Tagged: Anomie

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Neoliberalism, Anomie, and Interpersonal Violence: Normlessness Leads to Criminality?

As discussed in neoliberalism and its consequences, increasingly, there appears to be a connection between neoliberalism and the development of anomie. Such an association is unsurprising considering that neoliberalism encourages individuals to achieve ever greater success even though such a goal is unrealistic. In response to being blocked from realizing their never-ending aspirations, Merton (1968) argues that people in success-driven societies will feel deprived and frustrated as a divide forms between idealistic ambitions and factual reality. While such a divide has...

Class & Stratification / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Super-Anomie? U.S. Shooting Incidents in the Last 30 Days

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J22mLsZd2C8] by NickieWild As of today, according to msnbc.com, 43 people have died in the last 30 days in mass-shooting incidents across the U.S. There are several sociological theories that could potentially explain this. Messner and Rosenfeld’s “American Dream” structural strain theory posits that when there is a gap between what one wants to achieve and what seems possible, violence increases. For the immigrant who shot 13 people and himself in Binghamton, NY last week, there is evidence that points...

Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Down and Out

by socanonymous The unemployment rate in the United States has reached a 16-year high of 7.2%. Economists say that we are still far from the recovery period and until then, expect things to get worse. Effects are certainly being felt on a global scale. The recent suicide of German billionaire, Adolf Merckle raises the timeless question: what are the causes of suicide? What is particularly interesting is that even with significant losses Merckle was still worth about £6 billion. Merckle...