An individual’s response to anomie will also be influenced by their position in the social structure and Merton breaks down these responses into five categories namely conformists, innovators, retreatists, ritualists and rebels.
3)
Conformists is the first response which is the most common. These are people who try to achieve societies goals in the approved ways.
Innovators (included in Merton’s rule breakers) who try to achieve the success by illegitimate means such as theft cheating in exams or other such criminal acts.
Ritualists are the third response, which are those who continue to go through the motions but have given up trying to be successful. The lower middle classes are most likely to select this route. The jobs provide little opportunity for success and have little or no ambition. Retreatists are those who have abandoned both the goals and the means of achieving them. This is where the individual withdraws from society for example into a world of drugs, alcohol abuse or some other deviant behaviour.
Rebels (last) are those who reject societies goals and the accepted means of achieving them and replace them with their own for example joining a rebel group of some kind.
Merton argues deviance arises in response to status frustration when the approves ways of achieving success don’t correspond with an individuals situation. In turn this results in anomie.
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4)
Many sociologists believe that the disadvantaged groups such as the underprivileged and lower working class have a little chance of achieving societies goals by acceptable means as they have been at a disadvantage in education and end up in a low paid employment. This in turn places a strain on the individual who wants to achieve their goals but lack the chances of doing so by conventional means. They may respond by breaking the rules for example turning to crime or other deviant behaviour.
Laurie Taylor criticised Merton for not elaborating further on his analysis and failing to consider who makes and benefits more from the laws of society. Taylor compared the social structure, which has been rigged by those in power with the rules that guarantee their success.
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5)
Since Merton’s original work, other sociologists have modified this theory, to try and develop more satisfactory explanations for crime and delinquency.
Sub cultural theories explains the deviance in terms of the subcultural of a social group. Some theorists argue that the value of the working class are different and are so more likely to lead to criminal activity.
Albert Cohen argues in his analysis of delinquency that there is a delinquent subculture and that Merton was wrong to suggest that delinquency is an individual response to ones class position. In Cohen’s view, individuals join together for crimes such as joy riding and vandalism which do not result in a monetary reward. However he does agree that Merton’s theory could help explain adult professional crime and some professional thieves.
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6 – Conclusion
In contrast many Marxists perceive crime as a natural outgrowth of capitalists society. They argue that by its very nature, the capitalist economic system generates crime.
Sociologists such as William Chambliss, Mankoff, Pearce and Snider see the power as largely being held by those who own and control the means of production.
This they maintain is reflected in the superstructure of society that mirrors the relationship between the ruling and the subject class. As part of the superstructure, Marxists believe that the state (the agencies of social control) reflect and serve ruling class interests, maintain its power and coerce and control the subject class.
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