ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that there are both organizational and motivational theories contained in R. Merton’s classic “Social Structure and Anomie” (SS&A) essay and that these two theories are logically independent. Merton's general objective in the SS&A essay can be stated quite simply. He intends to develop a sociological explanation for deviant behavior as an alternative to psychological, and particularly Freudian, explanations. Merton's theory of deviant motivation is opposed to other theoretical orientations that share Freudian premises about human nature. The most influential contemporary theory of this type is unquestionably control theory. As Travis Hirschi explains control theorists adopt the position that people are naturally predisposed to misbehave and hence that the motivation for deviance is unproblematic. Merton’s theory is much too sketchy and “discursive” to permit the logical deduction of unambiguous test implications. Nevertheless, the basic analytical model at the core of SS&A, and the central theoretical proposition contained therein, can contribute to the research enterprise in several important ways.
