Sociology - A perspective on Anomie and Strain Theory

 "Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.  It is up to you to give life meaning." - Jean Paul Sartre

Going off the beaten path a bit here...

Long ago, in a galaxy far far away, I took a Sociology course at Mesa college in San Diego.  It was a class on a topic that up to that point I had no interest at all in - it was just another required undergrad course.  As it turned out, I found the subject absolutely fascinating, and I enjoyed that class a lot.  

Below: Mesa College, San Diego

 

Sociology is the study of social behavior, interactions, and relationships - of social order.  I learned a great deal about how society influences individual behavior.  Imagine how differently we would behave if we found ourselves in a completely different society - or all alone.  It was fascinating stuff - about human psychology, the desire to fit in socially, and about social "norms" - acceptable behavior within society.  

One of my big take-away lessons from that class was that social "dependency" beyond childhood was bad, social "independence" in adulthood was somewhat better, but "social autonomy" was best of all.  

Social Autonomy is the recognition that you dance like a marionette on invisible strings that society places on you, but - if you are socially autonomous - you are aware of them, and can choose to ignore them.  Autonomy then, is to have agency, without coercion over your life and the decisions you make.  Autonomy is important from a moral, medial and ethical perspective - which is among the reasons I find things such as coerced vaccination so objectionable.

FYI the textbook for that course was "Introduction to Sociology" by Peter Burger.  An outstanding book, and much more than a mere textbook.  It's still on the bookshelf, after all these decades.  I really should revisit it.

One of the founders in the field of sociology was Emile Durkheim, a pioneer who wrote a book entitled "Suicide".  It's a detached and scholarly study about the reasons why people end their own lives.  The study is considered by many to be foundational to sociology - that is, how we behave within society, with all its customs, rules, and taboos.  

Suicide is deeply frowned upon by nearly all societies - with the apparent exception of Canada - there, if you are despondent, the state will be happy to assist with ridding itself of you.  The very strict social taboo against suicide makes it a fascinating topic of study - why do people do this terrible thing?  It turns out that people who kill themselves broadly fall into four categories: Egoistic Suicide, Altruistic Suicide, Fatalistic Suicide, and Anomie.

• Egoistic Suicides are those done for a variety of personal reasons that are deemed insurmountable by the individual - depression, health, marital, financial, etc, etc.
  
• Altruistic Suicides are done to save others - for example:  A soldier covering a grenade with his own body in order to save his combat buddies, or a parent going into a flaming building to certain death, to possibly save the life of their child.
• Fatalistic Suicide is that of slaves or prisoners in order to escape their environment.
  
• Anomic Suicide is the weird one.  It is caused by a loss of... I'd call it faith - or maybe "belonging". Anomie is defined as the breakdown of social order, as the result of the loss of commonly held standards and values - what is now called "normlessness" by the profession. 
  

The concept of Anomie is a topic I'd like to flesh out a bit, because in many ways it seems that anomie is running absolutely rampant in the western world right now.  I'd wager part of this anomie is due to Covid isolation and the after-effects of that isolation.  Some of the anomie we are experiencing seems to be part of a longer lasting and ongoing secular trend of normlessness. 

"Normlessness" is a breakdown of the social norms that regulate an individual's behavior within society.  When society undergoes rapid change, people become less and less certain (or concerned) about what constitutes normal behavior.  The breakdown of these social norms, Durkheim argued, leads to individual behavioral deviancy.  "Deviancy" in this case is a violation of social or cultural normal behaviors.  This "deviancy" that was once considered fringe, vulgar, or bizarre is now celebrated, promoted, and encouraged.

Normlessness is often a characteristic of societies where individualism predominates.  In such societies, there are fewer examples of social solidarity and as a result there are fewer social behavioral controls.  Individual narcissism reigns supreme, and people are oblivious to their impact on others within such a society.  I would argue that nomlessness and Anomie (and anomic suicide) are increasing right now, although I have no statistics to back up that suspicion.

Robert Merton expanded on the work of Durkheim, with a closer look specifically at conditions in the US.  In the US, he pointed out, we taught from an early age that there are no limits to success regardless of our individual circumstances.  For example: "I'm going to be an astronaut/fighter pilot/president!".

*my comment* - Simple logic tells us that becoming the next billionaire Bill Gates or Elon Musk is highly unlikely if one is starting out from an average social or economic level, regardless of drive and intellect.  This is unfortunate, but it's also the truth - statistically, you are far more likely to become addicted to drugs/alcohol and live on the street than to become an astronaut, billionaire, or famous movie star.  

Robert Merton came up with the concept of "Strain Theory" to explain individual's behavior upon having to face the difference between society's definition of success and the possibility of actually achieving it.  

Strain Theory is an examination of the broken relationship between the goals that society sets for us - "Success (money, power, sex, etc)", and society's restriction or elimination of legal routes to achieve it.  Merton identified five paths people use to deal with the cognitive strain of society blocking their path:

• Conformity - pursuing society's goals by following approved paths - the "hopeful poor"
• Innovation - pursuing society's goals - success - but outside approved paths - "dealing drugs"
• Ritualism - setting more modest goals than society deems worthy - the "modest poor"
• Retreatism - rejecting society's goals and the means to approved to achieve it - the Japanese hikikomori phenomenon, which is rapidly becoming common globally.
• Rebellion - rejecting society's goals, the means approved to achieve them, and attempting to replace both society and the goals - the "rebellious poor"
  

With the concepts of Anomie and Strain Theory, it's *maybe* possible to better understand why we seem to be having so many social crises - at least in the US - today.  These crises will likely continue to worsem, because society seems unwilling to confront deviant behavior - and often seems to encourage it.

• During the housing bust and financial crisis of 2007-8, nobody at the CEO level was prosecuted - although there was clearly a lot of financial skulduggery at play - yet there were no criminal investigations.  People who protested this lack of accountability (Occupy Wall Street) were jailed instead.  CEOs of fraudulent banks were bailed out and even retained their bonus. 
  
• Gang shootings.  The 1929 St. Valentine day murders in Chicago shocked the nation - 7 gang members were lined up against a wall and shot in cold blood.  If a similar event happened today with gang members, it might not even raise an eyebrow.  Social norms have clearly weakened, particularly in the poor sections of many large US (and some European) cities.
  
• Mass shootings - sadly, too many to mention.  The 2017 Las Vegas shooting has nearly been memory-holed already.  Sixty deaths - the highest total ever for a single shooting - is all but forgotten.  People were murdered by a gunman for unknown reasons.  Anomie may have played a role in the motive and anomie maybe involved in forgetfulness following this horrific event. 
• Financial (Recently Crypto) Fraud, Medical Fraud, Scientific Fraud, Tax Fraud, Environmental Fraud, Charity Fraud, all of it.  Very few of these deviant behaviors are dealt with quickly and forcefully by society - ensuring future cases will continue to happen. 
  
• The opioid healthcare crisis, overdoses and deaths.  Made, profited by, and murdered in America.  No one held to account, and a few fines levied against the miscreants.  Unreal.  
• The trans thing seems to be exploding.  This seems to be an odd combination of social media pandemic, anomie, and a media celebration of in-your-face violation of mainstream norms.  
  

 I'm open to tabulating other instances of social ills, and discussing whether they are the result of Anomie and Social Strain Theory.  It's really a fascinating topic of how individual human beings behave within society, and how they misbehave in a poorly functioning society.  

 

Critiques of Strain Theory argue that Strain Theory focuses primarily on individual's responses to society.  I agree with that criticism - people responding to the forces of a *sick* society with their own individual sickness is a pretty one-sided observation.  Society itself should not be above observation and criticism.