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Social Structure and Anomie
Abstract
This chapter suggests that certain phases of social structure generate the circumstances in which infringement of social codes constitutes a "normal" response. Whatever the sentiments of the writer or reader concerning the ethical desirability of coordinating the means-and-goals phases of the social structure, one must agree that lack of such coordination leads to anomie. The American stress on pecuniary success and ambitiousness for all thus invites exaggerated anxieties, hostilities, neuroses and antisocial behavior. "The-end-justifies-the-means" doctrine becomes a guiding tenet for action when the cultural structure unduly exalts the end and the social organization unduly limits possible recourse to approved means. The lack of high integration between the means and-end elements of the cultural pattern and the particular class structure combine to favor a heightened frequency of antisocial conduct in such groups. A stable social structure demands a balanced distribution of affect among its various segments.
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
Merton argues that deviant behavior is not primarily the product of biologically derived impulses breaking through social control, but a "normal" response generated by certain phases of social structure. Anomie arises when a culture disproportionately emphasizes success-goals while the institutionalized means for attaining them are unequally distributed.
Key findings
- Social structure has two analytically separable elements — culturally defined goals and the institutionalized norms regulating acceptable means — and these vary independently; the limiting case of goal-emphasis is one where "the range of alternative procedures is limited only by technical rather than institutional considerations."
- Five logically possible modes of individual adaptation are derived from acceptance/rejection of goals and means: Conformity (+/+), Innovation (+/−), Ritualism (−/+), Retreatism (−/−), and Rebellion (±/±). Conformity is "the most common and widely diffused"; Retreatism is the least common.
- Innovation (e.g., crime, vice) occurs when the cultural emphasis on success is assimilated without equally internalizing the norms governing means — illustrated by Lohman's analysis of vice in Chicago's near north side, where conventional occupational opportunities were "almost completely limited to manual labor."
- Poverty alone does not produce high crime rates: "Only insofar as poverty and associated disadvantages in competition for the culture values approved for all members of the society is linked with the assimilation of a cultural emphasis on monetary accumulation as a symbol of success is antisocial conduct a 'normal' outcome." Hence poverty is less correlated with crime in southeastern Europe than in the United States.
Methods
- Theoretical/conceptual essay, not an empirical study. It constructs an analytical scheme of interdependent variables (culture goals, institutional norms, class structure) and derives ideal types of social orders and modes of adaptation.
- Evidence is illustrative and drawn from secondary sources: Lohman's participant-observer study of Chicago vice areas, the Lynds' *Middletown in Transition*, Taussig and Joslyn on business leaders, and comparative observations on crime and poverty in the U.S. versus southeastern Europe.
- Analysis proceeds by logical derivation of the five adaptations and by reasoning about which structural conditions (differential access to legitimate means plus shared success-symbols) predispose toward each.
Limitations
- Stated by the paper: the treatment is "brief" and "incomplete" — it does not exhaustively treat structural elements predisposing toward one response over another; it neglects (without denying) factors determining the specific incidence of responses; it omits consideration of the social functions of illicit responses; it has not tested the scheme's explanatory power against a large number of group variations; it has not adequately dealt with rebellious conduct seeking radical refashioning of the social framework; and it has not examined cultural conflict in culture-goal/institutional-means malintegration.
- Evident from the text: the argument is programmatic and unaccompanied by original data or statistical tests; the empirical support is borrowed from other studies and from comparative assertions that are not systematically documented. The paper also explicitly abstracts from biological and personality factors, so it cannot account for individual-level incidence.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
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Claims the paper makes
33 Own interpretation · 3 Sources not found · 1 No basis given
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Poverty as such, and consequent limitation of opportunity, are not sufficient to induce a conspicuously high rate of criminal behavior.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The emphasis upon certain goals may vary independently of the degree of emphasis upon institutional means.”
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
In the paper
“Lohman has shown that specialized areas of vice in the near north side of Chicago constitute a “normal” response to a situation where the cultural emphasis upon pecuniary success has been absorbed, but where there is little access to conventional and legitimate means for attaining such success.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Lohman
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As we shall see, certain aspects of the social structure may generate countermores and antisocial behavior precisely because of differential emphases on goals and regulations.”
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The lack of high integration between the meansand-end elements of the cultural pattern and the particular class structure combine to favor a heightened frequency of antisocial conduct in such groups.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Fraud, corruption, vice, crime, in short, the entire catalogue of proscribed behavior, becomes increasingly common when the emphasis on the culturally induced success-goal becomes divorced from a coordinated institutional emphasis.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Given our cultural stigmatization of manual labor, and its correlate, the prestige of white collar work, it is clear that the result is a strain toward innovational practices.”
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The social order we have described necessarily produces this “strain toward dissolution.””
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Thus, poverty is less highly correlated with crime in southeastern Europe than in the United States.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Sorokin
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“An effective equilibrium between the two phases of the social structure is maintained as long as satisfactions accrue to individuals who conform to both constraints”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Probably not a substantial claim. 8
- It may state two separate claims as one. 5
- The quote only partly states this claim. 1
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“rebellion occurs when emancipation from the reigning standards, due to frustration or to marginalist perspectives, leads to the attempt to introduce a “new social order.””
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“At the extreme, predictability virtually disappears and what; may be properly termed cultural chaos or anomie intervenes.”
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Be it noted that where frustration derives from the inaccessibility of effective institutional means for attaining economic or any other type of highly valued “success,” that Adaptations II, III and V (innovation, ritualism and rebellion)'are also possible. The result will be determined by the particular personality, and thus, the particular cultural background, involved.”
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Every social group invariably couples its scale of desired ends with moral or institutional regulation of permissible and required procedures for attaining these ends.”
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In the extreme case, the latter may be so vitiated by the goal-emphasis that the range of behavior is limited only by considerations of technical expediency.”
- Also stated in: § ROBeRt K. MeRtoN Harvard University · p. 2 · plain
“As this process continues, the integration of the society becomes tenuous and anomie ensues.”
plainconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
- Also stated in: § ROBeRt K. MeRtoN Harvard University · p. 2 · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A second polar type is found in groups where activities originally conceived as instrumental are transmuted into ends in themselves. The original purposes are forgotten and ritualistic adherence to institutionally prescribed conduct becomes virtually obsessive.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The consequences of such structural inconsistency are psychopathological personality, and/or antisocial conduct, and/or revolutionary activities.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As we have seen, this adjustment occurs when the individual has assimilated the cultural emphasis on success without equally internalizing the morally prescribed norms governing means for its attainment.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It is unlikely that interiorized norms are completely eliminated. Whatever residuum persists will induce personality tensions and conflict.”
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This mode of “adjustment” occurs, as far as structural sources are concerned, when both the culture goals and institutionalized procedures have been assimilated thoroughly by the individual and imbued with affect and high positive value, but where those institutionalized procedures which promise a measure of successful attainment of the goals are not available to the individual.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The limiting case in this direction is reached when the range of alternative procedures is limited only by technical rather than institutional considerations.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The dominant pressure of group standards of success is, therefore, on the gradual attenuation of legitimate, but by and large ineffective, strivings and the increasing use of illegitimate, but more or less effective, expedients of vice and crime.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
The individual's subjective evaluation of the situation is a major determinant of the response.
“Manifestly, these objective changes are not alone significant; the individual's subjective evaluation of the situation is a major determinant of the response.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The same body of success-symbols is held to be desirable for all.
“The same body of success-symbols is held to be desirable for all.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Merton, R. K.
- Venue
- Gangs
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Published
- 2017-11-30
- Pages
- 3-13
- OpenAlex
- W2319178948
- Cited by
- 3,694
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 147 · 2020: 158 · 2019: 198 · 2018: 176 · 2017: 175
- FWCI
- 955.94
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime, Deviance, and Social Control
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Emile Durkheim and Sociology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Keywords
- social structure, anomie, means and ends, social codes, antisocial behavior, ambition, anxiety, class structure, social integration, American culture
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