Anomie and Strain Theory are two attempts of explaining why people commit deviant actions. These are important theories because it is important for individuals to anticipate behaviors to be able to interact with others. Anomie is a feeling of ‘normlessness’ and claim that society's rules are what cause people to commit deviant actions. Strain theory states that we are taught to follow traditional goals; like having a good job, getting married, and owning a home. These two theories can be used to analyze types of deviant behavior to further understand it. One deviant behavior that has benefited from these theories is chronic unemployment and use of welfare.
Chronic or long-term unemployment describes people that have been out of work for over 27 weeks. During the peak of the recession in January of 2010, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the unemployment rate had reached 9.8 percent, which is very different from the 4.7 percent of 2006. In 2015, the BLS confirmed that 26.6 percent of unemployed fit in the long-term category. Though it has been significantly falling since then, the explosion of unemployment made this a very important deviant action that needed to be controlled according to the general population. The claim was that people were not looking for jobs, but instead mooching off the welfare program and living easier lives than the average American for it. Durkheim would use anomie to describe that society cannot effectively regulate expectations and behaviors, so aspirations develop beyond the possibility of fulfillment. …show more content…
Durkheim and Merton used their expertise to provide this opportunity to look behind the scenes of what are actually leading up to deviant behavior. Using this opportunity, the next logical step would be to start taking actions during this time before the deviant behavior to prevent individuals from feeling prone to commit these
Chronic or long-term unemployment describes people that have been out of work for over 27 weeks. During the peak of the recession in January of 2010, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the unemployment rate had reached 9.8 percent, which is very different from the 4.7 percent of 2006. In 2015, the BLS confirmed that 26.6 percent of unemployed fit in the long-term category. Though it has been significantly falling since then, the explosion of unemployment made this a very important deviant action that needed to be controlled according to the general population. The claim was that people were not looking for jobs, but instead mooching off the welfare program and living easier lives than the average American for it. Durkheim would use anomie to describe that society cannot effectively regulate expectations and behaviors, so aspirations develop beyond the possibility of fulfillment. …show more content…
Durkheim and Merton used their expertise to provide this opportunity to look behind the scenes of what are actually leading up to deviant behavior. Using this opportunity, the next logical step would be to start taking actions during this time before the deviant behavior to prevent individuals from feeling prone to commit these