Murder: Through the Lense of Anomie or Strain Theory

Laura Kay McAliley

6/15/14

Murder:
Murder can be defined as the unauthorized, illegitimate, and criminal version of killing. Killing,
however, simply refers to an objective loss of life. Every society on earth, has associated murder
as a form of deviance, but all societies accept legitimate forms of killing. The Sixth
Commandment is often poorly translated to Thou shalt not kill instead of its actual translation
of Thou shalt not murder. Law practices as well as the person himself determine opinions on
the matter. Some things, like an abortion, are seen as murder by some while seen as acceptable
killing by another. According to the FBI, 16,929 homisides were commited in the US in 2007
alone. This is a staggering average of 5.6 people murdered per 100,000 people. This rate has
often fluctuated, rising in the 1930s, declining through World War II, rising in the 1960s, and
dropped again by the early 1990s. 11 generalizations about murder include that the public and
media image of murder is distorted, most murders take place in the heat of the moment, most
murderers are justified by killers as a form of vindication or a way out of an intolerable situation,
the more intimate the relationship, the greater the likelihood a murder will occur, murderers and
victims look remarkably alike, murders tend to be overwhelmingly interracial, Africans are more
likely to be the murderer and victim of a murder than Caucasians, murder is related to social
class, men are more likely to kill than women, rates of criminal homicide vary enormously from
place to place, and lethal violence has dropped drastically since the middle ages.
Anomie or Strain Theory:
Anomie Theory originated in 1938 with an article written by Robert Merton was published,
influenced by Emile Durkheims Suicide. Durkheim defined anomie as a disturbance in social
order. Merton agreed that states of anomie could influence behavior and asserted that certain
pressures could produce very deviant behavior from very typical motives. Merton reconstructed
Durkheims idea of anomie and instead developed it in a way which said that deviance is a result
too strong a hold of societys norms on a person, and as a disjunction between culturally defined
goals and structurally available opportunities. He developed a typology of responses to goal
attainment and ways of obtaining those goals including conformity, innovation, ritualism,
retreatism, and rebellion.
Pitch: For my story, I will tell the tale of Thomas who wants to make it big. With limited
resources, he resolves that he will have to murder his wife to obtain a significant about of money
from her life insurance policy.