Unlike Durkheim however, Merton argued that anomie was not brought about by a
sudden social change but by a society which assigns the same goals to all its members
but affords them unequal opportunities to attain these goals. For Merton, irrespective
of the role of biological impulses, there still remained the further question of why it is
that the frequency of deviant behaviour varies within different social structures and
how it happens that the deviations have different shapes and patterns in different
social structures.
The new adapted theory employs this functionalist idea of social norms and values
and suggests that people become deviant when they cannot fulfil societies
‘expected’ of success through the ‘normal’, accepted, legal channels such as
education, talent and hard work.
Being an American sociologist, Merton utilized the idea of the idea of the American
dream to illustrate his theory.
‘Contemporary American culture appears to approximate the polar type in which
great emphasis upon certain success goals occurs without emphasis upon institutional
means.’ -Merton 1968
According to the American dream, everyone in the American society is equal as
created by God. They all have not only the right, but the opportunity and ability to
achieve great financial success through hard work and dedication.
Merton’s theory was simple- people are bombarded with such high expectations and
‘strain’ is put upon them by society to succeed. Such success is measured by financial
achievements and material wealth. (The American dream states that everyone has the
capability to own a Cadillac and a Beverly Hills mansion.) but little attention is given
to the accepted institutionalised means of gaining them.
Some are capable of achieving such success through the socially accepted means but
due to the problem of societal inequality (observably, race and gender discrimination),
not all will be given the opportunity to achieve such goals.
Some that can’t achieve these set goals in the legal way, will turn to illegal
alternatives.
Merton understood the importance of individual differences however and importantly
noted the fact that not everyone that was unable to achieve society’s goals through the
accepted means turned to deviance.
His primary aim therefore, was to understand why some people conformed to the
socially accepted methodology and others didn’t, or became deviant.
People react to societies strains in different ways and for Merton, these individual
differences could be summed up in 5 groups; conformity, innovation, ritualism,
retreatism, and rebellion.
Individuals who fall under the conformity genre accept both the goals as well
as the set methods for achieving those goals. They are the academics and those who
follow the required means of achieving success. They may not always achieve the
American dream but they reach a level of self sustenance which is respected.
Those who are classed in Merton’s innovation concept, are creators or
innovators. Although they are unable to achieve societal goals through the set means,
they accept the goals but invent their own means of achieving them, often illegal ways.
In ritualism, individuals abandon the goals they once believed to be within their reach
and dedicate themselves to their current lifestyle. They play by the rules and have a
daily safe routine.
Retreatism is the reaction of those who reject both the goals and the means of
achieving such goals. They often retreat into the world of alcoholism and drug
addiction. They escape into a non-productive, non-striving lifestyle.
Finally, rebellion is the mode in which individuals not only reject the required goals
and accepted means but alienate themselves from them. They seek to create a society
where a closer correspondence will be made between merit, effort and reward.
The main part of Merton theory that relates to crime and criminal behaviour is
his ‘Innovators’ strata. This is where Merton highlights the origin of modern day
criminality in the western world thus this will be the main focus of this essay.
Innovators, as stated above, are those who invent their own (illegal) means of
achieving society’s success. They are the fraudsters, drug dealers, muggers,
embezzlers and even white collar criminals.
It is agreeable that many monetary crimes are committed due to financial reward and
his theory carries its greatest strength in its explanation of economic and ‘white
collar crime’. Merton argued that the idea of ‘the sky’s the limit’ encourage people
that already have wealth to continue to seek more. This is also seen in large
corporations where businesses are expected to continue to make a profit and the
businessmen cross the blurred line of what is and isn’t legal in corporate finance.
They become innovators as they try to find ways to improve their businesses.
Indeed, this applies equally well to Britain, especially in light of the competitive
market created by Thatcher in the `80s. However, where Merton’s theory
succeeds in explaining crime for economic gain, it fails in its explanation of other
types of crime which are widespread in the UK.
A research study that supports an element of Merton’s theory is that of John M.
Hagedorn. In his 1987 study entitled ‘Homeboys, Dope fiends, Legits and New
Jacks’, Hagedorn interviewed 47 members of 19 Milwaukee male and female gangs.
Although Merton fails to address gang crime in his theory, this study shows some
understanding of anomie. The drug dealers and criminals in the gang claimed society
had failed them through racism and discrimination. The only way to make a good
living according to the gang members, was from the ‘streets’.
Hagedorn returned to the place of is initial study to check the progress of the subjects
six years later and he finds similar attributes. In an interview with one of the
‘homeboys’, Hagedorn asked;
Q; what kind of person are you
A; Mad. I’m a mad young man….I feel I’m the type of person that given the opportunity to try and have something legit, I will take it, but I’m not going to go by the slow way, taking no four five years working at no chicken job and trying to get up to a manager just to start making six, seven dollars. …if I’m given the opportunity, and if I could get a job earning nine, ten dollars an hour, I’d let everything go.
The above study also portrays the element of Merton’s theory that suggests the
creation of sub-cultures. The existence of gangs is a reaction to the feeling of rejection
and failure in society. In other words, when people cannot succeed I society or
achieve societies required goals, they create their own ‘micro-society’ where they can
create their own rules, laws and rewards. This correlates with Merton’s idea of
rebellion.
Merton’s theory on the causes of deviance is helpful in understanding contemporary
crime to some extent but it is obvious that his theory can never be generalised to all
crime. For instance, the idea of financial reward does explain crimes such as rape and
child abuse. Crimes based on a religious motivation are also not figured in Merton’s
study as he assumes most if all deviants seek similar rewards. Psychopaths, murders,
sociopaths are also not addressed in his research findings.
However, Merton’s theory can be considered to help explain the 1996
massacre by Thomas Hamilton. Hamilton burst into Gwen Mayor’s classroom of 16
young children with four semi-automatic pistols and shot dead all 16 pupils and their
teacher. He them proceeded to kill himself.
It was later found that Hamilton wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth complaining that
the authorities would not permit him to engage in youth work.
By observing these facts, would could relate Hamilton’s horrific crime to Merton’s
theory. Reports Hamilton’s history highlight a long list of failure in
matters concerning his ambitions, which stands to reason with Merton's
'anomie' theory that proposes
"that frustration and alienation develop when individuals who aspire to the economic
goals of society and are not provided for" , and upon feeling unnoticed and ineffective,
turn to crime for their source of power and assertion .
But for other horrific crimes, such as the murder of Jamie Bulger by two ten year old
Boys who cared little for the financial gain or the social status gained, Merton’s
theory offers no rationalisation or scope of understanding.
Merton’s theory attempts to predict behavioural patterns and his thesis boasts
noticeable correlations to contemporary crime. Corporate crime and fraud are some
the main problems of a materialistic modern society and Merton’s theory addresses
these to a great extent. Although Merton highlighted that people will use illegitimate
means to achieve financial success, he did not go far enough in his study as he did not
address criminals that do it for power and respect. For instance, the case of Thomas
Hamilton as highlighted above, was not a crime that provided financial
accomplishment but rather gave him a personal satisfaction of revenge against a
system that he felt had failed him.
Merton’s theory does not address crimes such as domestic violence, child
abuse or rape, which are still a real part of modern society and an immense stain on
societies conscience. The question therefore is, do economic theories of crime explain
criminality and can it be used to explain crime in Britain today?
Merton’s anomie theory can be said to effectively explain the causes of
some types of crime but this is as far as it goes in terms of successfully explaining
criminality. His theory was developed in America and was influenced by the
American culture and social behaviour. His theory was based around and illustrated
by the notion of the American dream, a concept that is not part of British
culture, nor a part of any other country in the world. Although similar work ethics are
held by various other countries, such ideology is not as upheld as the American dream
is for the American people. It is also important to state that the extent to which the
British welfare state looks after its people goes further than that of the Americans.
Poverty in Britain is of a much lower percentage in comparison to that of America
thus Merton’s argument of the poor most likely to be criminal will not always fit the
British society.
It is therefore impractical to generalise Merton’s theory and force-fit it to all
contemporary societies. However, his work has been very influential in both the
policy making process and criminological theories both in Britain and around the
western world. Merton’s theory does not explain all crime but it has great merit in the
ones he attempts to explain.
Merton. R-(1968) Social Theory and Social Structure. Chapt6
Haralambos and Holborn 2002
Hagedorn 1996 new perspective in criminology, chapter 13