What Is Anomie? About This Term In Sociology (Answer)
WHAT IS ANOMIE – In this topic, we are going to know about this term in sociology called anomie or normlessness.
According to Britannica, also spelled anomy in terms of societies or individuals, it is a condition of instability which caused by a breakdown of standards and values or a lack of purpose or ideals.
This was introduced by French sociologist Émile Durkheim in one of his studies. He believed that this resulted from the breakdown of the social standards necessary for regulating behaviour.
When a social system is in this state, common values and meanings are no longer understood or accepted, at the same time, new values and meanings have not developed.
Durkheim also said that such society spawns, in many of its members, psychological states which is described by a sense of futility lack of purpose, and emotional emptiness and despair. Striving is rendered useless since there is no accepted definition of what is considered desirable.
Robert K. Merton, an American sociologist, studied the causes of anomy, further saying that it is in its severest in people who lack an acceptable means of achieving their personal goals.
Goals may become vital that if the institutionalized means (those means acceptable according to the standards of the society) fail, illegitimate means might be necessary.
Greater emphasis on ends rather than means produces a stress that leads to a breakdown in the regulatory structure. The only regulating agencies will be the desire for personal advantage and the fear of punishment, hence, social behaviour would become unpredictable.
