Durkheim's Concept of Anomie Considered as a 'Total' Social Fact

Author(s): Stjepan G. Metrovi

Source: The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Dec., 1987), pp. 567-583
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The London School of Economics and Political Science
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StjepanG. Mestrovic

Durkheim'sconceptof anomieconsidered
as a 'total'socialfact*

ABSTRACT

Marcel Mauss's notion of the 'total' social fact as a phenomenon

that includes the sociological, psychological and physiological
dimensionsof a phenomenonsimultaneouslyis applied to Durkheim's concept of anomie. In this new reading,the psychological
and physiologicalaspectsof anomieare broughtout. Implications
for operationalizingthis new way of readinganomie are explored
briefly.
It is well knownthat Durkheim'sthoughthas been incorporatedinto
contemporarysociology along the lines that it is positivistic,realist
and an exampleof extremesociologism.Durkheimand theDurkheimians certainlyrepudiatedthese labels.The Durkheimianscalled their
epistemology'renovatedrationalism'.
1Theyfocusedon 'representations'
of reality and self-consciouslyattempted to overcome the objectsubject distinction.2They insisted that sociology was distinct from
psychologyand biology,but were also againstcompartmentalization.
The purpose of this essay is not to enter into a polemic nor to
exacerbatethe object-subject debate. Rather, we shall attempt to
enterinto the role of the otherwith regardto the Durkheimians.The
Durkheimiannotionof the 'total social fact' as the conjunctionof the
sociological,psychologicaland biological aspects of a phenomenon
shall be the focal point. It shall be appliedto Durkheim'sconceptof
anomie.

Anomiereadfromthe pointof view of the 'totalsocialfact' takeson

an entirelydifferentmeaningcomparedto the positivistic'normlessness.' While it is necessaryto comparethe two readingsat certain
junctures in this essay, the central purpose is not to evaluate the
meritsof one readingrelativeto the other. Rather,our aim is to read
anomie from a perspective that we believe is closer to what the
Durkheimiansmight have intended. The main featureof this new
readingis the connectionof anomie with psychologicaland physioThcBntishJournalof Sovology VolutcXXXVIII Number
4

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568

StjepanG. Mestrovic

logicalpain. In this regard,this essay may be regardedas a sequelof

sortsto recentalternativesto the functionalistversionof anomiefound
in the works of Mestrovicand Brown3and Hilbert,4for example.
Becausethe Durkheimianswereas concernedwith the object-subject
distinction, if not more so, than recent commentators on the
epistemologicalcrisis in sociology,5this new readingmight also have
some contemporaryrelevance.The implicationsof this new way of
comprehendinganomie will be exploredbriefly.
DEFINITION OF THE TOTAL SOCIAL FACT

In his Sociology
andPsychology,6
Durkheim'snephewand collaborator,
Marcel Mauss, developsthe notion of the 'total social fact'. Though
Durkheimdid not use this precisephraseMaussassumes,and I think
correctly,that Durkheimimplied it consistently.7It is a notion that
flowsout of Durkheim'sconceptof homoduplexand his epistemological
position.Or, as Mauss put it moreprecisely,it assumesa homoduplex
withinthe homoduplex.That is, objectand subjectare two antagonistic
parts of a dualism, but the subjectis also dividedinto a homoduplex,
psychologicalrepresentationsversus'the body'.Durkheimelaborated
on these subjects especially in his essays entitled 'Individual and
collective representations',8'The dualism of human nature and its
social conditions'9and in TheElementary
Formsof theReligious
Lifel
thoughMaussis moresuccinct.In TheForms,he claimedthat the concept of 'totality'is the most importantyet neglectedof philosophical
categories.llIn TheDivisionof Labor,he warnedagainstthe compartmentalizationof science into particulardisciplines and specializations without regardto their interrelatedness.t2
Thus, accordingto
Mauss, Durkheimiansociology 'presupposesthe combinedstudy of
these three elements: body, mind and society'.13 He elaborates
In reality. . . rarelyor even hardlyever . . . do we findman divided
into faculties. We are always dealing with his body and his
mentality as wholes, given simultaneously and all at once.
Fundamentallybody, soul and societyare all mixedtogetherhere. .
. [these are]the phenomenaof totality.l4
Mauss illustratesthe total social fact with referenceto the study of
language,RobetHertz'sdistinctionbetweenthe rightand left,voodoo
death and Durkheim'sSuicide among many other referencesto his
own works. Because his referencesto these works and studies are
fleeting,and presupposethat the readeris familiarwith the bulkof the
work of the Durkheimians,we shall fill in part of what Mauss
apparentlybelievesis obvious.
For example, the Durkheimianconceptualizationof languageas a

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Durkheim
's concept
of anomieconsidered
as a 'total' socialfact

569

total social fact presupposes that it can be divided into three

components:l5the social, which consists of the written word; the
psychological,which consistsof speech;and the physiological,which
consistsof the larynxand otherphysicalorgansnecessaryfor speech.
Some will recognize in this characterizationof language part of
Ferdinandde Saussure'sfamousdistinctionbetweenlangue andparole,
which became the basis of the modern science of linguistics. But
in assuming that, as Saussure put it, 'languageis a social fact,'l6
Saussurealso adoptedmuchof Durkheim'sepistemologicalposition.l7
The Durkheimiandisciple Robert Hertzl8 treats the distinction
betweenthe right and left as collectiverepresentations.But Mauss is
correctto note that Hertztreatsthis distinctionas a total socialfact.l9
On the collective level, the right signifies the sacred, and the left
signifiesthe profane.On the psychologicallevel, one refersto the right
wheneverone wantsto appeartrustworthy,binda contract,give one's
wordand in short,partakeof the sacredon the subjectivelevel. Thus,
one shakes hands, salutes and blesses with the right hand. The left
refers to the sinister, suspicious and even evil, variations of the
profane.Thus, accordingto Hertz, one wears the weddingband on
the left hand
the left side is the one that is tempted. Men are
associatedwith the right,and womenwith the left. But Hertzis aware
that heredity,psychologicaltrainingand the braininteractto produce
this phenomenon.Thus, the right side of the brain controlsthe left
side of the body. The rightside of the brainis associatedwith emotive
but not analyticalskills. Femalesare typicallyassociated,at least in
stereotypes,with right-brainfunctionsand with the left in general,
and vice versa for males. Hertz speculatesbrieflyon how evolution,
social rearing and individual learning might have interacted to
producethese effects,and how they might be modifiedin the future.
Perhapsthe most intriguingillustrationof the total socialfact made
by Mauss20is the connectionbetweenvoodoomagic and anomie.In
voodoodeath, a personoftendies becausehe believesthat he has been
cursed.The curse carriesthe weight of the collectivity.The belief is
psychological.Mauss explains that the physiologicalinstinctof selfpreservationhas been influencedby subjectivebelief which in turn
was modifiedby society. It is in this complicated,interactivesense
that voodoo death is an excellentillustrationof the total social fact.
The citations that Mauss makes to Durkheimare brief but highly
suggestive:'This study [of voodoo death] will also enable me to take
further Durkheim'svery fine and profound study of the relation
between the individual and the social in the case of suicide'.2l
Accordingto Mauss, Durkheimshowed that collectivecurrentsand
states such as war and other crises produce psychological and
physiologicaleffectson courage and its opposite, what Mauss calls
'weaknesstowardlife'. As in voodoodeath, 'societygets you' through
anomie.22In another brief link, Mauss writes: 'To close, may I

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StjepanG. Mestrovic

570

mentiononce again that thesefacts [aboutvoodoodeath]confirmand

extend the theory of anomic suicide that Durkheimex3pounded
in a
book which is a model of sociologicaldemonstration'.2
Mauss'sillustrationsare certainlyall too brief,and not exhaustive.
It would be a challenge to compile the works of the other
Durkheimians24
in the context of the total social fact. This much is
clear: the bulk of their writings are interdisciplinaryin nature.
MauriceHalbwachs'Morphologie
sociale25
standsout as a brilliantand
thoroughdefense of Durkheim'sstand on totality. Mauss's writings
on the gift,26sacrifice27and magic,28especially,are relevantto this
investigationbecausethey all concernthemselveswith the processby
which humansrepairanomic-likedisequilibriasuch that 'body, soul
and society'are harmonizedagain.Sucha projectis beyondthe scope
of this essay, though it is important.We shall concentratehere on a
new reading of Durkheim'scomments on anomie in Suicidein the
context of the total social fact. The implicationsof this readingfor
sociologyare that it denies any fundamentaldivisionbetweensociology and psychologyin Durkheim'sthought,a divisionDurkheimand
his followersdenied many times in any event, but which continuesto
be falselyattributedto him. It denies the radicaldistinctionbetween
subjectand object which continuesto informsocial science because
objectand subjectare understoodto be simultaneouslyinvolvedin all
phenomena.Finally, it leads to new problemsand hypothesesbased
on Durkheim'sthought.

ANOMIE AS A TOTAL SOCIAL FACT

Durkheimneverusedtheword'normlessness',noris thereanysupport
for reading anomie as 'normlessness'historically,contextuallyor
linguistically.Rather,Durkheimreferredto anomieas a painfulstate
of dereglement.29
Dereglement
is a worddifTicultto translateinto English.
Literally,it meansderangement,and it connotesa kindof immorality
and madness. In this paper, the manner of reading anomie and
de'reglement
as total social facts will be made explicit.Durkheimunderstoodanomieas a total social fact in at least three
differentways. First, it definitelypresupposesthe conjunctionof the
sociological, psychological,and physiological.Second, it connotes
madness and immorality,which are themselves total phenomena.
Third, it assumes that the individual'sphysiologicalinstinct of selfpreservationis weakenedby anomie.
On the social level of analysis,anomieis literallya derangementof
collectiverepresentations,a situationin which moralsand standards
are 'upside down' [renverse'l
such that the 'lower'pole of homoduplex
rulesover the 'higher.'30In the vocabularyof Schopenhauer whom

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as a 'total' socialfact
Durkheim
's conceptof anomieconsidered

571

Durkheimadmiredgreatly the insatiable,egoistic'will' rulesover

using
mind.31 On the psychological level, it is manifested
Durkheim'svocabulary by frenzy,impatience,restlessness,fever1S.zness, c lsenczantment, tatlgue, excesslve excltement, agltatlon,
distress,exasperation,miseryand insatiability(amongother similar
psychologicalstates).32Had the word 'stress'existed in Durkheim's
time, perhapshe wouldhave said that it is manifestedby symptomsof
stress. On the physiologicallevel, anomieis experiencedas pain and
tourment,
and
suffering what Durkheim refers to as souffrance,
douleur.33
In his follow-upto Durkheim'sSuicide,MauriceHalbwachs
also emphasizesthat 'A man must have reacheda ratherhigh degree
of sufferingfor him to decide to pass throughthese doors' to suicide
and adds
We can assume that the number of suicides is a rather exact
indicatorof the amount of suffering,malaise, disequilibrium,and
sadnesswhich exists or is producedin a group. Its increaseis the
sign that the sum total of despair,anguish,regret,humiliation,and
discontentof every orderis multiplying.34
In short, for Durkheim, anomie is painful to the individual
experiencingit and it hurts. In the Parsonian-Mertonianversion,
anomiehas no feelingto it. Ironically,theirversionof the stateof 'war
of all against all' is quite bland. Even Srole's35extension of the
Mertonianreading,the understandingof anomieas a subjectivestate
of'meaninglessness',is not correct.Durkheimcertainlyneverrefersto
anomiein this way. 'Meaninglessness'is as difiicultto conceptualize
as the vacuous'normlessness'.What does 'meaninglessness'feel like?
For Durkheim,anomie has meaning precisely in the fact that the
incorrectarrangementof social representationsproducesdistressing
psychologicalsymptomswhich eventuallyproducephysical, organismic pain.36
Accordingto Durkheim,neurastheniapredisposesthe individualto
suicidebecause,on the psychologicaland physiologicallevels,suchan
individualis overly sensitiveand sufferstoo much. The pain drives
the individualto abandonlife,weakenshis instinctof self-preservation
in the mannersuggestedby Mauss. Durkheimdescribesthe neurasthenicas delicate,sensitive,easily stimulated,unstable,and 'destined
to suffer'.37Translatedinto the more modernvocabularyof psychologists like Asenath Petrie,38one could characterize Durkheim's
neurasthenicsas 'augmenters'as opposedto 'reducers'.Augmenters
sufferbecausethey are psychologicallyand physicallyoverlysensitive
to stimuli.In Hilbert'swords,one wouldsay that neurasthenicssuffer
fromchronicpain, that they have normalizedpain.39But Durkheim
denies that neurastheniais an originalcause of suicide becausethis
afflictioncan be controlled(the neurastheniccan control his or her
exposureto stimuli) and becausesociety sometimesrewardsit

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572

SbepanG. Mestrovic

The organic-ptychic
temperamentmost predisposingman to kill
himselfis neurastheniain all its forms.Now today neurastheniais
ratherconsidereda mark of distinctionthan a weakness.In our
refinedsocieties,enamouredofthingsintellectual,nervousmembers
constitutealmost a nobility.40
To put it anotherway, neurastheniais only 'part'of the 'total'social
factof anomie.It is an excellentsummaryof what anomiefeelslikeon
the psychologicaland physiologicallevels; but without the social
dimensionit is not a full explanationof how anomieresultsin suicide.
Halbwachsemphasizesthat Durkheimgives a complicatedaccount
of society's role in the genesis of neurastheniarelative to suicide.
Indeed, Durkheimwrites
The hypercivilizationwhich breeds the anomic tendencyand the
egoistic tendency also refines nervous systems, making them
excessivelydelicate;throughthis very fact they are less capableof
firmattachmentto a definiteobject, more impatientof any sort of
discipline, more accessible both to violent irritation and to
exaggerateddepression.4
Thus,
A given numberof suicidesis not foundannuallyin a social group
just because it contains a given numberof neuropathicpersons.
Neuropathicconditionsonly cause the suicides to succumbwith
greaterreadinessto the current.Whencecomesthe greatdifference
betweenthe clinician'spoint of view and the sociologist's.42
Without a doubt, positivisticmethodologieshave not accountedfor
the complexityof Durkheim'sargumentabove.
The second aspect of reading anomie as a total social fact that
Mauss only touchesupon has to do with its connotationsof madness
and immorality. Mauss writes: 'The absence of social instinct,
immorality,amorality,have long been a sure sign of a certainkindof
madness'.43Again, Mauss seems to assumethat the readeris already
apprehendingde'reglement
in its standardmeaningsof immoralityand
derangement.Perhapswhat he means is that in anomie the social,
psychologicaland physiologicalaspectsof beinghumanare deranged
to the extent that what is abnormalis acceptedas normal,what is
pathologicalis tolerated. Madness reigns, only most people cannot
recognizeit becausethey have alreadybeen influencedby it to some
extent. Dereglement
is not the absence of norms;rather,it is itself a
derangednorm, a pathology-producing
regle.Thus Durkheimwrites
The passionfor infinity[anomie]is commonlypresentedas a mark
of moral distinction, even though it cannot so appear except in
derangedconscienceswhich establish as a rule the derangement

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Durkheim's
concept
ofanomie
considered
asa 'total'socialfact

573

from which they suffer. Since this disorderis at its apex in the
economicworld it has most victims there.44
Another telling passage which implies the derangementof human
natureis the following
Yet these dispositions[towardanomie] are so inbred that society
has grownto acceptthemand is accustomedto thinkthemnormal.
It is everlastinglyrepeatedthat it is man's nature to be eternally
dissatisfied,constantlyto advance,withoutreliefor rest, towardan
indefinitegoal.45
The third aspect of anomiethat Mauss exposeshas to do with the
'thanatomania'to whichhe refers,all themodernvariationsof'voodoo
death' in which the physiological 'instinct of self-preservation'is
weakened.Mauss'sbriefexamplesof this 'thanatomania'are 'mythomania, legal folly, fanaticismand groupvendetta,the hallucinations
of the funerarycult'.46Accordingto Mauss, this 'thanatomania'
. . . will enable us to see in detail what is to be made of the instinct
for self-preservationin man: to what degree it is dependent on
society and can be denied by the individualhimselffor an extraindividualreason.What I shall presentto you will reallybe a study
of human 'morale'(as the Englishsay); in it you will see how the
social, the psychologicaland the physiologicalare mingled.47
Mauss never quite deliverson this promise.At least he never spells
out the connectionshe mentions. What can be surmisedfrom his
commentsis that anomieliterallyweakensthe will to live. It is like a
loss of moralein combat,or the temporaryyet deep depressionthat
sometimesaccompaniesmourning.In a sense, he intimatesa medical
dimension to de'reglement
(which is consistent with its dictionary
meanings). Because anomie is such a fundamentalderangementof
society and of the motivesof its individualmembers,individualsare
more prone to give up on life in times of stress, figurativelyand
literally.
Durkheim'sanalysis of anomie doescarry this third dimension,
though it has been overlooked.In Suicidehe argues that 'poverty
protectsagainstsuicidebecauseit is restraintin itself3.48
Povertydoes
not necessarilyweaken the desire to live. But 'financialcrises' and
'crises of prosperity'unleash the limitless, indefinitewill. 'Because
they are crises,' he continues,'that is, disturbancesof the collective
order', they are disturbancesof equilibriumin individuals,and as
such increasethe 'impulseto voluntarydeath'.49In the vocabularyof
Maussand the total socialfact,Durkheimis sayingthat all de'reglements
affect the organisms's fundamental instinct of self-preservation.
Elsewhere,Durkheimis still more explicit,writingthat in anomie

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574

G. Mestrovic
Stjepan

could the
Effortgrows,just when it becomesless productive.How
undersuch conditions?50
desireto livenot be weakened
in which
tremendouspathos, Durkheimdescribesthe manner
With
disappointment,
anomiebrings about weariness, disillusionment, bringson still
turn
in
which
random,
at
grope
and a tendencyto
pain
physiological
othercrises, among many other psychological and
'intolerable'.5l
seems
until life itself
disturbances
a total social
These three dimensionsof apprehendinganomie as captured by
factillustrate the rich texture of the concept not
'Normlessness'impliesdeviance,but not madnessor
'normlessness'.
does. 'Normlessness'cannot explain
which dereglement
immorality,
behavior in
whyanomie should lead to suicide or self-destructive
why
explains
general.But the dimension of the total social fact
it
curses,
inherentlyimpels individualsto death:like voodoo
anomie
understanding
weakensthewill to live. Incidentally,this
automatically
leads
anotheraspect to the anomie-deviancelink. If anomie
suggests
perhaps
does,
tocrime and juvenile delinquency,as it purportedly morale', a
'social
criminalityis another expression of weakenedto
a largemeasure,
has,
one
because
rules
society's
to abide by
refusal
abandonedlife.
ANOMIE AND ITS EFFECTS
IMPLICATIONSFOR OPERATIONALIZING

and
Up to now, anomie has been conceptualizedas 'normlessness'
integration'
of'status
lack
as
ratherunsuccessfully,
operationalized,
to support
oras Srole's'meaninglessness.'Investigationshave failed
of
indicators
valid
are
terms
these
the proposition that any of
social
the total
anomie.2 Moreover,becausethese termsdo not imply
purport to
they
anomie
of
dimension
fact, it is not clear which
measuresa
capture.Thus, it is not clear how 'status integration'
social
societal condition when it consists of measuringindividual
relationships
relationships.And it is not clearwhy havingmanysocial
at least,
Durkheim,
For
anomie.
from
one
shouldnecessarilyprotect
In sum,
the quality and natureof those relationshipsare important.
of
reading
despite the tremendousapparentpopularityof Merton's
been
really
not
what Durkheimmeant by anomie,'normlessness'has
a usefulconcept.
widespread
In addition, it is factually incorrectto attribute theand supports
of'integration'as socialties, contacts
misunderstanding
refersto integrationas a propertyof groups,
Durkheim
to Durkheim.
even if
not as the attachmentof individualsto groups.53Moreover,
intend
did
Durkheim
one assumes for the sake of argument that difficulties.Contemintegrationto referto social ties, one encounters
suicide varies
porary sociologists focus on the proposition that

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Durkheim
's concept
of anomieconsidered
as a 'total' socialfact

575

inverselywith integration,and ignore his claims that it can also be

caused by excessive integration.Suppose that one (Iropsthe term
'integration'54
from such discussionsbecause of this problem.That
still leavesthe fact that Durkheimarguedthat otherversionsof social
ties, contactsand supportscan be pathogenic.He showedthatwomen
were shielded from suicide preciselybecause they participatedless
than men in society, that the lengtheningof the day contributesto
suicidein urbanareasbecauselong days encouragesocialinteraction,
and so on.55 For Durkheim,the quality andextent of exposure to
societydeterminesthe extentof 'prolongation'of the socialdimension
on the psychologicaland physiologicaldimensions,but is not, by
itself, in a compartmentalizedfashion,relatedcausallyto suicide. It
must interactwith other dimensionsof the total social fact.
We have by no meansexhaustedthe otherwaysin whichDurkheim
treatsanomieas a social fact. Consideradditionalaspectsthat could
be appliedto Durkheim'sthoughtas suggestedby MauriceHalbwachs
and Marcel Mauss. For example, religion, too, is a total social
fact. The Durkheimiansbelieved that modern religions are more
concernedwith sufferingand sorrowthan primitiveones.56This fact
couldofferpartof the psychologicalexplanationas to why Protestantism is a morefertilegroundforsuicidethan the moreancientJudaism
and Catholicism.
Both Halbwachsand Mauss make much of Durkheim'sclaim that
'the forces impellingthe farm laborerand the cultivatedman of the
city to suicideare widelydifferent'.57
This is becausethe totalityof life
is experienceddifferentlyin urbanversusruralsociety. Mauss writes
that in the city, 'in summer, social bonds are relaxed, fewer
relationshipsare formed,and there are fewer people with whom to
make them; and thus, psychologically,life slackensits pace'.58The
reverse is true in the country because summer is the beginningof
harvest. Thus suicide rates should escalate in urban areas in the
summerbut decreasein ruralareas.Halbwachsadds that 'in the city,
occasionsfor boredom,humiliation disaggointment,and sufferingon
account of others . . . are multiplied' compared to rural areas
because of the possibilityof more social contacts andweakersocial
bonds.They drawthe conclusionthat urbansuicideis fundamentally
differentfromruralsuicide, and that both types followdifferentlaws
relativeto the effectof the seasonson social life.
This complex understanding of suicide on the part of the
Durkheimianscalls into furtherquestionthe simplisticunderstanding
of'integration' as social ties discussed above. Urbanism increases
social contacts, but not necessarilybonds;ruralliving may increase
bonds, but is low on contacts.Yet both social bondsand contactsare
affectedby seasonalvariations.The worksof the otherDurkheimians
add still moreperspectiveon Durkheim'struly intricateargumentin
Suicide,which cannotbe pursuedhere.The point is that the notionof

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576

StjepanG. Mestrovic

the total social fact forcesone to re-evaluatehow Durkheim'sargument in Suicide

has been read and operationalizedby contemporary
sociologists working in the positivistic tradition which Durkheim
crltlclzed.

Our reading of anomie from the perspectiveof the total social

fact suggests theoretical affinities that might be more useful to
explore. Faris and Dunham's classic attempt to link social disorganization,the subjective experienceof social isolation and the
physiologicalaspects of schizophrenia three obvious components
of the total social fact
comes to mind. Dunham's60recent
retrospectivelook at this study suggeststhat the ChicagoSchooldid
notconsciouslyattempt to make the theoreticalstatementthat the
Durkheimians attempted. Nor have subsequent epidemiological
studies refinedthe theoreticalconnectionbetweena social condition
and physical and/or mental symptoms. In general, methodology
has been emphasized over theory. Nevertheless,it would be an
importantprojectto try to spell out theoreticalafTinitiesbetweenthe
Durkheimiansand the Chicago School.
Anotherlargebodyof theoryand researchstemsfromHans Selye's
originalformulationof the stress concept. Selye definitelyventured
into sociologyand suggestedthat disequilibriumon the societallevel
can have repercussionson the psychologicaldimensionwhichin turn
will affectthe organismin the formof physiologicalsignsof stress.For
example, consider Selye's opening line in StressWithout
Distress:
'Almost four decades of laboratoryresearch on the physiological
mechanismsof adaptationto the stressof life have convincedme that
the basic principles of defense on the cellular level are largely
applicablealso to people and even to entire societiesof man.'6lAnd
Selye insisted that 'stress has its own characteristicform and
compositionbut no particularcause'62 it is as if the effectsare a
'prolongation'of causes that could begin with societaldisturbances.
Contemporarystress research has not developed this seemingly
Durkheimianaspect of Selye's thought. It has focused instead on
specific'stressfullife events'. But even specific'events'are shaped,at
least in part,by collectiverepresentations.63
Similaraffinitiesbetween
anomieas a total social fact and the worksof otherforerunnersof the
stressconcept,among them Freud,WalterCannon,ClaudeBernard
and Rene Dubos could also be made.64For example,WalterCannon
alluded to 'analogies between the body physiologicand the body
politic' such that 'the homeostasisof the individualhuman being is
largelydependenton social homeostasis'.65
This Durkheimiansounding hypothesishas never been formallytested.
The point is that Mauss'snotionof the 'total social fact,' or things
very similar to it, are implied by many important theoretical
traditionsotherthan the Durkheimian.And these have not been fully
incorporatedinto social researchbecausethe notionof the total social

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Durkheim's
concept
ofanomie
considered
asa 'total'socialfact

577

fact is not positivistic,and recentdevelopmentsin sociologyhavebeen

dominatedby positivisticmethodologies.
One wouldlike to suggesthow anomieas a totalsocialfact couldbe
operationalized.Unfortunately, this is not an easy task because
positivisticmethodologiesmay not be suitable to the very notion of
the total social fact. These methodologiesrest on a strict divisionof
object and subject, while Durkheim'srenovatedrationalismimplies
the confluenceof objectand subject.A workablealternativemight be
an attempt to emulate the more 'naturalistic'studies of Durkheim's
followers. In addition, various portions of existing theory and
methodologymightbe modifiedslightlyto makeroomforDurkheim's
conceptualization.We shall makea cautiousmovein thesedirections.
OPERATIONALIZING ANOMIE AS A TOTAL SOCIAL FACT

First, anomie needs to be operationalizedinto its three components

and it must be determinedwhetherand which componentscoincide.
The societal componentitself needs to be divided into the varieties
of anomie that Durkheim treats: intellectual, conjugal, domestic,
political, economic, religious and so on. Phenomena not usually
consideredto be indicatorsof anomie by contemporaryresearchers,
but suggested by the Durkheimians,need to be considered,among
them: the prevalenceof pragmatism,social injustice,the absenceof
democracy,movements toward magic and superstitionin modern
societies and other rupturesin social equilibrium.66For example,
Durkheim'stheory suggests that totalitarianregimes will produce
more physicalsymptomsof anomie than democracy67 this would
be an interestinghypothesis to test. The psychologicalcomponent
needsto tapinto the complexthatDurkheimdescribesas 'neurasthenia',
impatience,insatiability,irritabilityand so on. The well-knownType
A personalitycomes to mind, but specific scales will need to be
developed to capture these psychologicalaspects of being anomic.
Finally, on the physiologicallevel, researcherswill have to capture
direct and indirect indicators of pain. Such scales already exist
(thoughthey havenot been correlatedwith anomie)but otherindirect
indicators include efforts to suppress pain: drug abuse, excessive
alcohol consumption, addiction to common food substances, and
various consumptivedisorders.Durkheimsuggests that these three
dimensionsof anomie coincide,but that aspect of his theoryhas not
been consciously,formallytested.
Second,thereis a need to explorethe ramificationsof conceptualizing anomie as a 'kind' of madnessand immorality.Mauss suggests
that in instancesof fanaticismand groupvendetta,'normal instincts
of self-preservationand respect for human life becomederanged.It
would be interestingto engage in qualitativestudies of such group

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578

StjepanG. Mestrovic

behaviorto determinethe mechanismsby which 'normal'behavior

derails, especiallyin the context of the threedimensionsof the total
social fact. What social factorstriggera Iynching,for example?What
are the participantsexperiencingsubjectively?And what are they
experiencingphysiologically(one wondershow many of them vomit,
experience diarrhea and other unpleasant symptoms during such
instances)?Presenttheoriesof collectivebehaviorand movementsdo
not alwaysinvokeanomietheory,and if they do, theydo not invokeit
as a total social fact. From a quantitativeperspective,one wonders
whether rates of Iynching,riots and mob violence would correlate
with other indicatorsof anomie.
Finally,perhapsthe most fascinatingaspectof anomiethat Mauss
illuminatesis the link to voodoo. In essence, Mauss was describing
what has come to be knownas the self-fulfillingprophecyeffectwith
the caveat that it incorporates the societal, psychological and
physiologicaldimensions.Anomie is demoralizing.It leads one to
believe that one will die before one's time. It is interestingthat in
Suicide,Durkheimdefinessuicidein termsof knowing
or believingone
shall die (which Mauss considersequivalent),notintendingdeath.68
Scores of contemporarycommentatorshave misread Durkheim's
definition as implying intention. But Durkheim'sfollowers were
steadfastin insistingthat he meantthat in suicideone knowsbut does
not necessarily intend that one shall die in the near future.69
Durkheimspecificallyrejectedthepossibilityofknowingourintentions
because we can be mistaken concerningour motives due to the
unconsciousand otherfactors.70But it is possibleto knowthat ouracts
should eventually produce death. Of course, this led Durkheimto
claim that suicide is not an isolated case of monstrousphenomena,
but merely 'the exaggerationof common practices' that form a
continuumof self-destructivebehaviors.71In the languageof Mauss,
Durkheimis sayingthat in anomicsuicide(whichis the 'true'suicide)
one gives up on life, and regardlessof the exactmethodone choosesin
dying director indirect,fast or slow the subjectivebeliefthat life
is over contributesto the organism'sphysiologicaldeath. And this
subjectivebelief,in turn,hasbeeninfluencedby society'sdemoralizing
effects.
Studies of wartimemorale and its relationshipto casualtiesof all
kinds, including'acidents',would be illuminatingin this regard.In
the many studies of Nazi concentrationcamp survivors,none have
approached the Holocaust as an instance of anomie, much less
anomieas a total social fact. It would be importantto knowhow the
survivorsmaintainedtheirmoralepsychologicallyand physiologically
despite the ruptureof their social worlds.And how did they restore
moralein theirlives afterthe Holocaust?But even the moremundane
kindsof moraleor the lack of it in sports,one'sjob, familyor group
would be interestingto relate to symptoms of stress. What is the

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asa 'totlll'socialfact
considered
concept
of anomie
Durkheim's

579

qualityof moraleof individualswho engagein communalor private

self-abusecharacterizedby the immoderateconsumptionof drugs?Or
of individualswho are accidentprone?And whatare the socialorigins
These are importantand fascinatingquestionsthat
of demoralization?
have not yet been linked to anomie theory.
StjepanG. Mestrovisf
of Sociology
Department
LanderCollege
S. Carolina
NOTES

's
* The research for this paper was JanikandStephenToulmin,Wittgenstein
supported by a Fellowship from the Vienna,New York, Simon & Schuster,
NationalEndowmentfortheHumanities, 1973;S. Mestrovic,op. cit., StjepanG.
of Plato:Durkheim
for which I am deeplygrateful.I would Mestrovic,In thzShadow
also like to expressmy apreciationto M. andFreudon SuicideandSociety,Doctoral
PhilippeBesnardfor his helpfulnessat dissertation,SyracuseUniversity, 1982;
the Maisondes Sciencesde l'Hommein RobertA. Strikwerda,EmileDurkheim's
for a New
of Science:
Framework
Paris, and to the referencelibrarians Philosophy
Doctoraldissertation,Uniat Lander College: Ann Hare, Betty SocialScience,
versity of Notre Dame, 1982. Thus,
Williams,and SusanGoing.
1. StjepanG. Mestrovic,'Durkheim's EmileDurkheim,TheRulesof Sociological
andIts
TextsonSociology
andSelected
renovatedrationalismand the idea that Method
"collectivelife is only made of represen- Method,New York, Free Press, [1895]
inSacislThwoty,1982, p. 34, writes: 'We had expressly
Perspectives
tations"',Current
vol. 6, 1985, pp. 199-218. For example, stated and reiteratedin everyway possFonnsof ible that sociallife was made up entirely
EmileDurkheim,TheElementary
Life, New York, Free Press, of representations'.
theReligious
3. Stjepan G. Mestrovicand Helene
[1912] 1965, pp. 31-2, writes: 'The
conceptof anomie
rationalismwhich is imminent in the M. Brown,'Durkheim's
vol. 33,
sociologicaltheoryof knowledgeis thus as dereglement',SocialProblems,
midwaybetweenthe classicalempiricism 1985,pp. 81-99.
4. RichardA. Hilbert, 'Anomie and
and apriorism'and 'thus renovated,the
theory of knowledgeseems destined to the moralregulationof reality:the Durkunitethe opposingadvantagesof the two heimiantraditionin modernrelief',Sociovol. 2, 1986,pp. 1a_-39.
rivaltheories.'CelestinBougle,TheFrench logicalTheory,
AboutSocial
5. AnthonyFlew, Thinking
of 'CultureGenerale'and Its
Conception
ThzPhilosophy
of thzSocislScicnces,
New York,Col- Thinking:
UponInstruction,
Infuences
umbia University Press, 1938, p. 22, New York,Basil Blackwell,1986;David
refers specifically to Durkheim's 'ren- Sylvanand BarryGlassner,A Rationalist
for the Social Science,New
ovated rationalism'such that it was 'a Methodology
with positivism'. York,BasilBlackwell,1986;RogerTrigg,
impregnated
rationalism
SocialScience,New York,
2. For discussions,see Philippe Bes- Understanding
Domain:TheDurk- Basil Blackwell, 1985; Paul Riesman,
nard, TheSociological
inFulaniSocialLife:AnIntrospective
ofFrench
Sociology,Freedom
heimians
andtf7eFounding
Chicago,Universityof ChiCambridge,CambridgeUniversityPress, Ethnography,
1982; Celestin Bougle, op. cit.; Andre cago Press, 1977.
andPsycholde
et critique
6. MarcelMauss,Sociology
technique
Lalande, Vocabulaire
Paris,PressesUniversitaires ogy,London,Routledge& Kegan Paul,
laphilosophie,
de France,[ 1926] 1980,pp. 920-2; Allan [1950] 1979.

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580

G. Mestrovic
Stjepan

the place of voodoo death'. He

takes
Paris, Les
7. Marcel Mauss, Oeuvres,
'The mystery of suicide in
elaborates:
de Minuit, 1969, pp. 269-302.
Editions
and of voodoodeath
societies,
advanced
cit.
op.
also S. Mestrovic,1982,
See
is perhapsa key to
societies,
primitive
in
and
8. In Emile Durkheim,Sociologw
natureof the
magical
the
understanding
[1898]
Press,
New York,Free
Philosophy,
important
an
'in
that
concedes
and
selfn
pp. 1-34.
1974,
. . . is
suicide
.
.
.
right
is
Durkheim
sense,
Durkheim
Emile
9. In RobertN. Bellah,
you'.
"gets"
that
a"something"
MoralityandSociety,Chicago,Univeron
23. Mauss [1950] 1979,op.cit., p. 54.
of ChicagoPress, 1973,pp. 144-66.
sity
24. Besnard,op.cit., has recentlyout10. EmileDurkheim,[1912] 1965,The
their works, but has not pursued
lined
New
Life,
Fonnsof theReligious
Elementary
of analysis. However, it is
line
this
Free Press.
York,
his observations,as well as
from
evident
11. Ibid.,p. 489.
their reviews in L'Ann&
reading
from
12. Emile Durkheim, TheDivisionof
the works of most of
that
Sociologique,
Press,
Free
in Society,New York,
Labor
are cross-disciplinary.
Durkheimians
the
[1893]1933, pp. 357-73, wherein he
such extraordinary
are
works
Several
particular,
in
thatsocialscientists,
charges
phenomena
approaching
of
examples
'proceedwith their investigationsas if
that they
totality,
of
perspective
the
from
study
they
thedifferentorders of facts
Halbwachs,
Maurice
here:
noted
be
shall
so manyindependentworlds'.
constituted
New York,Harper
Memory,
Collective
Seealso his attackon intellectualanomie The
memoryas a
treats
1980,
[1950]
Row,
&
andSociolinEmileDurkheim,Pragmatism
physiological
and
psychological
social,
University
ogy,Cambridge,Cambridge
simultaneously.MauriceHalbproblem
Press,1983.
desclasses
d'unepsychologie
Esquisse
wachs,
24.
p.
cit.,
op.
13. Mauss [1950] 1979,
1964, is a
[1938]
Colin,
Paris,
sociales,
14. Ibid.,p. 25.
analysisof the 'socialpsychology'
brilliant
15. Ibid.,p. 20.
CelestinBougle,Chezlesprophvalues.
of
16. Ferdinandde Saussure,Coursein
Paris,Alcan, 1918,includes
socialistes,
etes
PhilosophiYork,
New
Lingutstics,
General
comparisonand contrast
philosophical
a
calLibrary,[1912] 1965,p. 6.
and Marxism that
Durkheimianism
of
remar'Quelque
17. P. Doroszewski,
these issues. Stefan
of
many
on
touches
quessur les rapportsde la sociologieet
des heroset ses
Culte
Le
Czarnowski,
Ptychologie,
de
de la linguistique',Journal
Arno Press,
York,
New
sociales,
conditions
vol.30, 1932,pp. 82-91; AntoineMeillet,
heroesas social
approaches
1975,
[1919]
generale,
linguistique
et
historique
Linguistique
GeorgesDavy, LeDroit,I'idealParis,Champion, 1982. This epistemo- 'totems'.
Paris, Alcan, 1922,
'experience,
l
et
isme
Cortese
A.
in
logical point is discussed
from the
specifically
law
approaches
and S. Mestrovic,'From Durkheimto
the objectreconciling
of
view
of
point
moral
in
language
Habermas:the role of
debate.HenriHubert,TheRiseof
theory',paperpresentedto the American subject New York,AlfredKnopf,[1925]
Celts,
the
1987.
Chicago,
SociologicalAssociation,
language to reconstructthe
18. RobertHertz, DeathandtheRight 1934, uses
dead civilization!
a
of
history
[1909]
West,
and
Cohen
Hand,Aberdeen,
Halbwachs, Morphologie
Maurice
25.
1960.
[1938] 1970. HalbColin,
Paris,
sociale,
24.
p.
cit.,
op.
1979,
[1950]
19. Mauss
as diverse
phenomena
approaches
wachs
20. Ibid.,p. 54.
differences
the
intensity,
as religious
21. Ibid.,p. 13.
sexes,democracy,evenbirth
22. An insight also made recentlyby betweentheas being simultaneouslybiodeath,
Daniel O'Keefe, StolenLightning:The and
and psychological.
of Magic,New York, Ran- logical, sociological,
SocialTheory
the beginning
from
clear
it
makes
He
dom House, 1982,pp. 296-310, wherein
Durkheim's
defend
to
is
aim
his
that
conargument
he observesthat 'Mauss'
as a bridge
representation
the
of
notion
tains the hint that voodoo death is the
its 'materialsuband
idea
the
between
suiprecedes
that
primitivephenomenon
cide and that suicide in modernsociety stratum'.

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Durkheim
's conceptof anomieconsidered
as a total' socialfact
26. Marcel Mauss, The Gift, New
York,Harper& Row, [1925] 1967.
27. HenriHubertand MarcelMauss,
SacriWe:
Its NatureandFunction,
Chicago,
Universityof ChicagoPress,[1898]1964,
p. 97, write:'Butifsacrificeis so complex,
whence comes its unity? It is because,
fundamentally,beneaththediverseforms
it takes, it always consists . . . in
establishinga means of communication
between the sacred and the profane
worlds'.Thus, sacrificeis an exampleof
totalityparexcellence.
It is no surprisethat
Durkheimplaceda greatdeal of importance on this work,writingin a letter to
Henri Hubertthat sacrifice'c'est la une
notion fondamentalequi a joue un role
capital dans l'evolution des moeurs et
des idees.L'ecoleanthropologique
n'ena
pas saisi toutel'importance,precisement
parce qu'elle n'en a pas vu la nature
sociale' (unpublishedletter of 5 June
1898,courtesyof M. Besnard).
28. HenriHubertand MarcelMauss,
A GeneralTheoryof Magic, New York,
Norton,[1904] 1972.
29. Mestrovicand Brown,op.cit.
30. For example, Emile Durkheim,
Socialism
andSaint-Simon,
YellowSprings,
Antioch Press, [1928] 1958, p. 240, accuses the Saint-Simoniansof promoting
anomiebecausethey 'wantedto get the
mostfromthe least,thesuperiorfromthe
inferior,moralrule fromeconomicmatter'.This is the basisof his entirecritique
of economicand politicalanomie.Thus,
in Professional
Ethicsand Civic Morals,
Greenwich, Greenwood Press, [1950]
1983, p. 109, he attacks classical democratic theoryunderstoodas will of the
people'on the groundsthat this 'will' is
as unstable,infiniteand indefinitein the
politicalarenaas it is in the economic.
31. Andre Lalande, 'Allocutionpour
le centenaire de la naissance d'Emile
Durkheim',in Annalesde l 'Universite
de
Paris,1960,p. 23, reportsthat Durkheim
was so enamoredwith Schopenhauer's
The Worldas Will and Idea that his
students nicknamedhim 'Schopen'. It
seems to me that Durkheim'sversionof
homoduplex,especiallyin his 1914 essay
on that subject,is essentiallya refraction
of Schopenhauer's
dualismbetweenrepresentationsand thepassionate,infinitely

581

tyrannical'will'. See Arthur Schopenhauer, The Worldas WillandIdea,New

York,AMS Press,[1818] 1977.
32. Emile Durkheim,Suicide:A Study
inSociology,
New York,FreePress,[1897]
1951,pp. 271-326 passim.
33. Ibid. Durkheim argues that the
sufferingstems from the fact that in
anomiethe emancipated'will'cannotbe
sated: 'Irrespectiveof any externalregulatoryforce,our capacityfor feelingis
in itself an insatiable and bottomless
abyss.... unlimiteddesiresareinsatiable
by definitionand insatiabilityis rightly
considereda sign of morbidity. . . they
cannot be quenched. Inextinguishable
thirst is constantlyrenewedtorture'(p.
247).
34. MauriceHalbwachs,TheCauses
of
Suicide,London, Routledge & Kegan
Paul, [1930] 1978,p. 314.
35. Leo Srole, 'Socialintegrationand
certaincorollaries:an exploratorystudy',
American
Sociological
Review,vol. 21, 1956,
pp. 709-16.
36. It is importantto note that this is
a three-stepprocess. Emile Durkheim,
Moral Education,Glencoe, Free Press,
[1925] 1961, p. 33 illustratesthis well
when he writes: 'Should the rules of
conjugal morality lose their authority,
shouldhusband-wifeobligationsbe less
respected,shouldpassionsand appetites
ruled by this sector of moralityunleash
themselves . . . such passions would
entail a disillusionmentwhich translates
itselfgraphicallyintostatisticsofsuicide'.
In general, 'the notion of the infinite,
then, appearsonly at those times when
moraldisciplinehas lost its ascendancy
over man'swill' (p. 43) anotherecho
of Schopenhauer.Society's'dejectionand
pessimism[are] reflectedin the curveof
suicides'(p. 68).
37. Durkheim [1897] 1951, op. cit.,
pp. 68-76.
38. AsenathPetrie,Individuality
inPain
andSuffering,
Chicago,Universityof Chicago Press, 1967.
39. Hilbert,op.cit.
40. Durkheim [1897] 1951, op. cit.,
p. 181, emphasisadded.
41. Ibid.,p. 323.
42. Ibid.
43. Mauss [1950] 1979,op.cit., p. 24.

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582
44. Durkheim [1897]
1951, op. cit.,
p. 257, my
translation.
45. Ibid.,p.257.
46. Mauss [1950]
1979, op. cit., p.
14.
47. Ibid.,p. 24.
48. Durkheim [1897]
1951, op. cit.,
p. 254.
49. Ibid.,p. 246.
50. Ibid.,p. 253,
emphasisadded.
51. Ibid.,pp. 256-7.
52. Richard A.
Dodder and Doris
J.Astle, 'A
methodological
Srole's
nine item anomia analysis of
scale', Multivariate
Behavioral
Research,
vol.
pp.
329-334;Jack P. Gibbs, 15, 1981,
theory
of status integration'Testingthe
and suicide
rates',
American
Sociological
vol. 47,
1982,
pp. 227-37; Eugen Review,
tegration
and anomia:a Schoenfeld,'Inpaper
presentedto the re-examination',
SouthernSociological
Society, Memphis,
Tennessee,
1982.
53.Durkheim [1897]
1951, op. cit.,
p.
209,writes:'So we
reach the general
conclusion:
suicidevaries
with
the
degree of integrationinversely
of the social
groups
of which the
individualformsa
part.'
54.For reviews of
the
concept
of 'integration'in use of the
relation to
Durkheim's
formulation
seeJackDouglas,
The
Social
Meanings
of
1967
and Stjepan Suicide,Princeton,
Mestrovic
Glassner,
'A Durkheimian and Barry
hypothesison
stress',
SocialScience
andMedicine
vol. 17,
no.
18,
1983,pp. 1315-27.
55.
Durkheim [1897] 1951, op.
p.writes
cit.,
117 'that day
favors suicide
because
this is the time of
most
existence,
when human relationsactive
and
recross,
when social life is cross
most
intense'
and on p. 119:'Thus
proves
that if daytimeis the everything
part of the
twenty-four
hoursmost favorableto
cide,
it
isbecause
it is also the time suiwhen
social
lifeis at its
height....
lengthening
of the days seemsthe mere
to offer
wider
latitudeto
regard
to women, collective life.' With
Durkheimwrites on
p.
299
'Ifwomen
kill themselvesmuch
less
often
than
men,it is becausethey
are
much
less thanmen
involved
in
existence;
thus they feel its collective
influence
good
evilor less strongly.'

StjepanG. Mestrovic
56. Durkheim [1912]
1965, op. cit.,
p. 354. In general,
Durkheim
was a
pessimistwho
that the advance
of the divisionbelieved
of labor bringsless
happiness.See also
op.cit., p. 249. Durkheim[1893] 1933,
57. Durkheim [1897]
1951, op. cit.,
p.151.
58. Marcel Mauss,
Seasonal
oftheEskimo:
A Studyin Social Variations
Morphology,
London,
Routledge& KeganPaul,
[1950]
1979,
p. 77.
59. Halbwachs
[1930] 1978, op. cit.,
p.
319.
60. In Myrna
Weissman, Community
Surveys
ofPsychiatric
Disorders,
wick,
Rutgers University New BrunsPress, 1986,
pp.
65-76.
61. Hans Selye, Stress
Without
Distress,
Philadelphia,
Lippincott,1974,p. 17.
62.Hans Selye,
TheStressof
York,
Harper& Row, 1978,p.Life,New
64.
63.Mestrovicand
64.Discussedin Glassner,op.cit.
StjepanMestrovic,'A
sociological
conceptualization
oftrauma',
Social
Science
andMedicine,
vol. 21, 1985,
pp.
835-48.
65.
WalterCannon, The
of the
Body,
Chicago, UniversityWisdom
of
Chicago
Press,
1963,p. 313.
66.
Mestrovicand Brown,op.
cit.
67.
Durkheim[1950]
the
sensethat political1983,op.cit., in
and economic
anomie
consztitute
a 'publicdanger'
because
they cause such great
suffering
to
the
unsuspecting
public.
68.
Durkheim [1897] 1951, op.
p.writes:
cit.,
44 'The term
to
all of death suicideis applied
cases
resulting
indirectly
froma positiveor directlyor
negative
of
the
victim
himself,whichhe knpts act
will
produce
this result' (emphasis
This
passageis discussedat added).
Mestrovic
1982, op. cit. In length in
addition,
Durkheim's
understanding
of
motivation
is discussed in unconscious
Stjepan G.
Mestrovic,
'Durkheim'sconcept of the
unconscious',
Current
Perspectives
in Social
Theory,
vol.5, 1984,pp.
267-88.
69.
See
especiallyMaurice
[1930]
1978,op. cit., p. 291 Halbwachs
whereinhe
writes:
'Durkheim
did not say, "the act
accomplished
by the victim with
the
intention
or prospectof
puttinghimself
to
death".
Oftenit is impossiblefor
us to

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Durkheim's
concept
ofanomie
considered
asa 'total'socialfact

583

scrutinize intentions.' And on p. 294: this act is voluntary.'

70. Durkheim[1897] 1951,op. cit.,
CWenotice that when Durkheimdefines
suicideas an act whichthe victimknows 43.
71. Ibid.,pp. 45-6.
mustproducedeath,he does not say that

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p.