Social Structure And Anomie Summary

  • All societies have culturally defined goals, purposes, and interests
  • All societies have means of achieving those goals
  • Goals as more or less integrated and involve various degrees of prestige
  • Most groups in society generally accept the goals
  • Society establishes accepted means of achieving goals (institutional norms)
  • People achieve degrees of success in terms of achieving the goals
  • Most people gain satisfaction from participation in the competitive process
  • The distribution of rewards through competition must be organized so that positive incentive for conforming exist in every position
  • All groups in society have some kind of regulatory code
  • Antisocial or criminal behaviour may occur because of different emphasize on goals of each group
  • Criminal behaviour becomes more common when the emphasis on culturally induced goals becomes divorced from the institutions or the means which operate in it
  • Groups tend to fit into 5 categories when it comes to the goals and the means of achieving them: Conformity, Innovation, Ritualism, Retreatism, and Rebellion
  • The most common is conformity
  • The least common is retreatism (these would be the psychotics, drug addicts, etc.)
  • This group of people reject the goals of society and their means are also not in accordance with the rest of society
  • Some people try to escape from society (defeatism, resignation)
  • These people have not rejected the goal, but try not to participate
  • Innovation, ritualism, and rebellion are often determined by the particular cultural background
  • Innovation – you keep the goal but reject the means
  • Ritualism – you accept that the goal is out of reach, but you keep the means and continue on
  • Rebellion – because of frustration you reject the means and try to create a new order
  • Antisocial behaviour is partly a result of the class you are in and how they feel about the opportunities of achieving the goals of society
  • Lack of opportunity is not in itself the reason for criminal behaviour
  • Criminal behaviour tends to occur when one group in society is blocked from achieving the accepted goals of all of society and when the group feels that it is blocked by institutional means from achieving those goals (systemic racism)
  • Poverty is not in itself the reason for criminal behaviour
  • It is a factor when combined with the view that particular groups are blocked from achieving the goals that everyone in the society accepts

Glossary of Terms

Anomie - a state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people.

Conformity- action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices, etc.

Deinstitutionalization - to free from the confines or limitations of the rules of society.

Demoralization- to deprive (a person or persons) of spirit, courage, discipline, etc.; destroy the morale of

Innovation- something new or different introduced to achieve the goals of society

Institutional Norms – the generally accepted rules of behaviour and the means to achieve the goals of society

Neophobia - a fear of new things or the unknown

Rebellion - resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition

Retreatism- the rejection of culturally prescribed goals and the conventional means for attaining them.

Ritualism - adherence to or insistence on doing things the way they have always been done

Questions

  1. In your opinion, what makes a person a criminal?
  2. Influences from society
  3. Environmental surroundings
  4. Beliefs of the cultural groups they belong to
  5. Learned behaviour from their peers
  1. Do you believe some people are born bad and evil?

I believe people are born neutral. They are born neither bad nor good. However, they become bad or good based on how they are raised and influenced by society.

  1. Is criminal behaviour a direct result of poverty?

No, because not all poor people turn to criminal behaviour. Many poor people try to work hard to get out of poverty and accept the institutional norms and goals that the rest of society has.

  1. Why do some people who are poor resort to crime, while others who are poor do not?

Not all poor people resort to crime because poverty is not the only factor in determining criminal behaviour. It is a factor when combined with the view that particular groups are blocked from achieving the goals that everyone in the society accepts.

  1. Why do most people conform to the rules of society?

Most people need a sense of belonging and to be accepted, they need to conform. The majority of people accept the goals of the society and the institutional means to achieve those goals. In modern capitalistic society, the emphasis is on material wealth as a measure of success. People who accept that goal feel that the best way to achieve it is to follow the means that the system accepts.

  1. What is the difference between retreatism and rebellion?

Rebellion - resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition. People who are rebellious may not accept the means, but accept the goals of society.

Retreatism - the rejection of culturally prescribed goals and the conventional means for attaining them. People who are retreatists, like drug addicts, reject all aspects of society.

  1. According to the differential association theory all behaviour, including criminal, is learned. Do you agree with this theory? Why?

Yes, I agree with this theory. All behaviour, even criminal, is learned behaviour. It is learned in interaction with other people through communication. The main part of criminal behaviour is learned within groups. Learning includes techniques of crime, motives, rationalizations, and attitudes (Zeitlin, Irving M., The Social Condition of Humanity, p.307-308).

  1. Is criminal behaviour a more significant issue in Western society, than it is in other areas of the world?

Criminal behaviour is rooted in the community. It appears that the crime rate in many poor, non-Western countries, is lower than in our Western societies. While there may be other factors to explain this, it may be that the emphasis on wealth in the West, and the fact that certain groups are blocked from achieving that wealth, may explain why criminal behaviour appears more significant in Western society.

Crime Stats Per Thousand

United States – 80.0645

Canada - 75.4921

France - 62.1843

Zimbabwe - 28.8753

Mexico - 12.8406

Costa Rica - 11.9788

Zambia – 5.27668

Papua New Guinea – 2.39711

( September 25, 2006.)