Anomie - A theory about deviance? Examples of modern anomie

Anomie is a state of public or individual moral and mental consciousness, which is characterized by the corruption of moral norms, the collapse of the moral and value system. The concept of anomie was proposed by French sociologist Emile Durkheim to interpret deviant behavioral responses, for example, suicidal intentions, illegal acts. The state of anomie is inherent in society in times of unrest, revolutions, perestroika, social crisis, due to the contradiction between the promulgated goals and their impracticability for the prevailing part of the subjects, that is, in those periods when the majority of members of a particular society lose confidence in the existing moral values, moral guidelines and social institutions. The problem of anomie is closely related to professional degradation, disappointment in life and activities, and the alienation of the individual from society, which invariably accompanies the phenomenon described.

What is anomie

Anomie is a state of public or individual moral and psychological consciousness, characterized by the decomposition of moral norms, the foundations of mentality and the collapse of the moral and value system. The concept of anomie was proposed by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim to interpret deviant behavioral reactions, for example, suicidal intentions, illegal actions.

The state of anomie is inherent in society during periods of upheaval, revolution, perestroika, social crisis, due to the contradiction between the set goals and their impracticability for the majority of subjects, that is, during those periods when the majority of members of a given society lose confidence in existing moral values, moral guidelines and social institutions . The problem of anomie is closely related to professional degradation, disappointment in life and work, and the alienation of the individual from society, which invariably accompanies the described phenomenon.

Anomie is a state of society, which is expressed in spiritual and professional degradation

Causes of anomie

The reason is a sharp change in morals, values, ideals, and ethical standards in society. The source of change is the socio-political activity of the state. Some members of society do not have time to accept new values ​​and new means of achieving previous goals, and therefore certain social groups feel that society has rejected them. New values ​​are not perceived as social and useful for all people; they are perceived as dangerous, useful only to certain representatives.

In simple words, anomie in society is the destruction of social order. A number of negative factors lead to this:

• socioeconomic and political changes that have made physical survival a priority for most people;
• criticism of previous values, changing the boundaries between the concepts of good and evil.

The corruption of values ​​occurs in times of unrest, perestroika, revolutions, and social crises. At this time, people lose confidence in social institutions, the government and the norms and guidelines that they offer. A cohesive and stable society is the best prevention of anomie.

Anomia and deviant behavior

The destruction of values ​​and alienation from society leads to deviance:

• Alcoholism,
• Addiction,
• Crime,
• Divorce,
• Rape,
• Early pregnancy,
• Single parent families
• Suicide,
• Xenophobia,
• Fascism,
• Extremism,
• Sexual promiscuity
• Vagrancy, etc.

A crisis can affect anyone, but teenagers are a particular risk group. This is the time when values ​​are formed, when a new system of moral norms is destroyed and built, i.e. teenagers are already unstable on the internal level of the individual. If this is compounded by instability and the destruction of morality in society as a whole, the risk of developing deviance doubles.

We have already said that one of the characteristics of devaluation is that certain categories of citizens reject the means offered by society to achieve their goals. Instead, they offer their own funds, usually criminal and illegal. A person does not believe that he owes anything to society. He is guided only by his needs and desires.

Durkheim believed that society cannot exist without crime. Deviants have always existed. We should strive not to eradicate crime, but to reduce it to a minimum. Criminals ensure the progress of society. Social norms, punishment, and community unity and cohesion maintain acceptable levels of deviance. If society is broken, crime increases. This is dangerous for society and leads to regression.

Anomie theory

Anomie is a state of lawlessness. In order to understand what this theory is, it is important to consider Durkheim's theory of anomie.

The French sociologist argued that deviant behavioral reactions and crime are completely normal phenomena. After all, if there is no such behavioral reaction in society, then, consequently, society is under control to the point of painfulness. When crime is eliminated, progress stops. Lawless behavior is the price that has to be paid for the active anthropogenesis of social transformation.

Durkheim's theory of anomie is based on the premise that a society without crime is unthinkable. After all, if a person stops performing actions that are considered illegal in modern society, then some “fresh” types of behavioral reactions will have to be classified as criminal actions. Durkheim argued that “crime” was indestructible and inevitable. The reason for this lies not in the weakness and natural anger of man, but in the existence of an endless variety of behavior in society. The unity of human society can only be achieved by exerting conformist pressure on this variety of behavioral responses. Such pressure can be ensured by punishment.

Social norm and social anomie, according to Durkheim, are the most important social phenomena, since crime is a factor in the healthy state of society, and without a social norm it cannot exist. In a society without crime, the pressure of social consciousness would be so sharp and intense in its force that no one would be able to resist it. A decrease in crime entails a loss of society's ability to move along the path of progressive development. Criminals are agents of anomie, pawns who lead society into a new turn, not parasites, people unable to go through the process of socialization, not alien elements in society.

Durkheim argued that in a society where there is sufficient human unity and social cohesion, there will be little crime. When social solidarity is destroyed and the isolation of its constituent elements increases, deviant behavior and, consequently, crime increases. This is how anomie arises, as Durkheim believed.

In the problem of maintaining social solidarity, punishment of criminals, according to Durkheim, is of great importance. A correct understanding of the “laws” of decency and honesty is the most important primary source of the unity of society. To preserve the love of the average citizen for this social structure, it is necessary to punish the criminal element. Without the threat of punishment, the average person may lose his deep attachment to a particular society and his willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to maintain that attachment. In addition, the punishment of a criminal serves as visible social confirmation of his “social ugliness.”

Overcoming anomie is largely characterized by dependence on the specific cause of anomie and the type of conflict that caused it. When society is unable to create a new normative value system or elevate some particular system to the rank of universal, it turns to the past, looking for a basis for solidarity in it.

In sociology, the phenomenon of anomie was studied not only by Durkheim, but later it was significantly developed by the American sociologist Merton. According to his concept, anomie is an orientation of individual citizens and social situations that does not correspond to the goals set by the culture of society. According to Durkheim, the phenomenon described means the inability of society to control the natural impulses and desires of individuals. Merton, in turn, believed that the aspirations of many subjects are not necessarily “natural”, but are often determined by the enlightened actions of society itself. The social system limits the ability of individual social groups to satisfy their own aspirations. “It “squeezes” certain individuals into society, forcing them to act illegally.

Merton viewed anomie as the breakdown of the control system of individual desires, resulting in a person wanting more than he could achieve within a particular social structure. He notes that the phenomenon described arises from the inability of many citizens to conform to norms that they fully accept, and not from the presence of freedom of choice.

An example of anomie is the structure of modern American society, in which all citizens are focused on wealth, and those who cannot legally achieve financial well-being do so through illegal means. Thus, to a large extent, deviance depends on the set of institutional means and the presence of cultural goals that a particular actor follows and from which he benefits.

The state of anomie is an absolute discrepancy between declared and civilized goals and socially organized means of achieving them. In relation to an individual member of society, anomie means the uprooting of his moral principles. At the same time, a person loses all sense of tradition and continuity, loses all obligations. The connection with society has been destroyed. Thus, without updating spirituality and moral guidelines, a radical transformation of society, and the development of new values ​​and norms, overcoming anomie is impossible.

The phenomenon of anomie has been considered by many sociologists

The concept of anomie and attempts to modify it

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The main function of sociology is social diagnostics and social therapy. Sociology, on the basis of a social symptom and syndrome, must make an accurate diagnosis of social diseases, social pathology and, based on this, outline ways and methods of healing, as a result of which it will become possible to overcome social pathology.

Man is a social being and lives in society. In society he realizes his essential powers. It is in a healthy society that a person finds an existence that corresponds to his essence. It is the incompatibility of essence and existence that is the main indicator of a person’s alienation, his painful state. A person is then real when he has an existence corresponding to his essence. The category of reality is precisely “the direct unity of essence and existence” (Hegel).

Society is a complex structure. This structure is created by people. For their part, the structures of society influence a person. Social structures determine a person’s position in society, but what should they be? What should be the parameters of the structure in order for the maximum realization of [250] reasonable essential human powers to become possible? The main task of sociology should be to answer these questions, and it is in this that the humanistic function of sociology should be revealed.

One form of social pathology is social anomie. In modern sociology, great importance is attached to the concept of anomie, the roots of which are found in the depths of the 25-century past. In ancient Greek, anomos means "illegal", "outside the norm", "unruly". (This term is found in Euripides, Plato, in the 16th century - in the French philosopher and sociologist Jean Marie Guyot and in the works of other thinkers). In sociology, it is believed that this term was introduced by E. Durkheim. Therefore, it is necessary to at least briefly present his views and the place of this concept in the categorical system of Durkheim’s teaching. Considering the problem of the relationship between society and the individual, he argues that man is a dual being, since in him a physical person is combined with a social person. The latter necessarily requires a society, the spokesman of which is himself, and which he is obliged to serve. The behavior of an individual completely depends on the cohesion and strength of society, therefore, if society is in a state of crisis, social regulations lose their meaning for the individual, which results in unbridled desires and passions. Durkheim calls this state of society anomie. He considered the capitalist society of his time to be in a state of anomie. “The crisis and state of anomie in the industrial world are not only constant phenomena, but even, one might say, normal.”

Durkheim's views on anomie were significantly developed and modernized by R. Merton. Merton also sees the reason for the emergence of anomic situations in certain conditions of the human environment, which he understands, on the one hand, as a social structure, and on the other, as a cultural structure. Cultural structure is a set of those values ​​and norms that indicate the behavioral orientation of certain members of society or groups; and by social structure is meant [251] that complex of social relationships in which the members of a society or group exist. According to Merton, anomie is the result of disagreement and conflict between “culture” and “social structures.” Anomie expresses a social situation where people cannot achieve their goals by legal means, and, due to this, they ignore said means, trying to achieve the goal through illegal means. The process corresponding to this is called deviation, i.e. it is not a process resulting from a conflict between socially recognized goals and the means to achieve them. The anomic situation is also aggravated by the decline in individual respect for legal and moral norms.

Merton classifies the main responses to the effects of anomie - people's acceptance or non-acceptance of the goals of society, the methods of their implementation, or both at the same time.

According to Merton's scheme, total submission—conformism—implies agreement with social goals and legitimate means of achieving them. A well-educated young man finds a prestigious job and rises up the career ladder; he is the personification of this model of behavior, since he sets financial success as his goal and achieves this through legal ways and means. It must be taken into account that conformity is the only way of non-deviant behavior. R. Merton also probably feels well that conformism is not an expression of deviation from the norm and law, but, on the contrary, adaptation to them and, as he himself notes, action in the name of achieving one’s own goals based on adaptation to existing norms and laws. It can be assumed that Merton introduced conformism into the forms of deviation precisely because “strengthening”, “petrification”, etc. official norms and laws create a situation of stagnation in society. Under such conditions, individual freedom is also limited. The situation of stagnation cannot last long, since many other factors will still cause the movement of society in the natural-historical direction, including other forms of deviation. During this process, fossilized or standardized norms and laws are discarded [252] and destroyed. In other words, collapsing laws and rules themselves become one of the forces changing the social situation. (Here it can be noted that Erich Fromm actually excludes conformity from forms of deviation, but we will talk about this in more detail below).

The second possible reaction is called innovation, which implies agreement with social goals, but denial of socially accepted rules for achieving them. The “innovator” uses new illegal means of achieving wealth - blackmail, racketeering, or commits the so-called. “a white collar crime of embezzlement of other people’s money.

The third reaction, called ritualism, involves the denial of social goals, but acceptance (sometimes absurd) of the use of socially accepted means. A fanatically dedicated bureaucrat insists that every form be carefully checked and filed in quadruplicate. In the end, he becomes a victim of the merciless bureaucratic system and usually ends his life in complete despair, suppressed only by alcohol. As a result, he abandons the originally intended goal - material well-being.

The fourth reaction, called retreatism, is observed when a person rejects socially recognized goals and means at the same time. The most obvious evidence of retreatism is people who find themselves outside of society - tramps, alcoholics, drug addicts, the mentally ill, etc.

And finally, rebellion, like retreatism, is associated with the simultaneous denial of socially recognized goals and means. But, at the same time, it causes the formation of new, socially recognized means and goals. Based on the rebellion, a new ideology is formed (it can be revolutionary), which creates new goals and means, for example, a system of socialist property that expels private owners and is considered by the rebels to be more legitimate than the previously existing goals and means. [253]

In connection with the rebellion, the point of view of E. Fromm is interesting. He identifies an authoritarian type of people, characterized by a tendency to resist all power and influence. “Sometimes this opposition obscures the whole picture so much that the tendency to submit becomes invisible. Such a person constantly rebels against all authority, even against that which acts in his interests and does not apply repressive measures at all.” Fromm considers the rebelliousness of people of this type to be a hereditary property. He identifies a type who is in an ambivalent relationship to power. These are people who fight against one system of power and, at the same time, obey a second system (at least only in their own minds), which, due to its power and promises, perhaps satisfies their masochistic tendencies. “Finally, there is a type in which the rebellious tendencies are completely suppressed and appear only during the weakening of conscious control.”

It should be noted that Merton’s concept is also of great importance because it “considers conformity and deviation in the form of two bowls of the same scales, and not as separate categories” (N. Smelser). It also points out that deviation is not the result of an absolutely negative attitude towards generally accepted standards, as many claim. A thief will not ignore a socially accepted means of achieving financial success. The bureaucrat who practices ritualism does not refuse to apply the generally accepted rules of work; he performs them in too much detail, leading to the point of absurdity. However, the behavior of these two people is deviant.

Merton did not formulate these forms of deviation unexpectedly. Previously, he unilaterally destroyed the categorical-conceptual apparatus of structural-functional analysis: unlike his colleagues, he contrasted the concept of function with the concept of dysfunction, thereby preparing the basis for the transition to the concept of anomie. Merton believed that functionalism should focus on the dynamic rather than the static side of social reality; therefore he must examine both function and dysfunction, i.e. both sources of stability and foundations of social change. [254]

In sociology, Merton's formulation of the concept of anomie is not the last word. Parsons expanded Merton's typology of adjustment by using three variables instead of two and describing eight types of deviant behavior. Parsons explains the emergence of deviant motivations by failure to fulfill expectations. The orientation can be “accommodative” or “alienated.” An “adaptive active” orientation leads to innovation, an “adaptive passive” orientation leads to ritualism, an “alienated active” orientation gives rise to rebellion, and an “alienated passive” orientation leads to relapse. Parsons' third variable is the attitude towards "social goals" (people and groups).

American sociologist Robert Dubin also modified Merton's concept. He contrasted institutionalized norms with the actual behavior of individuals and groups. Dubin expanded the typology of deviant adaptations to a fourteen-member scheme of the sphere of ritualism.

There is also the so-called the individual-psychological direction of anomie, according to which the anomic position of individuals is directly related to the anomic position of the social system, although for analytical purposes they are separated. This is reflected in the terminology: to denote “social” anomie, the Durkheimian version of this word (anomie) is used; for “psychological” - the term “anomia”, proposed by the American sociologist Leo Sroul.

Robert McKiver, David Riesman and Leo Sroul developed the psychological concept of anomie. According to McKiver, "social anomie" is a "state of mind" in which the sense of social cohesion - the driving force of an individual's morality - is weakened or completely destroyed; Anomie is “the destruction of the individual’s sense of belonging to society.” “A person is not restrained by virtue of his moral standards; for him there are no longer any moral standards. He lost his sense of heredity and duty, the ability to sense the existence of other people. An anomic person becomes spiritually sterile; he is responsible only to himself. He is skeptical [255] about the life values ​​of others. His only religion is the philosophy of negation. He lives only by immediate sensations, he has neither a future nor a past.” McKiver attributes this phenomenon "to three problematic characteristics of modern democratic society"—cultural conflict, capitalist competition, and the rapid pace of social change. Accordingly, he distinguishes three types of anomie as states of consciousness of individuals. Individuals are anomic:

1. When their life is aimless due to a lack of values, which, in turn, is the result of conflicting clashes between different cultures and value systems: “By losing the compass that shows the way to the future, they lose the future.”
2. When they use their own strengths and capabilities only for themselves, this is the result of a loss of moral orientation in a society of capitalist competition.
3. When they are isolated from meaningful human relationships and connections, “devoid of the soil of former values.”

David Rimsen views anomie as synonymous with rejection. He divides individuals who do not correspond to the character of the era into “autonomous” and “anomic” types. The first has the ability to adapt to the behavioral norms of his own society; Anomic individuals, on the other hand, correspond to behavioral norms that differ from the prevailing ones.

Leo Sroul suggests measuring the psychological feeling of anomie individually. He identifies five dimensions of anomie and presents them on a five-point scale that includes the areas of politics, culture, economics, internalized social norms and values, and “primary” attitudes towards others. Questions concern:

1. the individual’s feeling that public leaders are distant from him and indifferent to his needs;
2. the individual’s pessimistic perception of the social system as predominantly fragile and unpredictable;
3. such a view of the individual, according to which he and others like him retreat back from already achieved goals; [256]
4. the individual’s feelings of purposelessness in life;
5. feelings that the network of relationships of the individual is not predictable and lacks support.

Srawl recognizes that individual psychological anomie is determined by social anomie, but, along with this, he points to the importance of causal relationships.

Also noteworthy are the attempts of the so-called. empirical dimension of anomie, which are mainly associated with the names of Bernard Lander and Leo Sroul. Lander found that “the anomic factor is areas of “comparative non-rationing” and social instability.” Mayer and Bell looked at the impact of socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, and other factors on anomie and concluded that anomie depends on the “opportunity to achieve life goals.”

As we have seen, today there is no single definition of the concept of “anomie”. This is explained by the multi-level nature of the social phenomenon of anomie:

1. micro-, macro- and average (meso level);
2. cognitive, affective (“subjective” aspect) and conative (“objective” aspect) levels.

Their intersection alone gives eight meanings, and the heterogeneity of social processes doubles this number.
The main attention should be paid not so much to attempts to modify the concept of anomie, but to fundamental changes in its content. These changes do not always flow from theoretical dialogue. For example, we cannot claim that E. Fromm is familiar with Merton’s version of the concept of anomie and seeks to clarify its content, but in a number of cases his views on such a concept similar to conformism, such as bureaucracy, make us think that Merton’s recognition of conformity as a form of deviation , i.e. the source of the anomic circumstance is not entirely convincing. This is confirmed by Fromm’s opinion about the so-called. "herd conformism" Fromm believes that as long as a person does not deviate from the norm, he is the same as others, is recognized by others as one of [257] them and feels like “I.” The feeling of a person’s own “self-identity” in this situation is equated to a feeling of conformity.

Of great value is the analysis according to which individual anomie is caused by social anomie, although it does not exclude the role of imperfect moral or legal norms and laws in the emergence of anomie. On the contrary, this was noted by Jean Marie Guyot, Herbert Spencer and others. For example, Spencer is so critical of legislators and the state that, in essence, he excludes their role in the progress of social organization and society as a whole. Spencer's views are of great importance not only for the theoretical solution to the problem of anomie, but also for the practical solution to the problem of deepening the anomic processes of our time. And, indeed, it is quite painful, from the point of view of the moral or legal strength of society, for the legislators and moralists themselves to ignore norms and laws, even at the parliamentary level. This creates and spreads mass disrespect for norms and laws, condones deviations from them, giving rise to a transition from the facts of individual anomie to a system of social anomie, or, on the scale of the entire society, to the unity of multiple expressions of social anomie.

Anomie, as a phenomenon reflecting social vices, is of serious concern to non-sociological thinkers. For example, K. Wolf o. According to R. Gilbert, “anomie is a tendency to social death; in its aggravated forms it means the death of society.”

Fromm, in his views on a “sick society,” points to the global danger of anomie. The idea of ​​Fromm's main humanistic work is that the main indicator of the disease of society is indifference to the human person. In this regard, one can also evaluate the anomic results presented by Fromm in the concepts of “narcissism”, “necrophilia”, “sadism”, “masochism”, etc. It is clear that the foundations of these psychopathological [258] deviations are not in the people themselves, but in public structures. (Here it should be noted that the grounds for deviations should not be sought in violations of mental, moral or legal norms, their shortcomings or imperfections. For example, the basis of theft as an anomic phenomenon is not the weakness of the law acting against it, but those social conditions that give rise to theft) .

It can be noted that fans of the teachings of R. Merton, comparing the views of these two thinkers, give a clear advantage to Merton (for example, N. Pokrovsky), but Fromm, with no less force than G. Spencer and the same Merton, denounces the anti-human depravity of a sick society.

Finally, the contribution made by Fromm to the expansion of the concept of anomie can be considered the development of its psychopathological aspect, thanks to which he continued the Durkheim tradition of searching for the psychological aspect of the concept of anomie, which, in essence, was rejected by R. Merton.

If this view is acceptable, then we can conclude that E. Fromm paid attention to the natural aspect of anomie, while Merton and his associates focused more on the fact of the existence of anomic deviations caused by subjective activity, i.e. on deviations from moral and legal norms. Moral and legal norms, as is known, are not only the product of the realization of the objective needs of society, but also the result of the creativity of subjects - legislators and moralists.

Durkheim's Anomie Theory

Durkheim was the first sociologist to introduce the term “anomie” into social science. In his book The Division of Labor in Society, the sociologist argues that social life arises from the division of tasks among different members of a community. In general, such division generates solidarity between social groups, but in some cases it can lead to the opposite result...

According to Durkheim, when the division of labor does not lead to natural solidarity, it is because the necessary conditions for its emergence have not been created. It is in such cases that a state of anomie can arise.

Thus, anomie would be typical of societies in which work is so specialized that those involved have no sense of belonging. Currently, workers do not understand the rules of the production process, and conflicts may arise between workers and their managers.

Various reasons

For Durkheim, however, the division of labor is not the only cause of anomie. This condition usually occurs as a result of very rapid social changes, such as an economic or political crisis, or the disappearance of traditional values.

In such cases, society will try to adapt to new conditions, but will not be able to do so, and therefore a deficiency of moral regulation may arise.

In moments of social crisis, people have no values ​​to guide them, so they will seek their own pleasures….

This will lead to a lack of discipline among the population and the emergence of new appetites and desires that in other times would be considered insane.

Anomie and suicide

Durkheim was particularly concerned about what he called "atomic suicide"; that is, suicide, which is provoked by the loss of values ​​and boundaries of human passions.

The sociologist believed that unbridled desires are by definition insatiable, which leads to great dissatisfaction with people's lives.

On the other hand, having lost the moral compass of society in times of anomie, people will feel that their lives have no meaning. This, coupled with the economic crisis situations that occur during this time, will cause a large portion of the population to commit suicide.

This problem was so important to Durkheim that he dedicated an entire book to it, which he simply called Suicide.

Ravochkin Nikita Nikolaevich

Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy

Kuzbass State Technical University named after. T.F. Gorbachev

Analysis of the social phenomenon “anomie”

The main contradictions in the philosophical understanding of the concept of anomie have always been associated with a certain eclecticism and fragmentation of the scientific understanding of this phenomenon. The point is that the accumulated theoretical and empirical material has not reached the level where the general conclusions of this phenomenon could develop into new fundamental knowledge.

From a philosophical point of view, anomie, as a complex and relevant phenomenon, cannot be comprehended with the help of a limited interpretation, since it affects the relationship between a changing society and the individual, not limited to sensory manifestations.

Anomie

(French anomie - absence of law, organization) is a
philosophical and sociological
concept that is used to designate a state of society in which there is instability in regulatory relations between individuals and society, or such relations are completely absent. This leads to the fact that most of the population finds itself outside of society, in an indifferent state towards it. With a sufficiently sharp change in social ideals and values, certain social groups are removed from society, placing their values ​​(usually illegal) above historically established ones.

As a philosophical and psychological

concept, anomie characterizes a state of uncertainty of the social concept of norms, rules and principles. As a result, a situation of distrust of generally accepted ideas, principles and dogmas arises. Involuntarily, even the fact of a lack of common sense is admitted.

The term “anomos” - anomie, which denoted such concepts as “lawless”, “uncontrollable”, was used back in Ancient Greece. For Euripides, anomie symbolized lack of norms. Which he considered as the fundamental principle of the cruelty of existence. Plato saw anomie as a manifestation of excess and anarchy. By this concept he understood injustice, the absence of limits to what is permitted, disorder. Similar thoughts can be found in religious teachings. For example, in the Old Testament, anomie was associated with sin and depravity, in the New Testament - with lawlessness.

The final consolidation of the concept of “anomie” in science is associated with the names of Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton. It is worth noting that in modern sociological literature there are two different spellings and pronunciations of the term “anomie” - anomie and anomia. This difference is fundamental, since it allows us to analyze abnormal states both from the individual and from the side of social communities.

The term "anomie" was used by Durkheim and Merton to describe a state of social disorder as applied to communities large and small. At that time, the American sociologist Leo Sroul proposed the concept of “anomia”, which goes back to its Greek pronunciation as a designation for a state of individual deprivation.

Anomie, according to Durkheim, is an anomalous social form, the result of an inability to completely move from the mechanical solidarity characteristic of pre-modern societies to the organic solidarity that is the hallmark of modern society.

It is based, in part, on Thomas Hobbes's theory that there are no "natural" limits to human desires and ambitions. Therefore, restrictions of social origin are so necessary. The state of anomie is characteristic of a society in which there are no such social restrictions.

Durkheim comes to the conclusion that anomie has a destructive effect on society, which leads to social unrest.

This problem was posed by Durkheim in his book “On the Division of Social Labor,” where, by analyzing the “abnormal” forms of this division, the essence of anomie was highlighted. According to his understanding, a state of anomie arises when the division of labor contradicts the relations of solidarity, as a result of which the associated spontaneously established set of rules is unable to regulate the relations of social structures.

But the state of anomie can also be used to characterize an individual who is in a state of conflict with society.

In his scientific work Suicide, Durkheim examines the relationship between the number of suicides and social situations in which social anomie can be distinguished. It was in this work that the main social and socio-psychological causes of suicide were revealed - the results of the formation of anomie: loss of social connections, depression, loss of social status, family troubles, disappointment in life prospects.

For example, Durkheim studies the correlation between the rate of suicide in a society and the rate of divorce in that society.

Durkheim identified three types of suicide:

1) selfish;

2) altruistic;

3) anemic.

The latter tend to increase during socio-economic crises and disasters, when individuals cannot quickly adapt to a rapidly changing social situation. There is an opinion that anomie is one of the factors of public health or ill health.

According to Durkheim, by generating systematic deviations from social norms, anomie prepares and accelerates the processes of change in society. And the fact that anomie began to be a term of academic theoretical sociology confirms, in particular, that in the society of the 20th century the boundary between norm and pathology is gradually erased.

Along with Durkheim, Robert Merton made a significant contribution to the development of the concept of “anomie”.

The essence of Merton's theory of cultural anomie is based on his own interpretation of Durkheim's theory of anomie. His theory suggests that anomie is social situations and orientations of individuals that do not correspond to goals determined by the culture of society.

Merton introduced a system of concepts describing the phenomenon of deviant behavior. According to Merton, deviant behavior can be characterized as a type of inconsistency between the individual’s chosen means of achieving goals and socially organized, legal means of achieving them.

At the heart of his concept is the view that the anomie accompanying this contradiction forces an individual or group to look for other, illegal ways to satisfy needs, bypassing institutionalized means of achieving goals. Moreover, when speaking about illegal ways to achieve a goal, Merton does not only mean crime as such. He understands illegality more broadly - as a deviation from normative means, including innovative methods, and any other contradictions with existing norms. And yet, the main type of manifestation of anomie is crime in its various forms.

Cultural anomie in society leads to an increase in crime, antisocial behavior, and a decrease in the importance of values ​​and norms, i.e. to the “barbarization” of society.

Merton identified two types of inconsistency between elements of social structure:

1) A situation where the choice of alternative ways to achieve goals is not limited in any way, i.e. Any means and ways to achieve these goals are permitted.

2) A situation when activity to achieve goals becomes an end in itself.

In this case, it turns out that the original goals are forgotten and the ritualistic commitment to institutionally prescribed behavior takes on the character of a genuine obsession.

Merton's theory of anomie began to be used in studies of deviant behavior. Whenever cultural anomie occurs, that is, when there is a gap between goals and socially approved means, four scenarios are possible:

1) “Innovation” - various crimes or other means of achieving approved goals condemned by society.

2) “Ritualism” is the attempt to achieve approved means without the prospect or expectation of success.

3) “Retreatism” - the individual’s choice of a way to achieve a goal.

4) “Rebellion” - the desire of society to change the system.

An example of Mertonian anomie is the social conditions in Russia in the early 90s of the 20th century, when organized crime flourished. Sometimes there are claims that anomie is an example of conformist behavior. This is not so, since conformist behavior presupposes the adherence of the entire social group to certain norms of behavior, and in conditions of social anomie, norms and values ​​begin to lose their significance. Therefore, it is important not to forget that anomie is not an example of conformist behavior.

It is worth noting the developments of R. McKiver, D. Riesman and L. Sroul. McKiver links anemia to three problematic characteristics of modern democratic societies:

1) A conflict of cultures - when there are no values ​​in an individual’s life.

2) Capitalist competition - when one’s own strengths and capabilities are used only for oneself.

3) The rapid pace of social change - when there is complete isolation from significant human relationships and connections.

Riesman understands anomie as rejection. He divides the eras of individuals as follows:

1) autonomous – adaptation to the norms of one’s own society.

2) anemic – correspond to standards that differ from the prevailing norms.

L. Sroul proposed an individual measurement of the feeling of anomie. He identified five parameters of anomie:

1) The individual’s perception of the indifference of public leaders to his needs.

2) The individual’s negative perception of the social system as immaculate and unpredictable.

3) Such an individual’s view when there is a retreat back from already achieved goals.

4) Lack of purpose in an individual’s life.

5) Feelings that the individual's relationships are not considered and lack support.

To summarize, it can be noted that anomie, as a complex of various analytical judgments and conclusions, is completely displayed on the basis of philosophical categories. Having passed many years of historical milestones, the question of the philosophical meaning of the concept of anomie has not lost its significance. It constantly expands the range of social deviations and corresponding methods of social cognition.

Literature:

1. Bakshtanovsky V.I. Principles of moral choice. - M.: Knowledge, 1974. -64 p.

2. Durkheim E. On the division of social labor. M.: Mysl, 1994.

3. Durkheim E. Suicide: A Sociological Study / Trans. from fr. with abbr.; Ed. V.A. Bazarova. M., 1994. - 339 p.

4. Merton R. Social structure and anomie // Sociology of crime: Modern bourgeois theories. M, 1966. P. 309.

5. https://www.bibliofond.ru [Electronic resource]

6. https://freqlist.ru [Electronic resource]

7. https://www.philosophydic.ru [Electronic resource]

Merton's Anomie Theory

Robert Merton wrote one of the most famous articles in all of sociology in the 1940s, in which he analyzed the concept of "deviance" and the reasons for its occurrence in various societies...

In his opinion, deviation is an individual’s violation of social norms; this disruption can be either good or bad.

Merton uses his concept of anomie to explain why Western societies have more deviant behavior than others and to examine differences in the incidence of deviance depending on race, ethnicity, or social class.

Merton points to the United States of his time as an example of a culture that had more deviance due to a situation of anomie. In this society, much attention is paid to achieving material success, but there are no clear moral rules on how to achieve it.

For example, Merton argues that just as great investors or entrepreneurs are admired, so too are criminals who break the law and make a fortune through theft or robbery are admired in American culture. In the United States of his time, he said, success was much more important than virtue.

On the other hand, it was not equally easy for all people in this society to achieve material success. For example, a person born into a humble family will not have access to the resources needed to become a great entrepreneur. Therefore, he will suffer the consequences of the discrepancy between the goals imposed by society and his daily reality.

To confront this reality, people can use a variety of strategies, from conformity to rebellion.

Different scientists have looked at anomie from different angles

Aberrant deviation

It involves accepting the goals imposed by society, but trying to achieve them by breaking the rules (means).

Rebellious deviation

Rules are broken, social goals are not envisaged, but there is also no alternative.

Nonconformist deviation

Both goals and social norms are rejected, but an alternative is offered. Sometimes it's about reforming the entire system.

According to Merton, three types of deviance arise when social goals cannot be achieved by means that society considers legitimate. This can happen in a situation of anomie, so such a situation will be the immediate cause of social deviation.

Anomie Merton

R. Merton is a follower of I. Durkheim. The sociologist continued to study the phenomenon and concept of anomie. In this regard, R. Merton included the following key points in his definition of value destruction:

• the contradiction between the goals, desires, needs of the majority of members of society and the means that are offered to them (society does not accept them), i.e. the ends not only do not justify the means, but even contradict them;
• the influence of social norms tends to zero (people are uncontrollable, norms do not regulate their behavior).

Thus, according to Merton's theory of anomie, this phenomenon is caused by the contradiction between the goals (norms) of society and the means available to the individual. For example, a person accepts the idea of ​​wealth, success, prosperity, but cannot get a good education and find a prestigious job because he was born into a poor family and does not have the means for this. Then he chooses another way to achieve the same goal - crime (robbery, fraud, deception, extortion, begging, etc.) Inequality is one of the causes of anomie, according to Merton.

However, this does not always lead to deviation. Merton identifies 5 reactions to the “end-means” contradiction within the framework of the concept of anomie, 4 of which lead to deviation:

• Conformism - compliance with the goals and means proposed by the norms (does not cause deviations);
• innovation - finding new ways to achieve the proposed goals (prostitution, fraud, blackmail, theft, drug trafficking, etc.)
• ritualism - denial and belittlement of goals and the use of proposed methods (the means become an end in themselves);
• Retrovisionism - denial of goals and means, lack of suggestion (drug addicts, alcoholics, tramps);
• Rebellion is the denial of goals and means, the proposal of alternatives (political and revolutionary movements, subcultures, sects, social movements).

Decay, decay and crime

It has already been noted that anomie is predominantly studied by sociology; in sociology, Durkheim, for example, identified this concept with the state of a decaying and degrading society, where there are no norms that previously acted as guarantors of social order. Most often, anomie manifests itself as:

• Instability of social norms.
• The impossibility of morality to influence society.
• Lack of regulators of people's behavior during critical periods.

Further, this concept of anomie was somewhat refined by R. Merton. He, like his predecessor, argued that anomie is a completely natural phenomenon, which is caused by the destruction of ethical standards.

If the old moral standards are outdated or simply ceased to be perceived by some part of society, and they are not replaced by new principles, values ​​are replaced, and people often begin to behave illegally. Moreover, the phenomenon of anomie and deviant behavior can be observed in all layers of society, but still, first of all, it is inherent in the younger generation.

It turns out that having lost generally accepted norms, a person chooses his own style of behavior and often becomes a criminal. Moreover, the sociological approach to the phenomenon of crime is very interesting.

We recommend: Assertive behavior is

For example, Durkheim considered it a completely normal phenomenon that does not allow society to stop in its development. And this phenomenon is almost impossible to eradicate - even if society gets rid of maniacs, robbers, killers, etc., then soon criminal acts will appear again, but they will be somewhat different, ones that did not exist before.

If there are no criminals, then there will be no wrong role model of behavior in society, which is necessary in order for normal members of society to form. And at the same time, Durkheim noted that the intensity of antisocial behavior grows regardless of the political state of society or the level of development of its economy, if two basic conditions are met:

• In society there is an ideal of some common good introduced for everyone.
• Most of society has no legal means of achieving the ideal.

Anomie Parsons

American psychologist T. Parsons argued that anomie is caused not by the contradiction of goals and means, but by freedom of choice. The norms of individual institutions are so contradictory that people begin to choose one group and limit themselves to it. Groups change very often. As a result, people are in an unstable state, they do not have a stable perception of reality as a whole, they do not have stable relationships with other institutions, groups, the state and society. This leads to deviations.

Anomie Srawl

Psychologist L. Small was the first to study anomie from a psychological point of view, since before that he considered it only as social anomie. Stroul studied this phenomenon at the individual level. According to the theory of anomie in psychology, the destruction of moral norms and values ​​leads to a breakdown in cohesion with society and the emergence of a desire for self-destruction through addictions (physical and moral).

There are many examples of deviant behavior in our lives.

Manifestations of anomie

Social anomie has three manifestations:

1. Uncertainty, instability, contradictory norms and values. The government says to focus on one thing, but creates conditions for people to focus on something else.
2. Ineffectiveness of rules and regulations. Laws do not apply to a person; they do not influence his behavior.
3. The absence or partial absence of norms at a time when the old value system is destroyed and a new one has not yet been built. A striking example in Russia is the period of the collapse of the USSR.

Anomie manifests itself at all levels and affects all institutions. Recently, it has been especially noticeable in politics, religion, the institution of family, and economics. People do not understand what society expects from them; it is difficult for them to coordinate their actions according to unclear norms.

Examples of anomie

Traditionally, examples of anomie can be divided into large-scale (national) and collective, sometimes individual. Examples of large-scale anomie include wars, revolutions, and the disunity of small states. Collective anomie manifests itself in attempts to influence public opinion: riots, uprisings, new trends for social causes (for example, the “childless” movement). Individual anomies can be defined as anomies manifested in criminal acts, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.

Whether it concerns an individual or society as a whole, everyone involved feels the need for change. In a group, an individual accepts a new idea, which creates the illusion that only through illegal actions can he achieve his goals. However, there are frequent cases of group disintegration after its suppression, which once again confirms the impossibility of achieving goals through illegal means.

Attention should be paid to the influence of the media and parental examples that provoke destructive human behavior. More and more people talk about what is bad rather than about what is good. People began to share their troubles, which further convinced others that they could not trust anyone and be treacherous.

Irreligion also refers to anomie. This phenomenon clearly manifested itself during the reign of faith and religion. Let's remember how women suspected of witchcraft were burned at the stake. Anyone who did not conform to certain social norms had to die, which created the illusion of continued integrity. However, this only led to the fact that the wicked learned to hide or pretend to be believers.

When talking about social norms, it is important to understand that many people are forced to follow them. The more cunning of them have learned to avoid punishment, which is a consequence of committing a criminal act. Anomie is an attempt to adapt to living conditions.

Social anomie

In the course of a fairly dramatic change in the goals and morality of a certain society, some social categories cease to feel that they belong to this society.

The concept of anomie is the process of erosion of the fundamental foundations of culture, in particular ethical standards. The result is the alienation of such categories of citizens. Moreover, they reject new social ideals, norms and morals, including socially proclaimed patterns of behavior. Instead of using generally accepted ways to achieve individual or social goals, they propose their own, often illegal.

The state of anomie, which affects all segments of the population through social upheaval, has a particularly strong impact on young people.

In sociology, anomie is any type of “deviation” in the value-normative system of society. In other words, this state occurs when the existing hierarchy is destroyed and a new one has not yet formed. Until the social forces which stand alone in times of crisis are brought into balance, their comparative value cannot be taken into account, and consequently any regulation becomes untenable for the time being.

Durkheim saw the causes of anomie in the contrast between “fundamental” society and modern industrial society.

The problem of anomie is caused by the transitional nature of the historical period, the temporary weakening of moral regulation of new economic-capitalist relations.

Anomie is a product of an incomplete transition from mechanical unity to organic unity, since the objective basis of the latter (social division of labor) progresses more intensively than it finds moral justification in the collective consciousness.

Factors contributing to the formation of anomie: a collision of two categories of socially generated phenomena (the first is interests and needs, the second is resources to satisfy them). Within the framework of generally accepted orders, the capabilities and needs of individuals were satisfied quite easily, since they were restrained by the corresponding collective consciousness, preventing the development of individualism, personal liberation, and establishing strict limits on what a subject could legitimately achieve in a given social position. Hierarchical (traditional) feudal society was fixed because it set different goals for different strata and allowed each member to feel that his own existence had meaning within a limited, closed strata.

Developments in social processes have caused an increase in "individualization" while at the same time eroding the power of group control and the stable moral boundaries of earlier times. In the new conditions, the degree of individual freedom from traditions, group customs, prejudices, and the availability of individual choice of knowledge and methods of action increases sharply. The relatively free structure of industrial society ceases to determine the life activity of individuals and constantly reproduces anomie, which means the absence of stable life ideals, norms and patterns of behavior, which puts most people in a situation of uncertainty, depriving them of collective unity, a sense of connection with a certain category and society as a whole. All this leads to an increase in deviant and self-destructive behavioral reactions in society.

Anomie is caused by confrontation in society, which is aimed at violating generally accepted rules and prohibitions

state exam / deviations / 5.5

5. Theory of anomie by E. Durkheim and R. Merton.

Definition of anomie. Causes of anomie in society. Anomia and deviant behavior. Types of behavior in a situation of anomie (conformism, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion).

Sociological concepts try to take into account deviation the social and cultural factors that influence and determine human behavior in society. For the first time, a sociological explanation of the essence of deviation was proposed by E. Durkheim, who developed the theory of anomie

(from the Greek anomos - lawless, normless, uncontrollable).
By anomie
he understood a state of society in which there is no clear regulation of people's behavior due to the absence of all sorts of norms and values ​​in society (the old ones have become obsolete, and the new ones have not yet been accepted). In such conditions, indifference, alienation, and distrust of people towards each other are observed, the stability of the family institution is lost, and complete indifference to the activities of the state is expressed. Deprived of goals and meaning in life, people become susceptible to stress and anxiety, which leads to various forms of deviant behavior.

Broadly speaking, anomie

- these are “violations in the value-normative systems of the individual and social groups, the value-normative vacuum, the ineffectiveness of social and, above all, legal norms,” which determine the commission of crimes.

Theory of anomie (E. Durkheim, T. Parsons, R. Merton)—

deviant behavior arises as a result of a large number of conflicting norms, uncertainty in connection with this possible choice of behavior (anomie). R. Merton notes that anomie does not arise from freedom of choice, but from the inability of many individuals to follow norms that they fully accept. For example, in America, everyone strives for wealth; those who cannot achieve this legally (through talent, etc.) achieve it illegally. Thus, deviations largely depend on the cultural goals and institutional means that a particular individual adheres to and uses.

It should be noted that deviant behavior can also have a positive meaning for society. Social deviations can become a means of progressive development, overcoming conservative and reactionary standards of behavior. The boundaries between deviant and non-deviant behavior are fluid in time and space. There is a dependence of forms of deviant behavior on economic, social, demographic, cultural and other factors.

According to Durkheim, anomie is a state of society in which there is decay, disintegration and disintegration of the system of values ​​and norms that guarantee social order. A necessary condition for the emergence of anomie in society is a discrepancy between the needs and interests of some of its members, on the one hand, and the possibilities of satisfying them, on the other. It manifests itself in the form of the following violations:

• vagueness, instability and inconsistency of value-normative prescriptions and orientations, in particular, the discrepancy between the norms defining the goals of activity and the norms regulating the means of achieving them;
• low degree of influence of social norms on individuals and their weak effectiveness as a means of normative regulation of behavior;
• partial or complete absence of normative regulation in crisis, transitional situations, when the old value system is destroyed, and the new one has not taken shape or has not established itself as generally accepted.

Further development of the concept of anomie is associated with the name of Robert Merton.

The concept of anomie expresses a historically determined process of destruction of the basic elements of culture, primarily in terms of ethical norms. With a sufficiently sharp change in social ideals and morality, certain social groups cease to feel their involvement in a given society, their alienation occurs, new social norms and values ​​(including socially declared patterns of behavior) are rejected by members of these groups, and instead of conventional means of achieving individual or social own goals are put forward (in particular, illegal ones). The phenomena of anomie, affecting all segments of the population during social upheavals, have a particularly strong effect on young people.

According to the definition of Russian researchers, anomie is “the absence of a clear system of social norms, the destruction of the unity of culture, as a result of which people’s life experience ceases to correspond to ideal social norms.”

Durkheim concludes that crime is normal

social phenomenon. Its existence means the manifestation of conditions that are necessary for society not to stop in its development, crime prepares the ground for social progress, and only excessive or too low crime is abnormal.

Durkheim believed that even if society somehow manages to rehabilitate or destroy existing criminals (thieves, murderers, rapists, etc.), society will be forced to make other acts criminal that were not previously considered criminal. This is explained by the fact that the criminal represents a negative role model of behavior necessary for the formation of a person as a full-fledged member of society.

This conclusion is quite paradoxical and therefore met with serious opposition from other criminological schools. However, its significance lies in the fact that it explains all the failures of attempts to radically eradicate crime.

Durkheim's ideas were developed by the American sociologist Robert Merton, who, having analyzed the reasons for the growth of crime in American society, concluded that regardless of the class structure of society, its economic, political and other development, the intensity of antisocial behavior will increase if two conditions are met:

• Society is dominated by an ideology that places certain symbols of success, supposedly common to the population as a whole, above all else (in American society, Merton considered wealth to be such a symbol).
• A significant part of the population has no or almost no legal means to achieve the goals set by these symbols.
• It was the theories of social anomie that determined the development and modern character of American criminology.

To explain social deviations, E. Durkheim proposed the concept of anomie. The term "anomie" translated from French means "lack of law or organization." This is a state of social disorganization - a social vacuum, there are no new norms yet, but the old ones have already been destroyed. E. Durkheim emphasized the need to explain various forms of social pathology precisely as social phenomena. For example, the number of suicides depends not so much on the internal properties of the individual, but on the external reasons that control people.

E. Durkheim did not doubt the objective nature of social deviations so much that he asserted the “normality” of crime. In his opinion, there is no other phenomenon that would have such indisputable signs of a normal phenomenon, as crimes are observed in all societies of all types and crime does not decrease as humanity develops.

Thus, E. Durkheim considered social deviations primarily as a consequence of the normative and value disintegration of society. His ideas were further developed in the works of researchers (including V. Pareto, L. Coser), who recognized contradictions between classes and various social forces, for example, innovative and conservative, as the leading causes of deviant behavior.

Not all people (classes) have the same conditions for achieving success, but they can adapt to the contradiction that arises in several ways. As such ways of adaptation, R. Merton identified:

• conformism (full acceptance of socially approved goals and means of their implementation);
• innovation (acceptance of goals, rejection of legitimate ways to achieve them);
• ritualism (inflexible reproduction of given or habitual means);
• retreatism (passive withdrawal from fulfilling social norms, for example in the form of drug addiction);
• rebellion: (active rebellion - rejection of social norms). Conflict between goals and means to achieve them can lead to anomic tension, frustration, and the search for illegal ways to adapt. This circumstance partly explains the relatively high crime rate among lower social strata.

The first type that Merton identified, conformism, is behavior when both goals and means of achieving goals are approved by society. This behavior is not deviant.

The next type is innovation. Here, the goals accepted in society are achieved through the use of any illegal, illegal means. Various economic crimes fall into this category.

The third type is ritualism. In ritualism, the means are quite acceptable, but at the same time they forget about the purpose of any activity. An example is the behavior of officials in a bureaucratic organization, when the implementation of formal rules becomes an end in itself for them, and they forget about the true goals of organizational activity.

Retreatism involves abandoning both socially approved goals and generally accepted means of achieving them. This type includes forms of deviant behavior such as alcoholism and drug addiction.

Another type identified by Merton is rebellion. It is characterized by the rejection of the goals and means proposed by society, while simultaneously replacing them with fundamentally new goals and means. Examples include religious sects and revolutionary parties.

The classification of types of deviant behavior proposed by Merton was quite widely discussed by other sociologists and was used in research.

Total and focal anomia

Depending on the area of ​​social space covered by destructive processes, anomie can be focal or total. After the forces of chaos have left their mark in the past, residual, peripheral forms of anomie always remain in any social system. They are still present in numerous social “niches” of the social system.

Focal anomie, as opposed to complete anomie, has been an integral part of every social system throughout its history.

Focal outbreaks of disorder are necessary for the system to maintain its viability. This is due to the fact that total, complete homogeneity and absolute orderliness make the system fragile and reduce its resistance to external destructive influences. The presence of enclaves of anomie with their characteristic plurality of various deviations creates a wide space of social freedom for active action and energetic self-affirmation of social subjects. It is these hotbeds that turn out to be places where non-standard models of life, various fresh discoveries and social innovations are born.

Is this why the state, its institutions, and power always treat freedom and its various manifestations with distrust? The answer is that they feel a direct connection between freedom and anomie. They believe that freedom is one of the manifestations of chaos, that it can lead to the disintegration of social structures, that it always carries with it the possibility of a transition to permissiveness.

Focal anomie is a form of preserving “niches” of freedom even in the most “closed” systems, where blocks of social institutions are closely connected with each other. The stricter and more total the social control, the more intense the processes in these “niches.”

Civil society plays an important role in preserving such niches. One of its tasks is to maintain the existence of such dictionaries and protect them from destruction by the state machine. Of course, this applies to those centers where forms of anomie are cultivated that are not criminal and do not threaten the life, health or dignity of citizens.

Social norm and social anomie

One of the main concepts in sociology is a social norm, which is considered as a mechanism for assessing and regulating the behavioral reactions of individuals, categories and social groups. Social norms are prescriptions, attitudes, and expectations of appropriate (socially approved) behavior. Norms are certain ideal patterns that define what people should say, think, feel and do under certain conditions. The system of norms operating in a given society forms a single whole, the individual structural elements of which are interdependent.

Social norms are the obligations of one person to another or to the social environment. They determine the formation of a network of social relations of a group or society. Social norms are also the expectations of groups of different sizes and society as a whole. The surrounding society expects certain behavior from every person who follows these norms. Social norms determine the development of a system of social relations, including motives, ideals, aspirations of the subjects of action, expectations, and evaluations.

The state of society, which consists in the loss by its members of the significance of social attitudes and ideals, which provokes the spread of deviant behavior, is called social anomie. This also shows up:

• In the absence of comparative norms between people and social assessment of one’s own behavior, which gives rise to a state of “lumpenization” and loss of group unity;
• A discrepancy between social goals and the approved means of achieving them, which pushes people towards illegal means of achievement when the goals established by law are unattainable.

Sociologists, comparing the concepts of anomie and deviant behavior, considered the point of intersection of non-compliance by members of society with the norms they themselves established. The fundamental difference between the concepts of anomie and deviation lies in the social scale of the factors that provoked their manifestation. The nature of anomie is much deeper. It is caused by serious social transformations that affect society as a system and its individual members.

Factors in the development of social anomie

The essence of social anomie is the disruption of social order. The following are the factors “thanks to” which social anomie can develop as a phenomenon:

• Natural, political, economic or other shocks, as a result of which a significant part of the population ceased to focus on established norms, abandoned their usual statuses and roles in favor of physical survival.
• Corrosion of values, that is, the blurring of the boundaries between good and evil and moral standards. As a consequence, criticism of things that were important not so long ago, rhetorical questions from society “Are they as important as they were thought?” Disintegration of social integrity.

Social control

When studying the theory of social anomie, one cannot fail to note such a phenomenon as social control. After all, it is he who is called upon to influence the individual and society as a whole in order to regulate public order.

Social control can be divided into two types - internal and external. External is a certain set of mechanisms that guarantee society’s compliance with norms of behavior. It can be formal or informal. An example of formal social control is laws and other legal acts, and informal control is social values ​​and moral norms.

Internal control in sociology is usually called self-control. It works as follows: a person controls his own behavior, based on generally accepted norms. In the process of growing up, each individual learns social rules so well that they are literally absorbed into the subcortex of his brain.

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If it happens that a person is forced to cross a certain line, then subsequently he begins to experience torment of conscience. Let us note that social control, according to scientists, consists of 70% self-control. It turns out that it is the self-awareness of each individual that determines behavior in society as a whole. The higher the level of self-awareness of citizens, the less manifestations of deviant behavior are observed in society. Author: Elena Ragozina

Features and consequences of anomie

Anomie is a detrimental effect on society and the individuals within it. It alienates one thing from another, reduces the entire structure to “nothing.” Dissociality, which is one of the characteristics of anomie, leads to a loss of the ability to regulate members of society with the help of norms and rules, traditions and attitudes. Connections and relationships, the conditions for the existence of society, cease to reproduce and self-reproduce, which leads to its unconditional collapse. Depending on the degree of penetration of anomie into social life, it becomes increasingly difficult to restore its structure.

The manifestations of this process in modern Russia are closely related to the psychological mood of the population and its social state: instability and uncertainty of the future make the situation precarious, and the alternating dominance of attitudes very clearly characterizes today's anomie. The unstable divergence is exacerbated by the inability of authorities to understand the social ties of origin.

Anomie is a natural process for society at any stage of its development

Overcoming anomie

If we go back in time, we can say that overcoming anomie is impossible. At all times, people have tried to create a society that would harmoniously promote the happiness and health of people. However, as long as there is no such system, anomie cannot be overcome.

When overcoming anomie, people often turn to the past: “Life used to be good.” However, in some situations this does not work if people understand that the mechanisms proposed to them will not help eliminate the internal conflict between what is desired and what is achievable.

Until society provides all people with socially acceptable ways to achieve the goals that it itself promotes, people will commit immoral acts. They will be motivated by a desire to change the environment in which the desire or goal will eventually be realized but will be characterized by society as immoral.

As long as there is a conflict between goals (values) and the means to achieve them (means), anomie will exist. Therefore, the only way to overcome it is to correlate goals with the resources available to achieve them. However, this does not take into account the desire “I want more,” which is inherent in a person striving for progress. This means that the goals will always be ahead of the means, i.e. they will not live up to them and will cause anomie.

Anomie in modern society

Modern Russian society is also in a state of instability, where values ​​are being destroyed. People do not feel confident in the future, they do not have time to adapt to rapidly changing guidelines and dominant values, and they experience financial difficulties. The same reorientation occurs from moral values ​​to physical survival. The destruction of values ​​leads to professional degradation of people, disappointment in themselves and life, in their work and loss of self-esteem.

Thoughts that concern modern citizens, especially young people:

• “Hope for a better life has collapsed, there will be no improvement in its quality and level”;
• “My mental health is practically zero, I’m becoming psychotic”;
• “My future and the future of the country is unclear, it’s not worth having children now”;
• “I’m afraid to live, I don’t feel stability or security”;
• “I feel vulnerable, I don’t know what to do or where to go”;
• “I don’t know who I should be, what I should do, I don’t know what I want”;
• “I know what I want, but I don’t know how to achieve it”; “I don’t know how to get it”;
• “Everything is so unclear that it is difficult for a simple person like me to understand what is happening in the country”;
• “Now everything has depreciated, only money, connections, personal success are important”;
• “Everyone lives one day at a time, they don’t think about the future”;
• “I’m not sure of anything and I can’t trust anyone, I can’t trust anyone right now.”

Chaos, apathy, disorientation, market and consumer sentiment, social infantilism, lack of direction and uselessness - this in a nutshell can describe the state of modern society and each individual person. As a result, we already have three so-called lost generations. One of them is about 50 years old, but he still doesn’t understand how to live in this world. The youngest generation is characterized by revolutionary, extremist tendencies. Some of them clearly understand what they want to achieve in life, but they do not care about the interests of the country or the entire society. The middle generation is focused on consumption and market relations. But most of them are consumed by alcohol and drugs, that is, where they are not needed by society.

How to deal with anomie? Search for the cause and the conflict that caused it in order to eliminate it. Choose one of the current systems at that time, or create something completely new, or borrow someone’s ready-made system, for example, by turning to the past.

Origin

Most scientists have wondered and are still asking the question: where does anomie come from, what factors in the development of personality influence the fact that a person becomes “wrong” and violates generally accepted norms. Answering these questions, Durkheim, for example, believed that the concept of anomie is a certain state of society in which there is no necessary moral regulation of people’s behavior.

Or rather, it existed, but lost its relevance, and the new norms have not yet taken root. It turns out that such a society can be called anarchic in some way. People lose faith in each other, and sometimes in themselves, experience constant nervous tension, are subject to stress, and ultimately acquire deviant behavior. A striking example of such a phenomenon as social anomie is the post-perestroika period in Russia - the 90s.

Most scientists believe that the reasons for social anomie are the presence of a large number of social norms that contradict each other, so people - especially the younger generation - experience a kind of “inconsistency”: they do not understand how to behave correctly, and what behavior will be deviant.

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Robert Merton, studying anomie, said that anomie often occurs not when a person has greater freedom of choice, but when he cannot follow certain norms. He considered an example of such behavior to be that all Americans strive for wealth, but not everyone has the opportunity to achieve their goal through legal means. Those who fail to do this begin to do it illegally.

But we cannot exclude the fact that the state of anomie is sometimes useful for society. In particular, this phenomenon can act as a driver of progress, and the boundaries between normal and abnormal behavior are very fluid, both in time and space. Remember, if in the last century our grandmothers could hardly imagine a woman in trousers, today this is quite a common occurrence.