Retreatism
Definition
One of Merton's five adaptations: rejecting both the culturally approved goal and the legitimate means, withdrawing from the competitive social order altogether. Merton associated retreatism with chronic drug use and homelessness.
- Theorist
- Robert K. Merton
- Framework
- Strain theory, five modes of adaptation
- Rejects
- Both cultural goals and legitimate means
- Associated with
- Chronic drug use, homelessness
Common questions
How does retreatism differ from rebellion in Merton's typology?+
Retreatism involves withdrawing from the social order without replacing it, while rebellion rejects existing goals and means but actively substitutes new goals and means aimed at changing the social structure, making rebellion a more politically engaged adaptation.
Is retreatism considered a criminal adaptation on its own?+
Retreatism itself is a withdrawal rather than an offending strategy, but the behaviours associated with it, such as illicit drug dependency, often bring individuals into contact with the criminal justice system through drug offences or acquisitive crime to sustain use.
What criticism is commonly raised against Merton's retreatism category?+
Critics note the category can pathologise poverty and addiction as individual adaptive failures while underplaying structural factors such as housing and healthcare access that push people toward withdrawal from mainstream goals.
Related terms
- Anomie
- A condition in which social norms weaken or become contradictory, leaving individuals without clear moral guidance. First used by Durkheim to describe...
- 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...
- Strain
- In criminological theory, the pressure or frustration produced when individuals cannot achieve goals through legitimate means, or when they experience loss or...