Institutional Anomie Theory

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The Institutional Anomietheorie (IAT) is a strukturfunktionalistische theory to explain crime that the Anomietheorien of Émile Durkheim and Robert K. Merton followed. It was designed by Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfeld . According to the IAT, crime is an indirect consequence of the overvaluation of economic thinking in society .

Consequences of economic dominance that promote crime

According to the IAT, society is divided into four structural areas:

  • Family (social functions: reproduction, care / support for people in need)
  • Education (social functions: conveying norms and values)
  • Politics (social function: monitoring, controlling collective goals)
  • Economy (social function: production and distribution of economic goods)

The institutional imbalance is expressed in the fact that non-economic roles and functions are devalued, that adaptation to economic requirements is required far beyond the economic sphere, and that economic standards also become standards of non-economic institutions. This leads to a decrease in social control and an increase in crime.

Messner and Rosenfeld describe three characteristics of the crime-promoting development:

  • Devaluation (devaluation of what is not connected with money, for example refraining from education)
  • Accommodation (sectors that do not come into contact with the economy are rated according to economic efficiency criteria).
  • Penetration (penetration of non-economic areas with the language and logic of economic efficiency).

According to the classical anomie approach, people who cannot achieve the social goals defined in this way have a greater tendency to criminalize. In order to realize the “American dream” or economic success, illegal means are used when conventional means are not available. This does not have to be limited to property crimes, because recognition that is not granted can also be achieved physically (through acts of violence).

According to the IAT, strategies to reduce crime are comprehensive social security (social assistance, pensions, pensions, well-developed health system), whereby a lower economic status triggers less anomic pressure . In addition, the overemphasis on the economic sector can be weakened through political and mass media emphasis on the family, education and politics sectors.

literature

  • Steven F. Messner , Richard Rosenfeld : Crime and the American dream . 4th edition, Thomson / Wadsworth, Belmont (California) 2007, ISBN 978-0-534-61958-9 .
  • Steven F. Messner: An institutional Anomie Theory of crime: Continuities and elaborations in the study of social structure and anomie . In: Susanne Karstedt and Dietrich Oberwittler (Hrsg.): Sociology of criminality . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-531-14059-0 , pp. 93-109.
  • Steven F. Messner, Richard Rosenfeld: Institutional Anomie Theory. A Macro-sociological Explanation of Crime . In: Marvin D. Krohn, Alan J. Lizotte, Gina Penly Hall (Eds.): Handbook on Crime and Deviance . Springer, Dordrecht (New York) 2009, ISBN 978-1-4419-0244-3 , pp. 209-224.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Unless otherwise stated, the presentation follows Christian Wickert: Institutionelle Anomietheorie , SozTheo .
  2. ^ Hans Joachim Schneider : Criminology for the 21st Century. Priorities and progress in international criminology. Overview and discussion , Münster, Hamburg, Berlin, London: Lit, 2001, p. 50 f.
  3. ↑ Susann Kunadt: Social Space and juvenile delinquency. On the influence of the living environment on delinquent behavior. An empirical study in Duisburg . Waxmann, Münster 2011, ISBN 978-3-8309-2431-9 , p. 46 f.