The Legacy of Anomie Theory

Freda Adler, William S. Laufer

Transaction Publishers, 1999 - Law - 439 pages

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 formulation

is 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.

About the author

Freda Adler is distinguished professor emerita in the criminal justice program at Rutgers University, Newark, USA. She is also a past president of the American Criminological Society. In addition to being co-editor of Transaction's Advances in Criminological Theory series, she is the author of numerous works, including Sisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal and Criminology and the Criminal Justice System.

William S. Laufer is Julian Aresty Professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School, USA; director at the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research; and professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He also serves as co-editor of Transaction's Advances in Criminological Theory series. His writings, which focus extensively on criminal behavior and corporate criminal responsibility, have appeared in many professional journals, including American Criminal Law Review, and Vanderbilt Law Review.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Legacy of Anomie Theory; Volume 6 of Advances in criminological theory, ISSN 0894-2366
• Editors: Freda Adler, William S. Laufer
• Contributor: Robert King Merton
• Edition: illustrated, reprint, revised
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers, 1999
• ISBN: 0765806622, 9780765806628
• Length: 439 pages
• Subjects: Law / General; Social Science / Criminology