunctional Social Cohesion DevianceSocial Cohesion