What is anomie?
From the Greek *a-nomos* ("without law"), anomie describes a breakdown or confusion of social norms. Émile Durkheim developed the idea in *The Division of Labour in Society* (1893) and *Suicide* (1897).
📌 At a glance
- Origin
- Greek a-nomos
- Developed by
- Émile Durkheim (1893, 1897)
- Extended by
- Robert K. Merton (1938)
- Core
- Weak regulation of desires and conduct
Durkheim
Durkheim argued that rapid economic change, including sudden prosperity, can leave society unable to regulate individual aspirations. In *Suicide* he identified anomic suicide alongside egoistic, altruistic and fatalistic types.
Merton
Robert Merton (1938) redefined anomie as a gap between culturally emphasised goals and legitimate means, to which people adapt by conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism or rebellion, a foundation of strain theory.
Frequently asked questions
- What is anomie?
- A state of normlessness in which shared rules no longer effectively guide behaviour.
- How do Durkheim and Merton differ?
- Durkheim focused on weakened regulation during rapid change; Merton on the gap between goals and means.
References
- Durkheim, É. (1897). Le suicide: Étude de sociologie. Félix Alcan.
- Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672–682.