Anomie is a term associated with the sociologist Emile Durkheim. According to
Durkheim, modern experience is an experience in a world that has been emptied
of binding norms and laws. This shaky world can no longer provide a
protective framework and guide essential to social interaction. In an
unstable world, human happiness, which is the fruit of the match between
individual aspirations and social structure, is no longer possible.
Anomie is a
key concept in modern sociology. Emil Durkheim, the father of the
functionalist approach in sociology, defines the concept as a lack of coherence
between the aspirations of the individual and an unsettled
and diffuse social structure that prevents their
fulfillment. As a result, the natural desire for personal happiness is
impaired (Durkheim, [1897]). As social frameworks and norms are
undermined - for example by increasing the propensity for individualism, or
against the background of capitalist pressures pushing for
rapid economic growth - a mismatch between means and ends is created. The
result is embarrassment and anxiety: an inability to prepare in a short time
for situations of instability: the old scale of values and norms has already
fallen, but no other scale has yet been created to take its place . The mental result of the process is the atmosphere of stress and the constant stress in
which modern man
lives .
Following
Durkheim's theory, R.C. Merton (1968) proposed a general theory of social
deviation: Individuals within society feel that a conflict
has arisen between the general values of society and
the particular values of the group to which they belong. . Certain aspects of
the culture of crime are clarified by anomie theory.
Additional article summaries by Emile Durkheim:
Emile Durkheim - The Rules of Sociological MethodEmile Durkheim - Suicide
"The Genesis of the Notion of the Totemic Principle or Mana" – summary and review" - part 1 -2 -3
What is a Social Fact?
Division of Labor in Society
Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Moral Education
Types of Suicide according to Emile Durkheim
Definition of social facts
On Morality and Society