Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Functionalism (and its structural-functional variant) understands society as a structured system of functionally interconnected elements that contribute to the maintenance of social order. Institutions, roles, and norms are not primarily explained by individual motives or situational meanings, but by the functions they fulfill for stability, integration, and the coordination of action. At the center lies
Anomie theories — frequently subsumed under the broader category of strain theories — are concerned with explaining why violations of social norms and deviant behavior exhibit systematic variations across societies and historical periods. These theories examine the relationship between crime and the structural organization of society, positing that deviance emerges as an adaptive response to
Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) explains crime as the result of an imbalance between cultural values and social institutions. It argues that high crime rates emerge when a strong cultural emphasis on economic success is combined with institutional imbalance. When economic values dominate other social institutions—such as family, education, and politics—social control weakens, leading to higher
Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST) explains crime as a response to strainful experiences that generate negative emotions such as anger and frustration. It extends classical anomie and strain theories by broadening the range of sources of strain and by offering a more nuanced, psychologically informed explanation of how strain leads to crime. While Merton’s
Robert K. Merton’s Anomie Theory expands Émile Durkheim’s concept of anomie by linking deviant behavior to structural inequalities in access to culturally approved goals. First systematically developed in Social Structure and Anomie (1938/1949), the theory explains crime as a socially structured adaptation to blocked opportunities rather than individual pathology. Merton argues that when culturally valued
Anomie is one of the most influential concepts in classical sociology and a foundational theory for understanding the relationship between social structure and crime. Émile Durkheim’s concept of anomie describes a condition of social disintegration that emerges during periods of profound structural change, such as industrialization and the rise of the division of labour. In