Two models of a Durkheimian explanation of crime rates were subjected to empirical test. One is the static model which posits that in a more complex society the crime rate ought to be higher. This proposition is based on the assumption that in more complex or organic societies the probability of anomie is greater which is reflected in the rate of crime. The research proposition of this model is that there is a direct relationship between the joint effects of the level of population size, population density, urbanization, the division of labor and the rate of crime. The other model, the change model, is concerned with how the transformation of societies influence social behavior. This model is based on the proposition that crime is more likely in those societies or communities in which a greater degree of structural change from mechanical to organic solidarity occurs. The basic research proposition of this model is that there is a direct relationship between the combined action of change in population size; population density, urbanization, the division of labor, and change in the rate of crime. Data concerning crime rates were provided by the Uniform Crime Reports Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and data concerning the independent variables were obtained from the United states Census Bureau volumes. The basic unit of analysis is the county, chosen largely because it encompasses both rural and urban dimensions of a society. Counties were selected according to the availability of the crime rate data. The total number of counties selected in this manner is 300. The basic statistical procedure used is multiple regression analysis. Finite first difference equations were used in testing the change model. The propositions were tested for four time periods: 1940, 1950, 1960, and 1910. The results indicate that the rate of property-theft offenses (i.e., auto theft, robbery, grand larceny) are best predicted by both static and change models. Both models also are most effective in predicting these rates of crime in the more urban counties. The indication, thus, is that the probability of anomie is greater in the more complex (i.e., organic) communities than in the less complex ones (i.e., mechanical). The main factors in the static model in predicting the crime rates are urbanization, population size, and population density, while in the change model population size and population density predominate. The division of labor has very little influence in either model. It is suggested that the models are only supported in part and that a reformulation of a Durkheimian explanation of crime rates is in order. This modification centers on the components of urban life which are more likely to foster an increase in crime. Communities which are smaller and less dense, homogeneous, and mechanical-based are apparently more solidary and as a result have a lower crime rate. It is proposed that this social solidarity is often eroded when such a community experiences an economic and industrial transition. / Ph. D.

Political crime receives little attention by criminologists relative to other forms of crime. What attention that has been given is hindered by lack of theoretical explanations to guide the research efforts, such as atheoretical descriptive accounts or typologies of political criminality. In this thesis, I apply Merton's theory of social structure and anomie to two CIA case studies: MKUltra (1950-1973) mind control/behavior modification experiments, and MHChaos (late 1950s-1974) a domestic counterintelligence program. Anomie theory focuses on the disjuncture between cultural goals and institutional means to achieve end results. I argue that political crimes result when governmental agencies cannot reach their goals using legitimate means. Thus, they find illegitimate means, i.e. unlawful behavior, to obtain their goals. Specifically, the analysis of this thesis examines: (1) how the CIA defined their goals; (2) how the CIA justified the use of their innovative means to achieve the ends; (3) how the structural charter of the CIA facilitated the use of illegitimate means; and (4) how the CIA was able to temporarily dissolve the societal disjuncture of anomie. / Master of Science

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Public Policy and Administration. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 257-272.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Fielding Institute, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-249).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-70). Also available via the Internet.

5 v. (xliv, 1314 p.) A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call numbers: KNIGHT HV6545.D84M3 / Few have perceived that Durkheim entertained two distinct schemas of anomie and egoisme in his classic Suicide. I shall demonstrate that Durkheim shifted on his analytical axes from the notion that the absence of moral discipline generates modern suicides, to the more significant insight that anomie and egoisme are generated by the presence of extreme modern cultural sanctions. Absence/presence, too little/ too much--these are the key analytical axes around which Durkheim's two schemas of suicide revolved. Resting on his image of human nature (homo duplex) as inherently egoistic and insatiable, the first schema concerns the absence of legitimate moral constraint over the pre-social ego in the modern transitional crisis. The second schema, which shifted the original burden of insatiability from the organic half of human nature to modern culture, concerns the presence of cultural sanctions which absolutize individualism and d.rives for "progress and perfection." Only selected parts of the first schema have been perceived and pursued so far by sociologists. In the second schema, all four suicidal types are seen as the "exaggerated or deflected forms of virtues." Both anomie and egoisme proceed from common sources; they differ in their prime mode of expression .. Anomie is active; egoisme passive. When extreme individualism and drives for "progress and perfection" are turned against the external world, we see anomie--the "infinity of desires'--and the collapse of the will in frustration, as seen in suicides in the economic arena. This ethos,is supported by what I shall call the "Anglo Utilitarian Cultural Tradition." Further, when these twin sanctions for absolute individualism and legitimate insatiability are turned inward against the self, we witness egoisme--the "infinity of dreams'--and the collapse of the will and imagination in frustration and exhaustion seen in suicides of artists, poets, and intellectuals. This ethos of angst and the "journey into the interior," in which suicide becomes a vocation, is sanctioned by what I shall call the "Romantic-Idealistic Cultural Tradition." Finally, these ironic and destructive outcomes of some of our highest aspirations are then linked with Weber's work in the sociology of religion and culture. As an "infinity of desires" sanctioned by a dominant modern cultural tradition, anomie is interpreted as the secularized outcome of Protestant "inner-light," "inner-worldly asceticism." As an "infinity of dreams" sanctioned by another dominant contemporary cultural tradition, egoisme is interpreted as the secularized outcome of Protestant "inner-light," "inner-worldly mysticism." These twin expressions of our highest callings and heroic ideals are chronic forms of the "moral anarchy" and "diseases of the infinite" plaguing the modern world. Durkheim's moral philosophy of "human finitude" and health as the "golden mean,'" lead us to recognize, then, that when our virtues are pushed to extremes, they also become, ironically, our special vices. / Adviser: G. Benton Johnson

Using anomie theory, in this paper it is argued that the new generation migrant workers (NGMWs) in China are not only receptors under structures, but also a reactive force towards those structures. However, anomie theory has faced theoretical ambiguities, controversies and misunderstandings. It also lacks the power to explain micro-to-macro relationships. For these reasons, anomie theory is first clarified and refined in this study based on its classical roots. It is then further developed by introducing the concept of social momentum to mend its theoretical lacuna. It is argued that anomie naturally reflects structural discoordination at the macro level, and that deviance and normlessness, although typically seen as indicators of anomie, are only its symptomatic presentations. Furthermore, social momentum, determined by the quantity, solidarity and modes of adaption, reveals the capacity of a social category to influence structural relationships. This study demonstrates that China entered a comparatively anomic age after its economic reform. The NGMWs can be considered as a potential antithesis to anomie in China, as implied by certain qualities of their uniqueness indicated in earlier studies. The NGMWs’ social momentum is analysed according to a field study carried out by the author in 2015 in Shanghai and the 2011 Chinese Social Survey (CSS 2011). The data from the survey and study are used to discuss whether the NGMWs will help to remedy anomie. The findings show that (1) the NGMWs’ social momentum is strong but segmental and fragile due to the primary level solidarity of them, i.e., they lack a strong identity, and (2) the directions of their social momentum can be narrowed to two undetermined modes. The NGMWs tend to aggravate the symptoms of anomie, as they are weakly attached to cultural norms. However, they have an uncertain and not yet fully formed effect on the essence of anomie.

[pt] Suicídio por contágio: a maneira pela qual a imprensa fala da morte voluntária. Partindo da experiência profissional do jornalista, o trabalho relaciona as formulações teóricas de Durkheim com o tipo de tratamento dado pela imprensa contemporânea às pessoas que tiram a própria vida. Fez-se uma leitura das reportagens sobre suicídio publicadas pelo jornal O Globo à luz dos conceitos de egoísmo, altruísmo e anomia. Buscou-se, ainda, estabelecer como a linguagem utilizada se relaciona com comportamentos sociais anteriores e externos à criação dos próprios textos. / [en] Suicide by contagion: the way in which the press talks about voluntary death. Coming from the professional experience as journalist, the work relates Durkheim´s theory with the kind of treatment given by the contemporary press to the people who kill themselves. The features about the subject published in O Globo newspaper in 2004 has been re-read, bearing in mind the concepts of egoism, altruism and anomy. It has been tried to establish as well how the language used relates itself with the social behaviours that are previous and external to the creation of the own texts.

This paper presents a contextual analysis of Joseph Wright of Derby's “scientific series” which contains three paintings with science motifs. The purpose of the essay is to analyze how the contemporary context has been expressed in the paintings with regard to the relationship between religion and science. This is done with a theoretical starting point in the concepts of nomos and anomy. Together this starting point and method create a basis for a broader understanding of these three paintings with a focus on religion and science. My conclusion is that these three paintings express the tense relationship between religion and science that was current in England during the 18th century (and is still found today), and that each painting provides information about the changes that arose in the nomos in correlation to the progress of science. Much research has been made on these three paintings separately, studying these paintings together, however, opens up for many new interpretations.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:22:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Neiva Cristina da Silva Rego Ravagnoli.pdf: 1749917 bytes, checksum: 3a8cf10394d09021e38ac429edc2ea0d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study, a qualitative interpretive research, investigates the manifestation of the anomie state in English teachers and students representations within public schools in São Paulo state. Anomie is the expression of an individual who, upon the absence, conflict, lack of clarity or acknowledgment of norms, rules or laws within the context in which he lives, experiences alienation and lack of purpose. This state is manifested through different individual responses to adaptation or conditioning. Those responses emerge from the confluence of this individual s identity and his representations. As individuals respond that way, they face states of instabilities such as uncertainty, apathy, rejection, inferiority complex, impotence, incapability, disbelief, among others, which compromise the English teaching-learning process. The results of this investigation show that, within the context studied, the manifestation of anomie establishes a social situation characterized by a state of exception of right or Law a state in which the rule law, the right to education of every citizen, guaranteed by law, is voided / Este trabalho, uma pesquisa qualitativo-interpretativista, investiga a manifestação do estado de anomia nas representações de professores e alunos de inglês de escolas públicas no interior do estado de São Paulo. A anomia é a expressão de um estado do indivíduo que, frente à ausência, conflito, falta de clareza ou não conhecimento das normas, regras ou leis do contexto no qual se integra, experimenta um estado de vazio ou indeterminação que se manifesta através de diferentes respostas individuais de adaptação ou condicionamento. Essas respostas emergem da confluência de sua identidade e de suas representações e por fomentarem zonas de instabilidade como, por exemplo, incerteza, apatia, rejeição, sentimentos de inferioridade, impotência, incapacidade, inconformismo, dentre outras, é um estado que pode comprometer o ensino-aprendizagem de inglês. Os resultados desta investigação mostraram que no contexto pesquisado, a manifestação da anomia instaura uma situação social caracterizada por um estado de exceção de direito e de Direito um estado no qual o direito à educação de todo cidadão, garantido constitucionalmente não se perfaz