Anomie Theory Research Articles

The Current State of Anomie in Angola

In this article I explore the contemporary relevance of Émile Durkheim’s classic theory of anomie with respect to both the discipline of social anthropology and the study of politics in Africa. I take as a case study present-day, post-war Angola, where an activist mobilisation (the Revolutionary Movement) has engaged in what I call ‘anomic diagnostics’ in opposing the country’s current regime. Through a political reading of Durkheim’s theory, I suggest that, while the French author situates anomie and suicide as cause and consequence respectively within a conservative view of society, Angolan activists instead see anomie as the starting point for a progressive political proposition productive of rupture.

Economy and Supervisors’ Ethical Values: Exploring the Mediating Role of Noneconomic Institutions in a Cross-National Test of Institutional Anomie Theory

This study examined the direct influence of national economic condition, as well as the indirect effects through the strength of noneconomic institutions on supervisors’ ethical reasoning using the institutional anomie theory developed by Messner and Rosenfeld (Soc Forces 75(4):1393–1416, 2001). Utilizing data of 20,025 supervisors across 52 countries, the analyses showed that high disparity in the economic distribution directly and indirectly leads to unethical values. High economic inequality in a country resulted in high tendency of supervisors to justify unethical acts. In addition, some of this influence went through the institutional strength of family, education, polity, and religion, thereby indicating partial mediation. As a result, the study presented the important roles of social institutions in explaining supervisors’ attitude and behavior. The findings of this research contribute to the institutional anomie theory by clarifying the multilevel path of the macrostructures’ conditions in explaining supervisors’ ethicality. Moreover, since some of the relationships between variables resulted in the direction opposite to the propositions of the theory, this study suggested other theoretical models that may be integrated with IAT. Along with these theoretical contributions, practical implications to businesses and society are discussed to strengthen supervisors’ ethics.

Are Competitive Materialism and Female Employment Related to International Homicide Rate?

The institutional anomie theory is a proposal that states competitive materialism, an intense cultural pressure for economic success at any costs, and increased female employment may be related to a high homicide rate. The current work tested this proposition by utilizing homicide data collected from 45 developed and developing countries. Regression results did not support the proposition. Competitive materialism and female employment were not significantly related to the cross-national variation of homicide rates.

Specifying the Effect of Social Welfare Expenditures on Homicide and Suicide: A Cross-National, Longitudinal Examination of the Stream Analogy of Lethal Violence

This study is an extension and cross-national test of the Stream Analogy of Lethal Violence (SALV). The SALV is an integrated theory of homicide and suicide that hypothesizes a relationship between “socially patterned” sources of frustration and lethal violence. By drawing on the insights of General Strain Theory and Institutional Anomie Theory, this study extends the SALV by assessing the impact of “decommodification” on the lethal violence rate. Partial support is found for this modified version of the SALV, as lagged measures of social expenditures are negatively associated with total lethal violence. The findings of this study suggest that social welfare expenditures in OECD nations protect citizens from lethal violence while austerity measures may contribute to greater rates of violent death.

逸脱行動へのアノミー論の視角 マートン・アノミー論の学説史的再解釈

逸脱行動へのアノミー論の視角 マートン・アノミー論の学説史的再解釈

Expectations, Satisfaction and Professional Achievement. An Analysis of their Relation in light of a New Systemic Paradigm: The Three- Dimensional Spiral of Sense

This research has been done in the field of Education, Sociology and Social and Organizational Psychology. Issues are taken up from two research studies carried out with researchers and PhDs from different disciplinary fields and national contexts. The relationship between Expectations, levels of Satisfaction and Professional Achievement are analyzed in light of different theories: Expectancy-Valence, Attributional theories, Education theories such as Consumption or Investment / Human Capital and the theory of Anomy. The methodology utilized was quantitative-qualitative: two questionnaires, one semi-structured survey including open phrases which allowed actors to speak freely, one interview and, in the case of the French-Argentine research with PhDs, a special qualitative technique was applied: hierarchical evocation. This allowed us to determine which aspects related to professional pathways (objective and subjective) formed part of the “core” of social or shared representations and which were secondary aspects at the periphery of said core. Our findings show non-linear relationships between study variables – Expectations, Satisfaction and Achievement – and self-sustained interplay along three levels: micro individual, meso organizational and macro social. These are interpreted in light of a new systemic paradigm in human and social sciences, a paradigm which the author defines as “The Three-Dimensional Spiral of Sense”.

Nigerian Social Institutions in the Lens of Anomie Theory

Sociological theories are focused towards analyzing and explaining situations and circumstances surrounding social phenomenon, interpreting them and predicting their likelihood hence, the relevance of sociological theories in every human society to scholarly evaluate the direction of the society for important action by the members of the society. Among the sociological theories, Anomie theory (Though relatively old) is one of the foundational sociological theories by one of the founding fathers of Sociology which, still hold relevance in the explanation of the modern social institutions. In view of the explaining power of anomie theory about the malfunctioning of the social institutions, this paper draw from the various perspectives on anomie theory such as Durkheimian perspective, Parsonian perspective and Mertons, in examining the healthiness of the Nigerian social institutions such as the political institution, economic institution, religious institution, family institution etc.

ПСИХОЛОГІЧНИЙ ЗМІСТ АНОМІЇ: КОНСТРУЮВАННЯ ОПИТУВАЛЬНИКА

Anomie, as defined by sociologists, refers to a state of society characterized by deregulation and erosion of moral values. The author reviews the most important definitions and conceptualizations of anomie. It was French sociologist Emile Durkheim who began to explore anomie in the academic work, when he tackles the issue of social disorder and the changing context within European societies. E. Durkheim was primarily concerned with the coherence and integrity of modern societies and societies in transition. He proposes that anomie is a condition in which the coherence and integrity of society are at risk. Durkheim posits that anomie takes place when the moral standards and regulation of society break down. Since Durkheim’s time, slightly different conceptualizations of anomie have been proposed. For instance, the American sociologist Robert Merton adopts elements of Durkheim’s theory of anomie but focuses solely on the discrepancy between culturally important social values and the legitimate means an individual has at their disposal for achieving those social values and aspirations. It was in the twentieth century that a systematic theoretical analysis of anomie was developed. Anomie is mainly expressed in the alienation of individuals and groups, their non-involvement in the processes taking place in a society; it is also characterized by the abandonment of the sense of solidarity, which in turn leads to the destruction of cultural and ethical foundations of a society, loss of moral values, and marginalization of its members. As a result of such variability in the definition and conceptualization of anomie, the literature has arguably become rather complex and there are now multiple definitions and accounts of why and when anomie arises, and how people respond to it. The main idea of the present article is bringing the concept of anomie under a psychological spotlight. The author analyses the conditions under which, anomie arises in Ukrainian society and develops a model outlining various responses of person to anomie. The author proposed four key dimensions that can describe a person's response to a social anomie, namely: 1) a high level of cynicism and moral relativism, 2) a person's inability to build long-term plans and achieve long-term goals, which correlates with the lack of a clear life strategy; 3) a sense of helplessness, derived from a person's inability to influence social life; 4) the gap between the desires and needs of individuals and socially acceptable resources to achieve them.

Mapping Religious Change in Latin America

AbstractUsing Latinobarometer survey data, we study the evolution of religious identities among the adult populations of 17 Latin American countries between 1996 and 2013. We find several interesting patterns. First, the current religious landscape is highly dynamic and is becoming increasingly pluralist among a majority of countries. Changes derive not only from the growth of Evangelicals, as commonly assumed, but also from the sharp rise in irreligious individuals. Second, religious change cannot be convincingly explained by important theories such as secularization, religious economies, and anomie. However, the predictions derived from anomie theory seem more useful for understanding Evangelical growth. Finally, our cohort analysis indicates that aggregate religious change largely results from individual-level change across time—religious conversion and apostasy—rather than from generational replacement. Still, there are interesting variations across countries in that respect.

Professional Mobility and “Objective” and “Subjective” Satisfaction. a Non- Linear Analysis from the Theory of the Three-Dimensional Spiral of Sense in Population of Doctors

This work goes along the lines of the author’s research (1995-2016) on professional careers and models bearing causes and effects regarding sustained interaction (core, psychosocial, institutional and structural factors). The aim of this paper was analyze, through the doctors’ social representations, the levels of satisfaction evidenced by those who have advanced professionally to the highest positions within the scientific (or other) system. The hypothesis states that the relation is not linear but inverse. Satisfaction would not increase according to the Professional Status. We consider here, on the one hand, the insufficient Professionalization and the increasing demands from the market; and on the other, the impact structural limits have on the micro level. The methodology used was quanti-qualitative (semi-structured questionnaires, interviews, and hierarchical evocations). The population consisted of doctors (2005-2012) from the National University of Cuyo, in Argentina and the Cnam (France) of different courses of study. The results confirm the hypothesis. As regards what was observed among those who advanced professionally, the increase on the growing market demands along with the lack of institutionalized means in order to reach goals, result in lower satisfaction. This is interpreted from the theory of the author, which involves 3 levels (macro-meso-micro-macro) (Aparicio, 2015 a, b). We also consider the theories of anomie and of the expectancy of valence (Feather - Davenport). Findings along this line were also seen in studies with scientists (Aparicio, 2014). The results propose a revision in the prevailing working conditions and police: satisfaction acts on subsystems and consolidates them.

Professional Mobility and “Objective” and “Subjective” Satisfaction. a Non- Linear Analysis from the Theory of the Three-Dimensional Spiral of Sense in Population of Doctors

This work goes along the lines of the author’s research (1995-2016) on professional careers and models bearing causes and effects regarding sustained interaction (core, psychosocial, institutional and structural factors). The aim of this paper was analyze, through the doctors’ social representations, the levels of satisfaction evidenced by those who have advanced professionally to the highest positions within the scientific (or other) system. The hypothesis states that the relation is not linear but inverse. Satisfaction would not increase according to the Professional Status. We consider here, on the one hand, the insufficient Professionalization and the increasing demands from the market; and on the other, the impact structural limits have on the micro level. The methodology used was quanti-qualitative (semi-structured questionnaires, interviews, and hierarchical evocations). The population consisted of doctors (2005-2012) from the National University of Cuyo, in Argentina and the Cnam (France) of different courses of study. The results confirm the hypothesis. As regards what was observed among those who advanced professionally, the increase on the growing market demands along with the lack of institutionalized means in order to reach goals, result in lower satisfaction. This is interpreted from the theory of the author, which involves 3 levels (macro-meso-micro-macro) (Aparicio, 2015 a, b). We also consider the theories of anomie and of the expectancy of valence (Feather - Davenport). Findings along this line were also seen in studies with scientists (Aparicio, 2014). The results propose a revision in the prevailing working conditions and police: satisfaction acts on subsystems and consolidates them.

Institutional imbalance, integration into Non-economic institutions, and a marketized mentality in Europe: A multilevel, partial elaboration of Institutional Anomie Theory

This research builds upon prior efforts to transport insights from a macro-sociological theory of crime – Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) – to enhance understanding of an important individual-level phenomenon in advanced capitalist societies – a ‘marketized mentality’. Such a mentality entails a strong commitment to the utilitarian, instrumental values of the market at the expense of more altruistic, expressive values. Drawing upon IAT, we hypothesize that at the individual level, integration into selected non-economic institutions will tend to inhibit the adoption of a marketized mentality, but the strength of this inhibiting effect will vary depending on the degree to which economic institutions and non-economic institutions in society are ‘balanced’ or ‘unbalanced’. Our theoretical arguments imply that observed levels of acceptance of a marketized mentality will vary significantly across societies and that this variation will be related to the degree of imbalance in the institutional order: We expect to observe a cross-level interaction such that the inhibiting effect of integration into non-economic institutions is attenuated as institutional imbalance increases. These hypotheses are assessed in multilevel analyses with data from 25 European countries using the European Social Survey. The results are generally in accordance with theoretical expectations, revealing how an institutional imbalance helps shape people’s value orientations by promoting marketized mentalities and by weakening the socialization effects of non-economic institutions.

Durkheim’s theory of anomie and crime: A clarification and elaboration

In contemporary criminology, the proposal of a relationship between anomie and crime typically is traced to the work of Émile Durkheim. Yet, despite the prominence of anomie theory in this field, Durkheim’s theory of anomie and crime has not been carefully explicated and elaborated. Durkheim did not provide an extensive discussion of how anomie affects crime rates, and he certainly did not present anomie as the only cause of crime. Nonetheless, a careful examination of his rather elusive concept of anomie, together with a few small inferences, yields a relatively coherent theory of crime that differs from the popular interpretations of his work. The analysis begins with an inquiry into five different conceptions of anomie that can be abstracted from Durkheim’s writings. This is followed by an examination of what he implied regarding anomie as a cause of property crime, violent crime, and “juvenile crime.” The final section explores the effects of anomie on criminal law—that is, on decisions to define and treat various actions as criminal. Unlike most contemporary anomie theories, Durkheim’s theory, as elaborated in this article, integrates a theory of crime causation with an account of criminal law.

Television consumption and Institutional Anomie Theory

CONTACTMessner and Rosenfeld’s Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) is based on the assumption that the “American Dream” produces a society that is dominated by the economy and obsessed with the pursuit of success. Thus, crime is prevalent in the United States because individuals are willing to cut corners in order to attain the “dream” for themselves. This article extends the work of Messner and Rosenfeld (1994), contending that the “American Dream” is transmitted directly to citizens through the consumption of television representations. Using over 6,000 cases from the public use portion of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (ADD Health), the author conducted regression analysis to assess the influence of television consumption on both the cultural and institutional dynamics of IAT. This research is also one of only a few to apply IAT at the individual level of analysis.

A Matter of Time: A Partial Test of Institutional Anomie Theory Using Cross-National Time Use Data

Objectives The institutional anomie theory of crime (IAT) has traditionally been tested using either survey-based attitudinal measures or government expenditures. However, data on how people use their time may offer more valid and unobtrusive indicators of the theory’s key concepts, since choosing how to spend one’s time is inherently an exercise in expressing values. The present study answers the call for time use data in IAT research.

Anomic suicide: A Durkheimian analysis of European normlessness

ABSTRACTAccording to Durkheim (1897), periods of economic, social, or political change result in a state of anomie or normlessness. Anomic periods lead to deregulation of desires and suffering. Durkheim hypothesized that, as an expression of suffering, societies and groups experience an increase in suicide rates. This paper provides two formal tests of Durkheim’s (1897) theory of anomie - a behavioral aggregate analysis and an attitudinal individual-level analysis - on the backdrop of the 2008 economic crash. The first analysis assesses the relationship between unemployment and suicide in the European Union between 2000 and 2010. Results provide conditional support for Durkheim's theory: suicide rates increased following the crash and decreased once economic stability resumed in 2010 for males only. A second attitudinal analysis identified factors contributing to the gendered relationship between anomie and suicide. Results indicated that traditional Durkheimian regulatory mechanisms, such as marriage and divorce, contributed to the gender-specific results.

Socio-Cultural Impacts on Drug Trafficking Trends in Europe

A myriad of national and international publications have detailed global patterns of drug trafficking for decades, with recent reports identifying Europe as a global consumption “hotspot” for the majority of popular drugs in the world. Yet, despite increasing levels of drug trafficking worldwide, scholars have not routinely examined this crime-type through the lens of a socio-cultural criminological theory. As such, this empirical study employed guidance from Institutional Anomie Theory. Data were collected from fourteen countries in Europe from 1995 to 2009 and analyzed using pooled cross-sectional multivariate time series. Trafficking patterns in cannabis, heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines were operationalized using officially reported drug seizure amounts. The findings from this study emphasize the need for differentiation between drug-types in future research, but also illustrate support for use of the theoretically informed variables.

Anomie’s Eastern origins

Durkheim’s claim in Suicide that humanity’s ‘inextinguishable thirst’ ( soif inextinguible) causes suffering was adopted from Arthur Schopenhauer’s argument that the will-to-live’s ‘unquenchable thirst’ ( unlöschbaren Durst) causes suffering, which was previously adopted from the Buddha’s argument that ‘ceaselessly recurring thirst’ ( tṛṣṇā) causes suffering. This article retraces this demonstrable though seemingly unlikely history of ideas and reveals that the philosophical underpinnings of Durkheim’s theory of anomie are rooted, through Schopenhauer, whose thought influenced many thinkers during the Neo-Romantic fin de siècle period, including Durkheim, in the Buddha’s Second Noble Truth – a doctrine made available to Schopenhauer in European translations of Buddhist texts during the previous turn of the century’s ‘Oriental Renaissance’. By achieving a more thorough understanding of the ambiguous concept of anomie through its Eastern intellectual origins, this project shows that the common conceptualization of anomie as ‘normlessness’ is inconsequential without presupposing that humans thirst and unconstrained thirst causes pain.

Are Manager-controlled Firms More Likely to Bribe than Shareholder-controlled Firms: A Cross-cultural Analysis

ABSTRACTTo examine the bribing behavior of firms, we developed a cross-level moderation model using agency theory at the firm level and anomie theory at the societal level to investigate the relationship between manager control of firms and firm bribery activity. The results of this cross-cultural analysis using a sample of 1,799 firms from 38 nations showed that at the firm level, manager-controlled firms (MCFs) have a higher propensity to bribe than shareholder-controlled firms. At the country level, bribery is higher in MCFs (relative to shareholder-controlled firms) in societies with a low level of institutional collectivism, a high level of uncertainty avoidance, economic change, and income inequality. Contrary to the hypothesis, the relationship between bribery and manager control is stronger rather than weaker in societies with press freedom. Implications for future research and practices are discussed.

MEMBEDAH KASUS KORUPSI GAYUS TAMBUNAN DENGAN PISAU ANOMI

Anomie theory put imbalance values and norms in society as the cause of the deviation, where people are grouped in the social structure (forms Class) from the top of society to the public is low, which led to differences of this class opportunity to achieve goals. Gayus Tambunan coming from low class society, have the opportunity to become rich is smaller compared to those with higher grade. This situation makes resulted segregration makes people who do not have the means to do it then do another way to achieve the goal to become rich, for example, or goal he wants