On the Anomie Theories of Merton and Durkheim
iuscrim.mpg.de/forsch/krim/ortmann1_e.html
Analysis, criticism and further development based on the background of empirical studies 
Participant: Rüdiger Ortmann 
Abstract: Pertaining to the frame subject "the individual, society and deviant behaviour" the research reported in this article deals with Merton's and Durkheim's anomie-theoretical perspective with respect to the emergence of deviant behaviour. It can be noted, in this connection, that both Merton and his predecessor Durkheim furnish rather unclear definitions of the basic elements of the anomie theory such as the norms, goals and opportunities necessary to attain these goals. This also applies to significant theoretical statements of anomie theory. There exist, above all, no clear statements whatsoever as to why and how society influences the norms and deviant behaviour of the individual. Merton furnishes no concrete responses in this connection - neither to the question as to why the "pressure" arising from goals-means discrepancies should lead to a breakdown of norms, nor regarding the implications of this hypothesis on the character of norms and their emergence, nor to the question whether and for what reason the fact that the responsible agents of this goals-means discrepancy are not individuals, but rather the particular culture and society is of relevance. Durkheim, on the other hand, leaves open the question as to how and why norms and rules are embedded in a system of personal goals and opportunities to attain these goals, so that the existing norms and rules become invalid and need to be replaced by new ones, in the event of sudden and abrupt changes in personal opportunities which have taken place in the wake of economic crises or booms. 
Against this background, empirical tests of anomie theory prove to be less significant and, in view of the theories' considerable vagueness, hardly feasible convincingly. The current controversies on a suitable test of Merton's anomie theory hence come as no surprise. Works aiming at theoretical clarification have priority in this context. Accordingly, efforts concentrate on finding answers to the described issues and problems and on developing a theoretical frame of reference committed to the ideas of Merton's and Durkheim's anomie theories on the basis of theoretical and empirical analysis, according to which there exists a relationship between the individual and society which induces the individual to judge society's behaviour towards him according to the criteria equality, (social) justice and balance and to strive for a new balance in case the former equilibrium is disturbed. The biblical notion "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" thus no longer reflects the wish for revenge and retaliation, but rather the attempt to restore balance by adjusting one's own behaviour with the goal of achieving equality and justice. In the context of these arguments society's attitude towards the individual - behind standard and quality - boomerangs back on society, and it is, with respect to the emergence of deviant behaviour, by no means the same thing whether society is responsible for the restricted living conditions of its members or not. Additionally, norms and rules - subject to the logic of functional relationships and thus dependent on other elements - prove to be embedded in a frame of argumentation and linked with other basic elements - in particular with the element of opportunities - to such an extent that the breakdown of norms hypothesized - but not explained - by Merton becomes understandable. For this incorporation of norms in a system of criteria represents both a relativization and integration of norms and rules, as a consequence of which, in the event of serious changes in e.g., economic conditions, the environment and surrounding field of norms change to such an extent that they are no longer "embedded" as before. For this reason norms and rules need to be freshly relativized and embedded (anew) in accordance with Durkheim's theory until the state of "anomie" is eliminated by way of adaptation to the new living conditions - or, in other words, by way of successful "modernization". 
Overview
Originally, the study aimed to test Merton's anomie theory (on a sample of juvenile prisoners). According to Merton's theory of anomie, the "culture" grants all members of a society the same success goals, and at the same time society differentiates the chances of access to legitimate opportunities according to location within the social structure (social class). Group-specific pressures result which lead to group-specific deviant behaviour.
Analysis of Merton's theory, however, reveals that the task of testing it can hardly be accomplished, as its statements and the definitions of its basic elements - goals, norms, opportunities - are not so clear as to enable us to clearly decide upon the most suitable test method. Against this background the persistent controversies on the appropriate test method and on how to rate the degree of its empirical soundness are quite understandable. In essence, they are the consequence of unsettled points concerning the theory and constitute a problem which is unable to be solved within the theoretical frame as defined by Merton. We can therefore, either give up Merton's anomie theory altogether and with it also further tests of its soundness, as well as the accompanying discussions about what Merton actually said, or meant by what he said about the anomie theory or adhere to the creative framework of the anomie theory and try to work out more precise theoretical definitions of its fundamental standards and to better understand their contribution to the emergence of deviant behaviour. 

Poverty, Socioeconomic Change, Institutional Anomie, and Homicide*
Sang-Weon Kim, Dong-Eui University, South Korea
William Alex Pridemore, Indiana University
Abstract: Objective. This study examined institutional anomie theory in the context of transitional Russia. Methods. We employed an index of negative socioeconomic change and measures of family, education, and polity to test the hypothesis that institutional strength conditions the effects of poverty and socioeconomic change on homicide rates. Results. As expected, the results of models estimated using negative binomial regression show direct positive effects of poverty and socioeconomic change and direct negative effects of family strength and polity on regional homicide rates. There was no support, however, for the hypothesis that stronger social institutions reduce the effects of poverty and socioeconomic change on violence. Conclusions. We interpret these results in the Russia-specific setting, concluding that Russia is a rich laboratory for examining the effects of social change on crime and that empirical research in other nations is important when assessing the generalizability of theories developed to explain crime and violence in the United States. - pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1534075

REVISITING MERTON: 
CONTINUITIES IN THE THEORY OF ANOMIE-AND-OPPORTUNITY-STRUCTURES 
Sanjay Marwah, George Mason University 
and Mathieu Deflem 
Abstract: Although the influence of Robert Merton’s contributions in criminological sociology is widely acknowledged, there still remain misunderstandings about his theoretical project. In light of some of these ongoing ambiguities, this paper discusses recent criticisms of the Mertonian theory of deviant behavior and argues that a visionary sociological paradigm of anomie-and-opportunity-structures underlies Merton’s contribution. The status of this paradigm, however, has often been misconstrued and has impaired the elaboration of a genuinely Mertonian theory of deviant behavior. We therefore clarify the various theoretically relevant elements of the Mertonian paradigm and offer suggestions as to its operationalization for crime and deviance research. We argue that future research should identify, examine, and test differentiated aspects of the anomie-and-opportunity-structures paradigm in order to arrive at a more consistent and substantiated conclusion on the validity of Merton’s project. We conclude that properly conceptualized and operationalized, the paradigm still holds great promise for sociological theory and research on deviant behavior. - cas.sc.edu/socy/faculty/deflem/zSTCRanomie.htm

ANOMIE AND STRAIN: CONTEXT AND CONSEQUENCES OF MERTON’S TWO THEORIES
Richard Featherstone, richard.featherstone@uni.edu, University of Northern Iowa & 
Mathieu Deflem, deflem@sc.edu, mathieudeflem.net 
Abstract: Robert Merton presented two not always clearly differentiated theories in his seminal explorations on the social-structure-and-anomie paradigm: a strain theory and an anomie theory. A one-sided focus on Merton’s strain theory in the secondary literature has unnecessarily restricted the power and effectiveness of Merton’s anomie theory. For although structural strain is one way to explain why deviance occurs in the context of anomie, it is not the only way. We contend that scholars who are critical of strain theory should not automatically discard Merton’s anomie theory, because the perspective of anomie is compatible with several other theories of crime and delinquency. Offering examples of previous integration efforts, we maintain that Merton’s theoretical model can benefit from the input of other theories of crime and deviance as much as these other theoretical perspectives can fine-tune their models and explanations. - cas.sc.edu/socy/faculty/deflem/zamoniestrain.html

GOVERNMENT REGULATION, SOCIAL ANOMIE AND PROTESTANT GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA 
A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS 
Anthony Gill 
The rapid growth of evangelical Protestantism in Latin America has received a substantial amount of scholarly attention in recent years. The most common explanation for this phenomenon has been a variant of `social anomie' theory that focuses on changes in social demand for religion. Individuals experiencing socio-economic crisis become displaced from their communities and lose their cultural identities. These individuals are then more susceptible to the appeals of new religious movements. An alternative, supply-side hypothesis is advanced. I argue that the degree of government regulation of religious economies can best account for cross-national variations in Protestant growth. Less restrictive laws regulating religious organizations lower the cost of consuming religion, thus leading to an increase in religious diversity and participation. Comparative statistical analysis of 20 Latin American countries supports the latter hypothesis. This analysis suggests that secularization is a function of government policy. - rss.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/11/3/287

Advancing Institutional Anomie Theory 
A Microlevel Examination Connecting Culture, Institutions, and Deviance 
Lisa R. Mufti, North Dakota State University, lisa.muftic@ndsu.edu 
Institutional anomie theory (IAT) contends that crime can be explained by an examination of American society, particularly the exaggerated emphasis on economic success inherent in American culture, which has created a "cheating orientation" that permeates structural institutions, including academia. Consistent with its macrosocial perspective, previous tests of IAT have examined IAT variables at the structural level only. The current study tests the robustness of IAT by operationalizing IAT variables at the individual level and looking at a minor form of deviance, student cheating. The author also examines the role statistical modeling has in testing the theory at the microlevel. Undergraduates, 122 American born and 48 international, were surveyed about their cheating behaviors and adherence to economic goal orientations. Results related to the hypothesis that American students, relative to foreign-born students, will have an increased adherence to economic goal orientations that increase cheating behaviors are presented, as are suggestions for future studies. - ijo.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/50/6/630

Institutional anomie and societal variations in crime: a critical appraisal, Author: Jensen G.
Abstract: Messner and Rosenfeld have proposed an institutional anomie theory of crime, incorporating the proposition that societal investments in programs to buffer citizens from capricious market forces (decommodification) are inversely related to rates of lethal violence among societies. They support this argument through an analysis of variations in homicide rates among nations. However, the research relevant to their theory is quite limited with numerous claims and arguments yet to be examined. This paper outlines several limitations of the theory and brings data from the World Values Surveys and other sources to bear on their characterization of American culture in comparison to other nations, their arguments about the impact of economic dominance on other institutions, and alternative explanations of the link between decommodification and homicide. Finally, the relevance of the theory to serious property crime is considered and shown to generate serious problems for institutional anomie theory when evaluated as a general theory of crime. - ingentaconnect.com

An Empirical Examination of the Anomie Theory of Drug Use. 
Authors: Dull, R. Thomas 
Abstract: Investigated the relationship between anomie theory, as measured by Srole's Anomie Scale, and self-admitted drug use in an adult population (N=1,449). Bivariate cross-comparison correlations indicated anomie was significantly correlated with several drug variables, but these associations were extremely weak and of little explanatory value. - eric.ed.gov

ASSESSING MESSNER AND ROSENFELD'S INSTITUTIONAL ANOMIE THEORY: A PARTIAL TEST
MITCHELL B. CHAMLIN
JOHN K. COCHRAN
In Crime and the American Dream, Messner and Rosenfeld contend that culturally and structurally produced pressures to secure monetary rewards, coupled with weak controls from noneconomic social institutions, promote high levels of instrumental crime. Empirically, they suggest that the effects of economic conditions on profit-related crime depend on the strength of noneconomic institutions. This investigation evaluates this proposition with cross-sectional data for U.S. states. In brief; the nonlinear models show considerable, indirect support for Messner and Rosenfeld's institutional anomie theory, revealing that the effects of poverty on property crime depend on levels of structural indicators of the capacity of noneconomic institutions to ameliorate the criminogenic impact of economic deprivation. The implications of these findings are discussed. - blackwell-synergy.com

BEHAVIOR GENETICS AND ANOMIE/STRAIN THEORY 
ANTHONY WALSH
Criminology is in need of conceptual revival, and behavior genetics can provide the concepts and research design to accomplish this. Behavior genetics is a biologically-friendly environmental discipline that often tells us more about environmental effects on individual traits than about genetic effects. Anomie/strain theory is used to illustrate the usefulness of behavior genetics to criminological theories. Behavior genetics examines the individual differences that sort people into different modes of adaptation and that lead them to cope constructively or destructively with strain. Behavior genetics and other biosocial perspectives have the potential to help illuminate Agnew's (1997) extension of General Strain Theory (GST) into the developmental realm. - blackwell-synergy.com