Essay On Anomie

Introduction
The word anomie has been used widely over the past few centuries, to describe social conditions. It has been defined and applied in many different ways throughout history; it has also been used in historical discussions of the consequences of the quick social change and how the cultures interact and also the social structure (Baumer, 2014). The anomie theory was mostly promoted by the research done by Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton. It is also used as a central explanation of modern substantial observing rates of serious crimes (Baumer, 2014).
Merton’s anomie theory and Messner and Rosenfeld’s institutional-anomie theory (IAT) are criminological theories and they have played a huge role in research over the past decades, helping to identify social and cultural conditions that encourage the levels of crime (Baumer, 2014). This essay will be comparing and contrasting the concept of anomie looking at it from two different views Durkheim and Merton. And it also look at which view is more relevant in South Africa in understanding crime.
There are many theories used to look at the causes of crime, but both Durkheim and Merton believe or blame society for the levels of crime.
Durkheim’s Concept of Anomie
‘European society was attempting to come to terms with modernity. Industrialization and urbanization had profoundly altered the nature of European societies. Rapid and sometimes abrupt social upheavals had occurred, especially in his own country, France. (Tierney, 1996: 82)’ (Portsmouth, 2007).
Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist that first familiarized the concept of anomie in his book, which was published in 1893 (Criminology.fsu.edu, 2014). He used this concept to help understand the condition of deregulation t...

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...is increasing or decreasing. Durkheim’s concept of anomie states that due the transition from the mechanical cohesion to the organic cohesion, has caused the society rule to break down and causing a state normlessness. While Merton does not think that normlessness can cause individual to participate deviant behavior, he states that due to the cultural society goals, that emphasis on that fact you have to successful but then provides little or no mean of the community to achieve them.
I believe that in order for us in South Africa to understand crime we need to use Merton’s concept of anomie because, is easy to understand and it’s also evident in the country already, I say this because in low class community in South Africa have more crime or the people there participate in deviant behavior. In all the two views are very important in understanding crime in general.