Anomie

lessen. Although there is still a huge income gap, the information gap is somewhat smaller. Each individual has access to information, and there are resources provided such as a library to allow all the right of information. Durkheim would question the anomie of the new technology. Moral guidance is…

Robert K. Merton once wrote in his Social Structures and Anomie: “Today, as then, we have still much to learn about the processes through which social structures generate the circumstances in which infringement of social codes constitutes a “normal” (that is to say, an expectable) response” (Lemert, p. 175). This…

Collins, in “Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender and The New Racism”, gives an in-depth analysis to the constructions of Black masculinity and femininity across socioeconomic levels and within particular notable roles (eg. the athlete, the parent). While she does pay close attention to the commodification of the sexualized Black female body by Black men, and what is referred to as “black-on-black violence” especially in her chapters “Booty Call” and “Get Your Freak On”, what she…

This paper will look into how organized crime groups make money. These groups make money through many avenues, however the most popular ways of making money for organized crime groups pertain to drug trafficking, human trafficking and corruption, which includes financial crime. Here in Canada, the majority of organized crime groups are involved with the importation and exportation of drugs, as it is highly fiscally rewarding. The Canadian black market is currently valued at $77 billion, with…

legitimate opportunities” (Williams, 2013, Ch. 6, Slide 5). In the 1930’s, Robert K. Merton developed the first trace of the strain theory. Merton based his general thoughts and ideas off of Durkheim’s original idea of the theoretical framework of the anomie (Tibbets S. & Hemmens C., 2015, p. 222). The general idea of the strain theory “is that stress, frustration, or strain, generally a product of failed aspirations, increases the prospects for norm violations” (Williams, 2013, Ch. 6, Slide 5).…

to conform and work within the structure of society and or choose the route of deviance in an attempt to achieve those goals. Strains that possibly lead to crime were reviewed by Merton and later challenged by Agnew. “During 1938 Merton explained anomie as a disconnect between goals and means” (Moon, Blurton, and McCluskey 2008). Societal goals were viewed as wealth, success and power, but to socially obtain these goals it would take hard work and education. However it was difficult to do so…

Smoking is not something that is new to this world, whether it was for ritual or recreational purposes, but what has been smoked and our certainty of its effects are fairly new. What is certain is we are unsure of the exact origin within a range of thousands of years, but smoking could have started any moment after man discovered fire. The popularity of smoking has allowed it to survive for so long. Negative connotations have only been applied to smoking since debunking one former surgeon…

Individuals no longer feel a connection to the changing norms, nor to their prospective divisions of labor. Consequently, citizens no longer know how to interact appropriately with people and anomie ensues. Well Durkheim believed that capitalism created the forced division of labor, where one’s earnings and status are determined by outside sources rather than by one’s talents, he nonetheless condoned the practice as it benefitted the entirety of society. Durkheim’s emphasis on social norms…

In this encyclopedic entry, I intend to highlight and critically discuss the key sociological concepts presented by Peter L Berger. Berger provides an interesting case in which his work develops empirical arguments both for and against the theory of secularization. By looking at his two major books, The Sacred Canopy and The Desecularization of the World, this account will be looking at his theory of religious world-construction, his key arguments of secularization and later his arguments of…

established guidelines as to how individuals should interact with each other, [2] but those guidelines have deteriorated over time; thus, [5] individuals have lost the ability to be able to act and socialize with one another. He goes on to coin the term “anomie” to signify a society where the line that distinguishes the correct and incorrect ways of behaving has been blurred to the point that one cannot distinguish between the two, [2] and, [3] in turn, that society fails. Although this is a…