Compare And Contrast Durkheim And Merton's Theory Of Anomie

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Durkheim and Merton developed the theory of anomie, which Agnew built from and created his general strain theory. Durkheim studied the decrease of restraint in society, which would result in strain at the individual level. Merton worked on the imbalance between cultures which was present when comparing goals and the norms of individuals. Anomie was split into two separate categories, the macroside of anomie and the microside of anomie. The macroside was described as the apparent incompetence of society to limit goals and control individual conduct. The microside, also known as strain theory, aimed at deviance which results from societal failure. Agnew and Passas, claimed that the microside of anomie which defined the decrease in societal

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