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 organied so that
positive incentive for conforming e!ist in every position
All groups in society have some "ind of regulatory code
Antisocial or criminal behaviour may occur because of different emphasie on
goals of each group
#riminal 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 $ categories when it comes to the goals and the means of
achieving them% #onformity, &nnovation, 'itualism, 'etreatism, and 'ebellion
The most common is conformity
The least common is retreatism (these would be the psychotics, drug addicts, etc()
This group of people re)ect 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 re)ected the goal, but try not to participate
&nnovation, ritualism, and rebellion are often determined by the particular cultural
bac"ground
&nnovation * you "eep the goal but re)ect the means
'itualism * you accept that the goal is out of reach, but you "eep the means and
continue on
'ebellion * because of frustration you re)ect 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
+ac" of opportunity is not in itself the reason for criminal behaviour
#riminal behaviour tends to occur when one group in society is bloc"ed from
achieving the accepted goals of all of society and when the group feels that it is
bloc"ed by institutional means from achieving those goals (systemic racism)
Poverty is not in itself the reason for criminal behaviour
&t is a factor when combined with the view that particular groups are bloc"ed from
achieving the goals that everyone in the society accepts
Glossary of Terms
Anomie , a state or condition of individuals or society characteried by a brea"down 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 un"nown
Rebellion , resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition
Retreatism , the re)ection 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
! In your opinion" #hat ma$es a person a criminal%
&nfluences from society
.nvironmental surroundings
/eliefs of the cultural groups they belong to
+earned behaviour from their peers
&! Do you believe some people are born bad and evil%
& believe people are born neutral( They are born neither bad nor good(
0owever, they become bad or good based on how they are raised and
influenced by society(
'! Is criminal behaviour a direct result of poverty%
1o, because not all poor people turn to criminal behaviour( Many poor
people try to wor" hard to get out of poverty and accept the institutional
norms and goals that the rest of society has(
(! )hy do some people #ho are poor resort to crime" #hile others
#ho are poor do not%
1ot all poor people resort to crime because poverty is not the only factor in
determining criminal behaviour( &t is a factor when combined with the view
that particular groups are bloc"ed from achieving the goals that everyone in
the society accepts(
*! )hy 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 ma)ority of people accept the goals of the society and the
institutional means to achieve those goals( &n 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(
+! )hat is the difference bet#een 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 re)ection of culturally prescribed goals and the
conventional means for attaining them( People who are retreatists, li"e drug
addicts, re)ect all aspects of society(
,! Accordin- to the differential association theory all behaviour"
includin- criminal" is learned! Do you a-ree #ith this theory%
)hy%
2es, & agree with this theory( All behaviour, even criminal, is learned
behaviour( &t is learned in interaction with other people through
communication( The main part of criminal behaviour is learned within
groups( +earning includes techni3ues of crime, motives, rationaliations, and
attitudes (4eitlin, &rving M(, The Social #ondition of 0umanity, p(567,568)(
.! Is criminal behaviour a more si-nificant issue in )estern society"
than it is in other areas of the #orld%
#riminal behaviour is rooted in the community( &t appears that the crime rate
in many poor, non,9estern countries, is lower than in our 9estern societies(
9hile there may be other factors to e!plain this, it may be that the emphasis
on wealth in the 9est, and the fact that certain groups are bloc"ed from
achieving that wealth, may e!plain why criminal behaviour appears more
significant in 9estern society(
Crime Stats /er Thousand
:nited States * 86(6;<$
#anada , 7$(<=>?
@rance , ;>(?8<5
4imbabwe , >8(87$5
Me!ico , ?>(8<6;
#osta 'ica , ??(=788
4ambia * $(>7;;8
Papua 1ew Guinea * >(5=7??
(http%AAwww(nationmaster(comAgraphAcriBtotBcriBpercap,crime,total,crimes,
per,capitaCrest, September >$, >66;()