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The increase in the number of never‐married and not‐cohabiting singles, or "effective singles," was first observed in Japan and Southern Europe. In Northern and Western Europe and North America, increased singlehood was due largely to increased cohabitation. Existing sociological theories of singlehood, however, are formulated based on the observations of the latter, and fall short in explaining why more individuals remain unpartnered. The wealth of data from singlehood research in Japan suggest that many singles desire marriage yet drift into singlehood, facing structural, cultural barriers in a rapidly changing social context. The impact of gender inequality is salient, but existing theories focus on women's advancement and egalitarianism. This paper proposes an alternative theoretical framework for explaining causes of singlehood, incorporating sociological and feminist perspectives and Emile Durkheim's theory of anomie, and calls for shifting the center to observations from non‐Western societies for better theorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on the paper "Status, Mobility, and Anomie: A Study in Readiness for Desegregation," by Melvin M. Tumin and Ray C. Collins Jr. This paper presents some highly interesting data. It does not, however, present data which would support the conclusions at which the authors claim to have arrived on the basis of their data. What the paper does is to raise some extremely significant questions, which the authors fail to pursue. The authors of the paper divide their respondents into four mobility categories based on a two-way occupational status classification. The two statuses are high and low. The four mobility categories are high stationaries, upward mobiles, downward mobiles and low stationaries. The authors then present findings relating scores on five scales of readiness for desegregation to these four mobility categories. Finally, they relate the desegregation scores to scores on the Srole anomia scale. Their findings are that the two mobile groups combined do not differ significantly from the two stationary groups combined in readiness for desegregation, the two high-status groups show considerably more readiness for desegregation than the two low-status groups, the rank order of decreasing readiness for desegregation is, first, high stationaries; second, upward mobiles; third, downward mobiles; fourth, low stationaries and the rank order of increasing anomia is the same as the rank order of decreasing readiness, i.e. the greater the anomia, the less the readiness for desegregation.

In Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religionssoziologie, Max Weber discussed anomie potential of some non-Western religious doctrines. This paper provides an analysis of Weber's writings on anomie and attempts to show relevance of Weber's work to contemporary anomie research. First, I locate Weber's treatment of anomie within his discussion of great world religions, highlighting its significance in a cross-cultural context. Second, I compare Wetter's notion of anomie with current evaluations of anomie and disc a typology of usages of the term, Finally, I explore the suggested usefulness of Weber's work on anomie for contemporary purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the causes of the recent rise in extreme right and racist violence in Western Europe. In the first part, the available data on extreme right and racist violence in eight Western European countries Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway are discussed. Contrary to the image presented in the media, Germany is no 'Sonderfall' as regards the level of violence. Germany belongs to the countries with the highest levels of violence, but Switzerland and Great Britain are roughly comparable in this regard. The second part of the paper attempts to explain cross-national differences by applying two theoretical perspectives from the social movement literature. The grievance model, which sees the causes of violence in grievances related to the main target groups of the extreme right (foreigners and asylum seekers) and more general feelings of anomie among the socially marginal, finds little support in the data. The opportunity model, which emphasizes the role of political elites in shaping mobilization opportunities for social movements, finds support in an analysis of the relation between the development of extreme right and racist violence and the political debate around asylum legislation in Germany. Moreover, cross-national comparison shows that the amount of violence also depends on the prior strength of extreme right and racist parties. Contrary to common wisdom, but in line with the expectations derived from the opportunity model, the level of violence tends to be low where extreme right and racist parties are strong and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Review of Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research has shown that people tend to perceive the groups to which they belong (e.g., national groups) as temporally persistent. In this paper we argue that enhanced perceptions of collective continuity lead to lower levels of anomy and misfit, and to higher levels of social well-being (SWB). Furthermore, we argue that the effects of perceived collective continuity (PCC) on SWB are mediated by collective self-esteem (CSE). Finally, we contend that PCC has positive effects on perceived group entitativity (PGE), which in turn has a positive influence on CSE. This model is tested by means of a cross-sectional study using a sample of Spanish nationals (N = 145) drawn from the general public. Results confirm that the data fit the model well. These findings are in line with research demonstrating that a sense of personal continuity through time is related with better mental health and personal well-being. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robert Merton presented two, not always clearly differentiated theories in his seminal explorations on the social-structure-and-anomie paradigm: a strain theory and an anomie theory. A one-sided focus on Merton's strain theory in the secondary literature has unnecessarily restricted the power and effectiveness of Merton's anomie theory. For although structural strain is one way to explain why deviance occurs in the context of anomie, it is not the only way. We contend that scholars who are critical of strain theory should not automatically discard Merton's anomie theory, because the perspective of anomie is compatible with several other theories of crime and delinquency. Offering examples of previous integration efforts, we maintain that Merton's theoretical model can benefit from the input of other theories of crime and deviance as much as these other theoretical perspectives can fine-tune their models and explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different aspects of religiosity have been found to be positively related to physical, psychological and social well-being. Several scholars have suggested that religious beliefs, religious communities, and perceived divine support may provide individuals with a sense of coherence, which in turn has positive effects on individual well-being. This "coherence hypothesis" is in fact the inverse of the Durkheimian concept of anomie. This paper specifies and tests a structural model of social control, social support, religious participation, religious orthodoxy, and perceived divine support, in relation to perceived exteriority and constraint among adolescents. The results indicate that parental support and religious participation increases the perceived exteriority and constraint of the social world, while parental rule setting, religious orthodoxy, and divine support do not have an independent effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological explanations of crime have given considerable attention to Merton's anomie theory without systematically testing it. This paper tests Merton's theory through operationalizing anomie in terms of the degree of inequality in the distribution of income in each of the 50 slates. A multiple regression analysis determines that while income inequality is significantly related to the rate of homicide, it is not significantly related to the rate of property crime. A preliminary cross-national analysis of 20 nations replicates this same general finding. The results suggest that a relatively large gap between material success and the means to success is likely to result in crimes of violence rather than property crime once we control the influence of other variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a way in which the concepts of alienation and anomic may be related in a single dimension of social experience and offers a refinement and expansion of traditional strain theories of deviance causation. It is argued that both alienated and anomic social actors seek a common goal—a sense of effective interaction with their environment; an experience of personal competence. Anomic persons are those who perceive the demands of primary roles as confusing and beyond their abilities and who respond by seeking to maximize certainty, security, and stability in social interaction. By contrast, alienated individuals are those who experience primary role requirements as simple but stifling and restrictive, bereft of meaningful challenges. These latter persons seek greater freedom and opportunities for creativity and self-expression. The ways in which deviance may emerge as these alienated persons adapt to the perceived discrepancy between their abilities and responsibilities are outlined and illustrated following the adaptive modes suggested by Merton for anomic persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author arranges some of the major treatments of alienation within a coherent framework. He introduces a distinction between disassociation (certain specified objective conditions) and alienation (a specified experience) and articulates the relationship between these two by presenting a series of intervening psychological issues. A typology of human association is presented, and it is argued that especially two types of disassociation (i.e., marginality and subordination) and, to some extent, another (i.e., privilege) may be productive of alienation These conditions are considered at the cultural, social, and psychological levels of analysis. Variables connecting these conditions and alienation include the perception of the condition, evaluation, integration, blame, and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary definitions of anomie and alienation have confused, obscured, and changed the classical meanings of these concepts. Alienation for Karl Marx and anomie for Emile Durkheim were metaphors for a radical attack on the dominant institutions and values of industrial society. They attacked similar behavior, but from opposing perspectives. Marx assumed an immanent conception of the relationship between man and society and the value of freedom from constraint; Durkheim, a transcendental conception and the value of moral constraint. Marx was interested in problems of power and change, Durkheim in problems of the maintenance of order. Paradoxically, contemporary definitions accept what was most problematic for these classical theorists–the dominant institutions of society. The paper author speculates if contemporary definitions of alienation and anomie actually value-free, or are sociologists witnessing a transformation from radical to conformist definitions and values under the guise of value-free sociology.

Religious exit–also known as disaffiliation, deconversion, or apostasy–from religion is a growing phenomenon in the United States with significant individual and social consequences. In this review, I consult existing literature to clarify the relationship between the process of religious exit and the mental health of exiters. I organize this literature using Ebaugh's (1988) role‐exit model to frame exiting religion as a multi‐stage process of role‐identity disruption, exit, anomie, and reestablishment, each of which are characterized by changes in mental health. The literature suggests that, beginning with tension between a religious system and the individual, exiters undergo a psychologically and emotionally fraught process of role‐identity transformation typified by a sequence of pre‐exit strains, a turning point at which exit occurs, immediate psychological and social aftermath, and a subsequent lifetime process of reconstruction. Using evidence from exiters' narratives, I argue that the conflict inherent in the process of religious exit catalyzes psychological distress, but that exit provides a mechanism for role‐identity reset that relieves many of the negative mental health effects associated with religious strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of my Sutherland Address is to explore the potential utility of elaborating and adapting the analytic framework of Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) to account for the macro‐social dynamics of crime in contemporary China. To do so, I situate the institutional dynamics of crime in China in comparative historical context and put forth a newly adapted formulation of IAT. I then illustrate the ways in which this adapted formulation of IAT can enhance the coherence of a rich body of research on crime in China by incorporating some of the empirical findings and insightful interpretations within an overarching theoretical framework. In addition, interrogating the applicability of IAT to the Chinese context draws attention to important gaps in the theory, thereby facilitating its further elaboration as well as promoting the development of general macro‐social theory in criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study takes Xincun Village (to protect the privacy of the village, the name we are using is not the real name of the village) in the Golden Triangle of China's coal industry to conduct research focused on the frequent occurrence of anomic social actions by villagers after sudden wealth. Based on 160 days of structured and semistructured interviews, the results show that the anomic actions of suddenly wealthy groups mainly include self, other and socially oriented actions. The implication is that appropriate governance measures can weaken or prevent the occurrence of anomie and its devastating consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of a sequence of literary frames suggests that a heightened experience of interactional reality is also anomically constructive of the frame. In each of 16 frames, Durkheimian anomie neither destroys the frame's integrity nor renders its routine grounds unintelligible, as Goffman and Garfinkel would claim it must. Paradoxically, anomie ritually intensifies the frame. The selves in the paper's sequence of highly ritualized frames are not routine selves, however. They are 'strangers to themselves.' The analysis shows how Mead's 'I' can re-emerge from Goffman's ritual thinking -- where the T is collapsed into an interactionally-bound 'me' -- as an original manifestation of great importance to interactants, and therefore to society as well. (Parenthetically it is also argued that selves need an element of rituality in order to be selflike and that it is interactional rituality which guarantees the evolution of social life beyond given frames, corpora, cultural repertoires, and collective representations.) The idea that interactants can be strangers to themselves is an advance on Goffman's and Garfinkel's accounts of interactional selfhood, but one that problematizes the prosecution of the interaction sociology that Goffman and Garfinkel pioneer, since strangers to themselves disappear in normal sociological appearances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the evolving synthesis of differential association and anomie theory. The theory of association holds that individuals learn to engage in criminal behavior by associating with others, principally in face-to-face groups, who prefer and practice such behavior. Thus, the key question in this theory centers on the sociocultural transmission of criminal patterns. It inquires into the processes of socialization and social learning through which such patterns are learned from significant others. With its focus on this key question, the theory has little to say about how those patterns of criminal preferences and behavior emerged in the first place. Correlatively, the theory of anomie-and-opportunity structures also has a delimited problematics. It holds that rates of various types of deviant behavior are high in a society where the culture places a high premium on economic success and upward mobility for all its members, although in brute social fact large numbers of people located in the lower reaches of the social structure have severely limited access to legitimate resources for achieving those culturally induced or reinforced goals. The two theories focus on complementary solutions of those problems.

Using insights from the classical sociology of deviance and social structure (notably Durkheim and Merton) we explore the enduring impact of the social and economic changes which started in the UK in the early 1980s. In the two subsequent decades the UK went through a period of radical economic restructuring, leading to lasting social change. We seek to gauge the effect of these combined social and economic processes, which we label social and economic 'storms', at the national level. In so doing we assess, and ultimately defend, the heuristic utility of this conceptualisation, considering the extent to which such social and economic storms (individually and collectively) weakened bonds between individuals, within and between families, and across communities. We use proxy measures of economic and social changes in combination with recorded crime statistics to explore the degree to which such processes might be associated with victimisation rates. We find that crime was related to these macro-level 'storms', although ultimately they were driven by economic variables. Our analyses show how political decision making can shape long-term trends in crime rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Presidential Address explores the possibilities for fruitful multilevel theorizing in criminology by proposing an integration of insights from situational action theory (SAT), a distinctively micro-level perspective, with insights from institutional anomie theory (IAT), a distinctively macro-level perspective. These perspectives are strategic candidates for integration because morality plays a central role in both. IAT can enrich SAT by identifying indirect causes of crime that operate at the institutional level and by highlighting the impact of the institutional context on the perception-choice process that underlies crime. Such multilevel theorizing can also promote the development of IAT by revealing the 'micro-instantiations' of macro-level processes and by simulating further inquiry into the social preconditions for institutional configurations that are conducive to low levels of crime. Finally, drawing on Durkheim's classic work on occupational associations, I point to the potential role of professional associations such as the American Society of Criminology in promoting and sustaining a viable moral order in the advanced capitalist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a large household survey administered across 30 cities in September 2003, we examine the relationship between the degree of economic openness, measured as the sum of imports and exports as a share of GDP, and subjective well-being in urban China. We find that respondents who live in cities with high levels of economic openness report significantly lower levels of subjective well-being ceteris paribus. We offer four explanations for this result; namely, inadequate social protection in the face of globalization, unfulfilled expectations, political dissatisfaction and anomie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research assesses the empirical validity of the classic anomie theory articulated by Robert Merton and the important contemporary extension of his work encompassed in Messner and Rosenfeld's institutional anomie theory. Using a unique aggregate-level data set, our empirical investigation reveals that, consistent with theoretical expectations, instrumental crime rates are significantly higher in areas where both a strong commitment to monetary success goals and a weak commitment to legitimate means exist. The tendency for this “goals/means” value complex to translate into higher rates of instrumental crime is reduced in the context of higher levels of welfare assistance and more frequent socializing among families. We also find that low levels of educational and economic attainment and high levels of inequality enhance the degree to which commitment to monetary success translates into instrumental crime. Overall, the findings are supportive of some claims by classic and contemporary anomie theories, but also they point to the need for further refinement of these perspectives and additional assessments of their empirical validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the transition to a market economy, the population of Russia has experienced widespread economic uncertainty and anomie, and fertility has declined to unprecedentedly low levels. In contrast to western Europe, where very low fertility in large measure reflects postponement of childbearing and increasing childlessness, very low fertility in Russia has been primarily driven by the drastic reduction of second and higher-parity births. This study shows that two factors-subjective well-being and participation in informal work-are significantly associated with wanting and having more than one child. Subjective well-being is a psychological resource that helps people maintain a positive attitude, while participation in informal work may be hypothesized as indicative of an ability to act regardless of labor market insecurity. Although these two factors are not directly related, they can be seen as indicators of the willingness to assume additional responsibilities, including childbearing and childrearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. This study examined institutional anomie theory in the context of transitional Russia. Methods. We employed an index of negative socioeconomic change and measures of family, education, and polity to test the hypothesis that institutional strength conditions the effects of poverty and socioeconomic change on homicide rates. Results. As expected, the results of models estimated using negative binomial regression show direct positive effects of poverty and socioeconomic change and direct negative effects of family strength and polity on regional homicide rates. There was no support, however, for the hypothesis that stronger social institutions reduce the effects of poverty and socioeconomic change on violence. Conclusions. We interpret these results in the Russia-specific setting, concluding that Russia is a rich laboratory for examining the effects of social change on crime and that empirical research in other nations is important when assessing the generalizability of theories developed to explain crime and violence in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Messner and Rosenfeld's institutional anomie theory is grounded in the assumption that relatively higher crime rates in the United States are due to (1) the overwhelming influence of economic motives and institutions in society, and (2) the subjugation of all other social institutions to cultural economic interests (e.g., the American Dream). Our analysis is designed to extend the limited body of empirical research on this theory in several ways. First, we seek to test the utility of institutional anomie theory for predicting crime rates across aggregate units within the United States (counties). Second, we draw out the theory's emphasis on instrumental crime and suggest that measures of noneconomic social, political, familial, religious, and educational institutions will be particularly relevant for explaining instrumental as opposed to expressive violence. Third, in contrast to prior research, we develop conceptual reasons to expect that these factors will primarily mediate (as opposed to moderate) the relationship between economically motivating pressures and instrumental violence. Our negative binomial regression analyses of data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports and various censuses indicate that the measures of noneconomic institutions perform well in explaining both instrumental and expressive homicides, but that these measures mediate the impact of economic pressures (as measured by the Gini coefficient of family income inequality) to commit instrumental violence most strongly. Further, we find only very limited support for the more popular moderation hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building directly on key insights from two prior tests of the institutional anomie theory, we predict that the positive effect of economic inequality on the level of lethal violence is limited to nations characterized by relatively weak collective institutions of social protection. This hypothesis is tested with two complementary cross-national data sets. Both settings reveal a negative interaction effect between economic inequality and the strength of the welfare state. Nations that protect their citizens from the vicissitudes of market forces appear to be immune to the homicidal effects of economic inequality. This finding provides critical support for the institutional anomie theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marcel Mauss's notion of the 'total' social fact as a phenomenon that includes the sociological, psychological and physiological dimensions of a phenomenon simultaneously is applied to Durkheim's concept of anomie. In this new reading, the psychological and physiological aspects of anomie are brought out. Implications for operationalizing this new way of reading anomie are explored briefly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A parsimonious structural model of the four forms of suicide - egoism, altruism, anomie, and fatalism - defined in Durkheim's Suicide is developed. The model explicitly defines the structural position of each form of suicide by focusing on duality of social structure, while retaining an analytic distinction between social integration and normative regulation. A payoff from this approach is that fatalism and anomie are interpreted in the same framework as altruism and egoism. The result is a consistent account of the four forms of suicide that is faithful to Durkheim's intentions to account for the aggregate suicide rate without recourse to the motivations of actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the findings of a study in which 394 married couples were examined in order to determine the relationship between marital satisfaction and personal anomie. The findings support the Mertonian anomie theory, which dictates that there is an inverse relationship between the two variables. The authors discuss the sociological context of the study as well, and point out that emphasis on family sociology leads to less attention paid to personal isolation or social separation.

This study determined the additive and interactive effects of different aspects of alienation on attitudes toward pollution control for residents of an Illinois community which was concerned with a sewage treatment issue. A sample of 218 community residents of voting age was obtained and administered questionnaires during May, 1971. Powerlessness and anomie, while not additive, were found to act interactively to explain opposition to pollution control. Furthermore, this relationship was characterized by a ‘saturation’ or diminishing return effect. Alienation produced negativism toward the issue up to a certain point, with a subsequent increase serving to lessen the issue opposition. The interaction effect was found to exist controlling for respondent socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the concept of normlessness and its relation to sociologist Emile Durkheim's concept of anomie. It represents the confessions of a sociological methodologist. It is important for the contemporary sociologist to recognize that not every article which cites sociologist Emile Durkheim is, ipso facto, an article about Durkheim. The article in question reported a study of the determinants of personal formlessness. David D. McCloskey, it seems, searched our article in vain for an exposition either of Durkheim's doctrine of the "dualism of human nature or the significance of the modern crisis in terms of his explanation of historical development." But, alas, he finds only "that mess of pottage known as "normlessness"--whatever that means. It seems that we are therefore guilty of the noxious procedure of drawing upon Durkheim's "charisma-on-deposit." I think not. It is incumbent upon any author to credit his predecessors. But this does not mean that the totality of their ideas (or their "paradigms," if you prefer) must be faithfully reproduced as a condition of their citation. McCloskey is at full liberty to continue his search through the literature for an exposition of the "essence" of Durkheim.

Most interpretations of anomie emphasize the normative aspect. However, Durkheim viewed anomie as involving more than a lack of norms or a conflict of norms. Discussions in The Division of Labor in Society and Suicide show that according to Durkheim the primary threats to social solidarity in modern societies are weak or ineffective structural constraints on individualistic needs and desires. In modern industrialized societies the primary mode of social control is not a set of rules or norms, although they do have a cohesive function, but the development of solidary, interdependent social relationships among diverse individuals. Crucial in the development of solidary social relationships is the rate and nature of social change. For modern or modernizing societies the most important form of social change is industrialization. If industrialization is too rapid then the likelihood of social inequality, economic crises, and family disruption is greater. New and solidary forms of social relationships are not allowed to develop properly. This results in weak constraints on individualistic needs and desires that have been ‘excited’ by the industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomie is a word to conjure with, and from its Greek root it has been defined as broken limits. In the article, the term is used in its largest meaning, that is, a state of deregulation in which social norms mutually agreed upon goals and means do not control men's actions. The individual participants may be clear in their own minds what the appropriate means and goals are, but if they are interacting with others who accept different norms, the social situation which they jointly share is normless. Although the distinction between the group condition, anomie, and individual causes and effects of that condition is clear, it is not difficult to understand why the two should sometimes be confused. It is important to divest anomie of as much of its moral connotation as possible. Anomie, in the sense both of the lack of shared norms to guide interaction and of lack of approved means to achieve approved goals, has almost certainly increased. That fact, however, is best understood by relating it to the actual societies which demonstrate it and the individuals who experience it, not by reference to idealized stable, homogeneous, prescriptive, sacred, gemeinschaftlich societies.

The article presents information about the relation between sociologist E. Durkheim's concepts of anomie and egoism. While the obscurity of Durkheim's distinction has frequently been commented upon, it is implicitly assumed to be irrelevant for contemporary theorization in social pathology. Against this view, two theses will be advanced. Firstly, if Durkheim had pursued and attempted to clarify his distinction between the two concepts, he would have been forced to re-examine the presuppositions upon which his sociology had been based. Secondly, despite difficulties in Durkheim's theory in which concepts of anomie and egoism play a crucial part, a distinction between them still has to be drawn which in fact retains some elements of their original meaning. All contemporary studies of anomie have neglected the distinction between anomie and egoism with the result that social conditions, psychological states and processes which are entirely different from one another have been assimilated.

The article discusses Robert K. Merton's anomie theory and its influence in the study of juvenile delinquency. It is the theory that delinquency results from and manifests a state of anomie in society. It conceives anomie as a breakdown in the cultural structure, occurring particularly when there is an acute disjunction between the cultural norms and goals and the socially structured capacities of members of the group to act in accord with them. In the case of juvenile delinquency, three discrete, testable propositions are implied. First, youngsters from various socio-economic strata are subject to similar success pressures and aspirations. Second, youngsters from lower socio-economic backgrounds perceive fewer legitimate opportunities to obtain desired success goals than do youngsters from upper and middle class backgrounds. Third, if success orientations are constant, the lower the opportunity, the higher the delinquency. Merton's anomie theory can be most fruitfully applied to delinquency, when it is applied, as a model for the analysis of the interpersonal network of structured relations that occur within the adolescent social system. The adolescent social system refers to a distinctive social class system that emerges among adolescents in urban, industrialized areas and is independent of the stratification system of adults.

Since Robert Merton reprinted his well known essay on "Social Structure and Anomie in Social Theory and Social Structure" a good deal of work has been done both in elaborating the theory and in trying to test it out. A recent volume not only surveys the existing work very competently, but adds some new evidence and a comment by Merton upon what he emphasizes is the developing theory of anomie. In his article Merton refers to some discrepancies between sociologists in their interpretation of the term anomie, and he is wise to do so as a glance through a number of sociological texts will show. R. M. Williams, for instance, quotes the Mertonian cultural goals-structural limitations analysis as one type only of anomie, and refers to cultural apathy with respect to standards of conduct; which seems to imply withdrawal. He also, however, refers to conflict situations in general. Hermann Cohen, using the analogy of a game the rules of which may not be observed, also seems to equate anomie with complete breakdown.

Discourse related to autism studies are multidisciplinary, applied, and extensive. Pulling from multiple disciplines and calling for interdisciplinary collaborations, I begin to construct a review of research relevant to move toward a sociology of autism and neurodiversity. I argue that sociology is positioned to utilize its epistemological and phenological strengths to provide insight as well as fill in gaps in the literature related to autism studies. I address controversies and provide structural context to the sociocultural history of the autism and neurodiversity. From Kanner and Asperger through to the DSM‐5, I outline the evolution and social construction of autism and identify sociological programs of scholarship that continue to shape (and be shaped) by understanding autism and neurodiversity. Using theoretical contributions rooted in social psychological principles of symbolic interaction, such as mind, self, solidarity, and stigma—I address how sociology is shaping scholarship related to autism and address interdisciplinary critiques of these programs. I highlight how the next generation of scholars are formulating the cutting‐edge issues for the future of research within these areas and emphasize that research programs should center work on improving the lived experiences of those on the spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]