ANOMIE

also spelled Anomy, in societies or individuals, a condition of instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values or from a lack of purpose or ideals. The term was introduced by the French sociologist mile Durkheim in his study of suicide. He believed that one type of suicide (anomic) resulted from the breakdown of social standards that people need to regulate their behaviour. When a social system is in a state of anomie, common values and common meanings are no longer understood or accepted, and new values and meanings have not developed. Such a society produces, in many of its members, psychological states characterized by a sense of futility, lack of purpose, and emotional emptiness and despair. Striving is considered useless, because there is no accepted definition of what is desirable. Robert K. Merton, in the United States, studied the causes of anomie, or normlessness, finding it severest in persons who do not have acceptable means of achieving their cultural goals. Goals may become so important that, if institutionalized meansi.e., those means acceptable according to the standards of the societyfail, illegitimate means may be used. Greater emphasis on ends rather than means results in a stress that leads to a breakdown in the regulatory structurei.e., anomie. If, for example, a society impelled its members to acquire wealth, yet offered inadequate means for them to do so, the strain would cause many people to violate norms. The only regulating agencies would be the desire for personal advantage and the fear of punishment. Social behaviour thus becomes unpredictable. Delinquency, crime, and suicide are often reactions to anomie. Although Durkheim's concept of anomie referred to a condition of relative normlessness of a society or social group, other writers have used it to refer to conditions of individuals. In this psychological usage, anomie means the state of mind of a person who has no standards or sense of continuity or obligation and who has rejected all social bonds. Individuals may feel that community leaders are indifferent to their needs, that society is basically unpredictable and lacking order, and that goals are not being realized. They may have a sense of futility and a conviction that associates are not dependable sources of support.