Anomie of particular social groups in contemporary Croatia

Vukelić, Anton. (2002). Anomie of particular social groups in contemporary Croatia. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Sociology. [mentor Kregar, Josip].

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Abstract

The paper deals with the anomie theory heritage and investigates the impact of the status of unemployment on the normative system of unemployed persons. Main theoretical approaches to the problem, the sociological one in particular, but also the concepts coming from the field of social psychology and criminology, are presented. The standard concept of anomie in Emile Durkheim’s work is considered, Merton’s concept of anomie used to explain the high crime rate in the USA is presented, and finally, modern anomie theories and the related empirical researches are analysed. The concepts in which anomie is considered as a consequence of and a condition for modernization, both on the level of a social system and on the individual one, are pointed out and explained. The empirical part of the work is based on Merton’s anomie pattern aim-means, which is reflected in the lack of employment, in the problem of selective unemployment in a society and within a group of unemployed persons. The central hypothesis investigates whether the disjunction between pronounced aspirations for a job and the lack of legal means to achieve that is statistically related to the erosion of the normative system of unemployed persons. The factors that hinder employment is developed, and the relation between the regional unemployment rate and relations within the model is investigated. The empirical investigation was carried out in two different milieus, in Zagreb and Šibenik, the social environments with the lowest and the highest unemployment rate in Croatia. Conclusion summarizes anomie theories and presents the ways of their differentiation with a conclusion that it is not possible to single out a ‘common core’. In accordance with the latest efforts in the field of anomie paradigm (pattern), suggestions for the improvement of the anomie model are given and disadvantages (weak points) of integral theories are pointed out. The results of investigation point to the need to include new targets and other illegitimate means, which could prove to be heuristically fruitful in the explanation of particular forms of deviation in the transitional environment of Croatia.

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