ABSTRACT
The theory of anomie has undergone two major phases of development. Emile Durkheim first used the concept to explain deviant behavior. He focused on the way in which various social conditions lead to “over-weening ambition,” and how unlimited aspirations ultimately produce a breakdown in regulatory norms. The concept of differentials in availability of illegitimate means is implicit in one of the major streams of American criminological theory. In this tradition, attention is focused on the processes by which persons are recruited into criminal learning environments and ultimately inducted into criminal roles. One tradition focuses on legitimate opportunity, the other on illegitimate. By incorporating the concept of differentials in access to illegitimate means, the theory of anomie may be extended to include seemingly unrelated studies and theories of deviant behavior which form a part of the literature of American criminology. The chapter identifies the concept of differential opportunity structures.
