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Compare And Contrast The Sociological Theory Of Deviance

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A major sociological theory related to deviance is anomie. Before the anomie theory of deviance can be presented, the definition of deviance needs to be stated. Deviance is any behavior that violates certain norms. Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton, two famous sociologists, have two different definitions for the term anomie. Durkheim’s definition says that anomie is a mental state of normlessness, and being in a situation in which an individual has no behavior rules to follow. Robert Merton’s definition is slightly different. Merton’s definition states that Anomie is a social situation with a discrepancy between the normative social goals for the citizens and the normative means of achievement. Merton 's theory goes into detail with six

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