Description
The term anomie, which literally translates as the absence of law, was coined by French philosopher Jean Marie Guyau and borrowed by sociologist Emile Durkheim. Anomie describes an individual's level of social dissolution. It is a complex, multilevel, multidimensional concept. When a society has high levels of anomie, the values that give purpose and direction to life have been lost, and society has suffered a loss of intrinsic and socialized values. Sociologists hold that the acceleration of social change influences anomie, not social change itself. The construct has been linked to various types of activities and concepts but no research has examined whether feelings of anomie have changed over time. By investigating changes over historical time, some light may be shed on how the changes in the sociocultural environment in the United States have influenced individuals' levels of anomie. Two sets of analyses were employed to find data: a meta-analysis gathering the anomie scores of American college students on the Srole anomie scale and an analysis of the Srole items used in the General Social Survey (GSS). There were fewer than ten studies that fit the selection criteria and also reported means, not enough to complete the meta-analysis. The GSS, which has surveyed a nationally representative sample of American adults since 1973, includes 4 anomie items at most time points. The GSS data was obtained online from the GSS website, and analyses for correlations were conducted using the Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA) service through the University of California, Berkeley. A scale of these 4 items had satisfactory internal reliability (alpha = .67). The results showed that anomie increased significantly between 1973 and 1994, d =.28. Fifty-six percent of Americans agreed that "The lot of the average man is getting worse" in 1973 compared to 69% in 1994. In 1973, only 37% of Americans agreed that "It is hardly fair to bring a child into the world the way things look for the future" compared to 45% in 1994. In 1973 60% of Americans agreed with the item "Most public officials (in public office) are not really interested in the problems of the average man" compared to 76% in 1994. The item "Generally speaking, would you say that people can be trusted or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people?" trended toward less trust. Fifty two percent of Americans agreed with the 'cannot trust' response in 1973 compared to 66% in 2006. In most cases, trends across time were similar across race, gender and age. Black Americans were the only group who increased in their endorsement of the item "It is hardly fair to bring a child into the world the way things look for the future".
