Crime as a Function of Anomie

Abstract

Crime is by definition a social phenomenon and its extent and character varies with the "metabolism" of the larger society.Individualistic theories of criminal behavior-whether moralistic, biological or psychological-can not explain the known variations of the crime rate.Clinically and juridically it may be desirable to treat each felon as a special case, but "the scientific method", as Sellin observes, "is not applicable to the study of unique phenomena.It can only deal with classes, kinds, types".'If crime is attributed to inherited deficiencies, early childhood experience, or family tension, it is still necessary to ask why these "causal" factors fluctuate from time to time and place to place.Inevitably a sociological interpretation is required."The cause of crime", writes Clarence Jeffery, "is in the legal and social institutions, not the individual offender". 2 What then are the institutional determinants of crime?According to Clinard, most American sociologists "view participation in deviant norms, particularly through the tutelage of others.., as the basic situation out of which crime arises". 3 While this formulation pushes the locus of criminality back from the individual to the immediate group, it does not explain the origins of the criminal sub-culture.Similarly, Sutherland's theory of differential association assumes but does not systematically show the sources of the crime-producing sub-group. 4 Organized criminal activity seems to exist in virtually all societies.Bands of robbers, gangs of