Anomie
Definition
A condition in which social norms weaken or become contradictory, leaving individuals without clear moral guidance. First used by Durkheim to describe periods of rapid change; later adopted by Merton to describe a chronic disjunction between cultural goals and available means.
Related terms
- General strain theory (GST)
- Robert Agnew's 1992 reformulation of strain theory. GST identifies three sources of strain: failure to achieve positively valued goals, removal of positively...
- Innovation (Merton)
- One of Merton's five adaptations: accepting the culturally approved goal (financial success) while rejecting legitimate means and substituting illegitimate ones. Merton identified...
- Institutional anomie theory (IAT)
- Messner and Rosenfeld's macro-level extension of Merton (1994). IAT argues that societies in which the economy dominates all other institutions produce high...
- Retreatism
- One of Merton's five adaptations: rejecting both the culturally approved goal and the legitimate means, withdrawing from the competitive social order altogether....
- Strain
- In criminological theory, the pressure or frustration produced when individuals cannot achieve goals through legitimate means, or when they experience loss or...
Explained in
- Anomie and Strain TheoriesA condition in which social norms weaken or become contradictory, leaving individuals without clear moral guidance. First used by Durkheim to describe periods...