Durkheim felt that normlessness led to deviant behaviour.
Anomie is present when social controls are weak and when the moral responsibilities that control individuals and their behaviour are not strong enough to work effectively. Durkheim saw a number of gestures of anomie in the late 19th century industrial society: in particular, high rates of suicide, marital break-up and industrial conflict. Such behaviour indicates a breakdown of normative control.
According to Blauner (1964) alienation has four different dimensions: Powerlessness which happens to individuals who feel that they cannot their own actions, Meaninglessness when people have little or no sense of value, worth or interest, Isolation happens to individuals who cannot identify to their surroundings, and people who have no sense of involvement especially in their workplace are seen as self-estranged. Similar to alienation Marshall B. Clinard stated that anomie is "a sense of confusion and (is when) people become disorientated from their world".
On the contrary to alienation, anomie in the industrial society causes people to become restless and dissatisfied. Since people have so …show more content…
This is paralleled by a corresponding increase in human alienation, an increase that reaches its height in a capitalist society.
Defining both of these concepts has shown that anomie and alienation appear to be rather similar. Marx believes that self-estrangement is the result of alienated labour and capitalist relations of production, in which neither labour itself, the tools, product, or the co-operation nature of work, are owned and controlled by the worker. Durkheim thought that anomie is the consequence of the division of labour and that it is still possible for society to maintain a collective conscience. Durkheim suggests that the education system and professional associations can help to reinforce social solidarity amongst people in industrial societies.
In Marx's early work he saw Alienation act as a moral criticism of capitalism. Marx believed that the solution to this problem was to abolish the notion of capitalism and replace it with socialism. Whilst Durkheim believed that capitalism challenges the ethical structure necessary for human life, and threatens to isolate individuals