ANOMIEResearch Center (NORC) at the University of
Chicago. Examples of these items illustrate the
current uses of the concept, as in the following
anomia items from the 1988 NORC survey (re-
spondents were instructed to indicate the extent
of their agreement with each statement): ‘‘Most
public officials (people in public office) are not
really interested in the problems of the average
man,’’ and ‘‘It’s hardly fair to bring a child into the
world with the way things look for the future’’
(NORC 1988, pp. 215–216). (Nearly 40 percent of
the respondents to the second question agreed,
and 68 percent agreed with the first.)
IN SUMMARYAnomie has been and will continue to be a main-
stay concept in sociology. Papers discussing the
meanings and uses of this concept continue to be
written (see, for example, Adler and Laufer 1995;
Bjarnason 1998; Deflem 1989; de Man and Labreche-
Gauthier 1993; Hackett 1994; Hilbert 1989; Menard
1995; Passas and Agnew 1997; Wolff 1988). The
basic meaning of the term anomie, though—both
in its initial usage as a description of society and in
its modern extensions—is well established and
widely understood within the discipline. Students
new to sociology should take care to understand
that the definitions of the word may not be as
broad for sociologists as for the general public.
The utility of the concept for the study of society is
best maintained by extending it in ways that are
consistent with its original definition.
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