© Ane Venter
Study Unit 5
Social Structure Perspectives
1|Page
, © Ane Venter
Strain Theories
○ Stress, frustration, or strain (product of failed aspirations) – increase prospects for norm violation.
- Norms are violated to alleviate strain that comes with failure.
○ Blockage of legal goal achievement – encourages deviant solutions.
○ Key objectives: specification of sources of strain and deviant adaptions.
○ Strain – tends to be associated with distorted aspirations, unrealistic desires for attainment, and crass
materialism.
- Sets stage for individual failure + search for deviant solutions.
Emile Durkheim
Origins of Social Structure Theory
○ Emile Durkheim history:
- Born in 1858, France.
- 2 major changes that influenced society at the time:
The French Revolution of 1789.
Social and economic transformation due to the Industrial Revolution.
- Focus on how the organization of society can propel people toward violating
norms.
Saw behaviour as socially determined instead of individually determined.
○ Most important contribution to criminology – reviving the concept of “anomie”.
- Greek for lawlessness
- Durkheim – “anomie” = “Normlessness”
Breakdown of norms represents a threat to social control.
Hypothesized anomie contributes to suicide.
○ Studied the most individual form of deviance – taking one’s own life.
- Proposition: basic determinants of suicide are social variables such as religion, marital status, and
economic conditions
- To test his propositions – examined suicide data from 19th century Europe and descriptive data
about preliterate societies.
Findings:
→ Rate of suicide is much lower in purely Catholic countries.
→ Jews showed lower suicide rates that Catholics and Protestants.
→ Single persons are more likely to commit suicide than married people.
→ Suicide rates increase steadily with age.
→ More suicides are committed during periods of economic crisis.
→ Periods of crisis (like war) – associated with higher-than-normal suicide rates.
→ Number of suicides in military is greater than among civilians.
→ Suicides are found in some preliterate societies:
• Norms stipulate wives should take their own lives when husbands die.
• Norms stipulate servants must kill themselves of their masters die.
2|Page
Study Unit 5
Social Structure Perspectives
1|Page
, © Ane Venter
Strain Theories
○ Stress, frustration, or strain (product of failed aspirations) – increase prospects for norm violation.
- Norms are violated to alleviate strain that comes with failure.
○ Blockage of legal goal achievement – encourages deviant solutions.
○ Key objectives: specification of sources of strain and deviant adaptions.
○ Strain – tends to be associated with distorted aspirations, unrealistic desires for attainment, and crass
materialism.
- Sets stage for individual failure + search for deviant solutions.
Emile Durkheim
Origins of Social Structure Theory
○ Emile Durkheim history:
- Born in 1858, France.
- 2 major changes that influenced society at the time:
The French Revolution of 1789.
Social and economic transformation due to the Industrial Revolution.
- Focus on how the organization of society can propel people toward violating
norms.
Saw behaviour as socially determined instead of individually determined.
○ Most important contribution to criminology – reviving the concept of “anomie”.
- Greek for lawlessness
- Durkheim – “anomie” = “Normlessness”
Breakdown of norms represents a threat to social control.
Hypothesized anomie contributes to suicide.
○ Studied the most individual form of deviance – taking one’s own life.
- Proposition: basic determinants of suicide are social variables such as religion, marital status, and
economic conditions
- To test his propositions – examined suicide data from 19th century Europe and descriptive data
about preliterate societies.
Findings:
→ Rate of suicide is much lower in purely Catholic countries.
→ Jews showed lower suicide rates that Catholics and Protestants.
→ Single persons are more likely to commit suicide than married people.
→ Suicide rates increase steadily with age.
→ More suicides are committed during periods of economic crisis.
→ Periods of crisis (like war) – associated with higher-than-normal suicide rates.
→ Number of suicides in military is greater than among civilians.
→ Suicides are found in some preliterate societies:
• Norms stipulate wives should take their own lives when husbands die.
• Norms stipulate servants must kill themselves of their masters die.
2|Page
