Full Description
This sixth volume Advances in Criminological Theory is testimony to a resurgent interest in anomie-strain theory, which began in the mid-1980s and continues unabated into the 1990s. Contributors focus on the new body of empirical research and theorizing that has been added to the anomie tradition that extends from Durkheim to Merton. The first section is a major, 75-page statement by Robert K. Merton, examining the development of the anomie-and-opportunity-struc-ture paradigm and its significance to criminology.The Legacy of Anomie Theory assesses the theory's continuing usefulness, explains the relevance of Merton's concept of goals/means disparity as a psychological mechanism in the explanation of delinquency, and compares strain theory with social control theory. A macrosociological theoretical formulationis used to explain the association between societal development and crime rates. In other chapters, anomie is used to explain white-collar crime and to explore the symbiotic relationship between Chinese gangs and adult criminal organizations within the cultural, economic, and political context of the American-Chinese community.Contributors include: David F. Greenberg, Sir Leon Radzinowicz, Richard Rosenfeld, Steven F. Messner, David Weisburd, Ellen Chayet, Ko-lin Chin, Jeffrey Pagan, John P. Hoffmann, Timothy Ireland, S. George Vincent-nathan, Michael J. Lynch, W. Byron Groves, C. Ray Jeffery, Gilbert Geis, Thomas J. Bernard, Nikos Passas, Robert Agnew, Gary F. Jensen, Deborah V. Cohen, Elin Waring, and Bonnie Berry. The Legacy of Anomie Theory \s important for criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, and other professionals seeking to understand crime and violence in culture.
Contents
Editor's Note, Part One Merton Reflects on Anomie Theory, Opportunity Structure: The Emergence, Diffusion, and Differentiation of a Sociological Concept, 1930s-1950s, Part Two The Legacy of Anomie Theory, 1. Merton versus Hirschi: Who Is Faithful to Durkheim's Heritage?, 2. Continuities in the Anomie Tradition, 3. The Contribution of Social-Psychological Strain Theory to the Explanation of Crime and Delinquency, 4. Salvaging Structure through Strain: A Theoretical and Empirical Critique, 5. Crime and the American Dream: An Institutional Analysis, 6. Ethics and Crime in Business Firms: Organizational Culture and the Impact of Anomie, 7. White-Collar Crime and Anomie, 8. Social Order and Gang Formation in Chinatown, 9. Cloward and Ohlin's Strain Theory Reexamined: An Elaborated Theoretical Model, 10. Synnomie to Anomie: A Macrosociological Formulation, Part Three General Articles, 11. Kristian Georgevich Rakovsky: A Criminological Interlude, 12. Contemporary Criminological Theory and Historical Data: The Sex Ratio of London Crime, 13. Social Reaction and Secondary Deviance in Culture and Society: The United States and Japan, 14. Discrepancies in the Control of Elite and Lower-Status Deviance: A Theory of Multiple Control, 15. In Defense of Comparative Criminology: A Critique of General Theory and the Rational Man, Comments, Comments on Volume 3, Comments on Volume 1 and Volume 2, Contributors, Name Index, Subject Index
