Strain Theory Reconsidered

8/3/2019 Strain Theory Reconsidered

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/strain-theory-reconsidered 1/17

Alienation and Deviance: Strain Theory Reconsidered

Richard G. Mitchell, Jr., Oregon State University

This paper proposes a way in which the concepts of alienation and anomie may

be related in a single dimension of social experience and offers a refinement and ex-

pansion of traditional strain theories of deviance causation. It is argued that both

alienated and anomie social actors seek a common goal—a sense of effective inter-

action w ith their environment; an experience of personal competence. Ano mie persons

are those who perceive the demands of primary roles as confusing and beyond theirabilities and who respond by seeking to maximize certainty, security, and stability in

social interaction. By contrast, alienated individuals are those who experience primary

role requirements as simple but stilling and restrictive, bereft of meaningful chal-

lenges. These latter persons seek greater freedom and opportunities for creativity and

self-expression. The ways in which deviance may emerge as these alienated persons

adapt to the perceived discrepancy between their abilities and responsibilities are

outlined and illustrated following the adaptive modes suggested by Merton for anomie

persons.

According to Merton (1938, 1957) and other traditional strain theorist

(Cohen, 1955; Cloward and O hlin, 1960), in the United States there eire rela

tively many persons who internalize and aspire to the culturally promulgated

goals of wealth, material well-being, and sociaJ stability, but there are relative

ly few who have access to the legitimate, institutionalized means of achieving

those goals. From this perspective, strain at the social structural level is the re

sult of this imperfect integration between goals and means and, for the in-

dividusd, the disjunctures between aspirations and realistic expectations, the

discrepancies between capacities to perform and the requirements of role

performances.

Consistent with this traditional strain model is a view of social actors as

somehow inadequate, incapable, or inferior as a result of their disadvantaged

positions in the social structure. In this condition the challenges the individua

must confront to achieve success outstrip his or her meager skills and re

sources. In sum, the individual's i>erceived abilities are less than his or her

perceived responsibilities.' Recurrent experiences of personal failure and

inadequacy may lead to a sense of meaninglessness and normlessness calledainomie. This anomie disorientation is reduced through modes of adaptation



ALIENATION AND DEVIANCE 33 1

(see especially Clinard, 1964:55-56, 57-97). Hirschi (1969:6-10) and Empey

(1978:301) direct attention to three major weaknesses. Strain theory fails (1) to

adequately account for deviance committed by middle- and upper-class per-

sons (and others in relatively advantaged positions), (2) to explain the devi-

ance of persons who do not hold material success and security as central lifeorien tation s, an d (3) to take into consideration the general decline in deviance

observed in young ad ultho od in spite of the relative im m utab ility of social class

(how ever, see Hirsch i and Gottfredson, 1983:55 2-584). By reexa m ining the

strain process, talking into consideration the three related concepts of aliena-

tion, competence, and anomie, I believe these shortcomings can be obviated

and strain theories given new and broadened utility.

The Re la t ionship be tween Al iena t ion and Anomie

It is (>ossible to conceive of aJienation and anomie as opposite ends of a

continuum of social experience (Mitchell, 1983:chap. 12; Coser, 1969:505;

Cooley, 1912:343; Co bu rn, 1 975:213-225; Barakat, 1969:1-10; D urkh eim ,

1951; ' French and Kjihn, 1962:1-47). The points on this continuum may be

conceptualized as of ratios of jjerceived ability to perceived responsibility in

primau-y role relationships. Strain, in this context, is deFmed as the imbalance

between ability and responsibility, where failure to reconcile these conditions

has important jjerceived consequences (see McGrath, 1970:10-21).

Anomie

Merton argues that when ability is inferior to the responsibility of neces-

sary role performance required to achieve socially emphasized goals, people

tend to experience anomie. As an example of this process he focuses on the

plight of lower-class persons who struggle with inadequate social skills to

obtain scarce monetary rewards. Anomie, however, is not simply the absence

of material success.

T o m e, ano m ie suggests feelings of confusion or disorien tation, existencein a social world lacking in predictability or substance, a sense of recurrent

contradictions in what is required or permissible in social action (Duridieim,

1951). Anomie persons characterize their relationship to others as normless,

me aning less, insu bstan tial. Th ey p erceive themselves as isolated, ou t of touch.

By adopting this broadened interpretation of anomie, the motive for

action of anom ie persons takes on new m eanin g. In brief, anomie m otivates a

search for social stability, security, and certainty. The goal of anomie persons

is not simply economic achievement but, more broadly, the restoration ofstable social interaction, escape from pervasive uncertainty, reintegration into



332 RICHARD G. MITCHELL, JR.

Otherwise, are in rough equilibrium with one's capacities. What is sought

the articulation of salient goals with permissible means, not simply materis

success. Using the limited case of economic achievement as a case in poin

Merton (1938, 1957) explains several types of deviance in terms of people

efforts to adapt to anomie, to alter their life experience in the direction o

increased predictability and control. Not everyone, however, is in want o

security, stability, and certainty.

Alieftation

Middle- and upper-class persons, and some in other categories, hav

achieved and perhaps learned to take for granted at least moderate monetar

success and social stability. Yet these persons may experience another sort o

strain, another kind of disjuncture between goals and means, which, in turn

contributes to other types of deviance. Those who have achieved stable socia

circumstances and material well-being may feel themselves lacking in othe

ways.

Security, stability, and certainty in sodai interaction are not positiv

qualities without limits. When one's place in the social structure is so secur

that mobility is forlorn, when relationships are so stable as to render chang

impossible, when the form and content of social interaction becomes so certai

that outcomes are known in advance, then security, stability, and certaintmay no longer be experienced as desirable or even tolerable. Tsdcen to excess

the certain, stable, and secure social environment engenders a repression o

personal volition, a denial and stifling of individual creativity, and it inhibit

self-expression. Some people may obtain economic well-being, prestige, an

permanence of position in the social structure at the expense of other desires

Sjifely ensconced in positions of (tower, they may find themselves in man

ways powerless to act (Kanter and Stein, 1979:9-12).

Assembly-line workers are often well p£ud and secure in their jobs bulimited in their work to the performance of menial and repetitive tasks withou

intrinsic satisfaction (Garson, 1979a:211-217; Molstad, 1980). Teenager

perceive themselves as possessing rapidly developing social and physica

abilities. Yet in the extended adolescence, especially experienced by middle

and upper-class youth (Glaaer, 1975:29), these perceived abilities find n

adequate demonstration, earn no tangible or symbolic reward (Stinchcombe

1964:chap. 5). To their continual frustration, young people fmd themselve

sociaiiy identified with dependent childhood (Friedenberg, 1966:50-51Julian, 1977:365, 376-378). The inteUigent, educated, ambitious youn




Consistent in each of these examples are images of social actors as pos-

sessing greater capacity, talent, skill, or resources than flnd opportunities for

expression in the enactment of primary roles. Persons see themselves capable

of, and desire to do, more than they are allowed or encouraged to do . For

these people the social world is experienced recurrently as bound over byregulation, rule, and routine at every turn. Spontaneity and creativity are

stifled. Individuality is subjugated to the dictates of an obdurate and oppres-

sive social structure. In sum, individuals' perceived abilities are greater than

their perceived responsibilities. Recurrent experiences of this sort may lead

to a sense of powerlessness and self-estrangement called alienation.'

Competence

The goals of the alienated individual are different from and similar tothose of anomie ]3ersons. They differ in that alienated individuals, in searching

for occasions to utilize their perceived abilities, may purposely seek out prob-

lematic and puzzling circumstances or actively encours^ continued in-

stability in some areas of their social lives.

More important than their differences, however, are the similarities be-

tween alienated and anomie social actors. Both are seeking ways of bringing

into balance their perceived abilities and the responsibilities confronting them.

Both endeavor to match the challenges they face with the resources theypossess. Both attempt to move toward a state of equilibrium between what

they perceive themselves capable of doing and what they are allowed or re-

quired to do as a result of their position in the social structure. Achievem ent o f

this balance renders activity intrinsically rewarding, enjoyable, "fun." It

becom es leisure in the cl2issic sense (deGrazia, 1% 2:11-25).

In neuropsychological terms, organisms are motivated to alter environ-

mental inputs, reducing stimulus variability when too much is present, in-

creasing variability when stimulation falls below some optimal level (Bcrlyne,1960; Hebb, 1955; Hunt, 1965; Farley in Hooper, 1983; Zuckerman, 1971).''

Social psychologically, role expectations are met with appropriate and

adequate role pterformances. Persons are motivated to achieve what White

(1959) refers to as competence, a sense of personal worth, self-as-cause, ef-

ficacy in interaction with others. Csikszentmihalyi (1975) identifies the con-

dition of a balanced dynamic tension between tJsiiity and responsibility as

"flow." In a state of flow, "a person perceives that his ciîacity to act (or

skills) matches the opportunities for action perceived in the environment (or

challenges)" (Cakszentmihalyi and Larson, 1978:326-327).



334 RICHARD G. MITCHELL, JR.

The focus of the discussion that follows is at the social psychological level

while recognizing the effects of individual and institutional structures on inter

action and perception.

Competence grows from the process of recognizing one's abilities anapplying them meaningfully and completely. Competence means assessin

oneself as qualified, capable, fit, sufficient, adequate. Competence emerge

when a person's talent, skills, and resources find useful application in meetin

a commensurate challenge, problem, or difficulty. In sum, competent in

dividuals' perceived abilities are roughly equal to their perceived responsi

bilities.

It is my contention that deviance is the potential product of a search fo

competence by anomic and alienated persons. Merton illustrates the typics

forms this deviance may take among the former category of persons. He pro

poses four modes of adaptation to anomic strain: innovation, ritualism, re

treatism, and rebellion. Alienation produces deviant adaptive behavior a

well. Fig ure 1 sum marizes the relationships between £ilienation, co mp etence

and anomie.

Figure 1

Relationships between Alienation, Competence, and Anomie

Anom ie Com petence Alienation

Ability < ResfKjnsibility - Ability * Responsib ility - Ab ility > Responsib

Subjective Experience Subjective Experience Subjective Experience

Confusion-disorienta- Co mp etence Frustration-repres siontion Self-as-cause Pow erlessness

No rmlessn ess Persona l efficacy Self-estrangemen t

Isolation Flow

Motive for A dion Mo tive for A ction

Social an d economic Personal freedom,

secu rity, stability, creative self-certainty • expression, challenge



ALIENATION AND DEVIANCE 3 3 5

Adaptations

Alienated individuals may act in deviant fashions as they strive for chal-

lenges to match their capacities, as they seek opportunities for creative self-

expression in the enactm ent of prim ary roles, or, in response to the absence ofsuch opportunities, in other ways. By locating in Merton's paradigm a search

for creativity and self-expression as the goal motivating adaptive action, it is

possible to account for those kinds of deviance omitted by traditional strain

theory. Specifically, the deviant acts of well-to-do persons, acts of "senseless"

destruction and violence, £ind, indirectly, the cessation of deviance by young

adults following delinquent teenage careers may be more easily understood

and expliiined by hypothesizing that these persons are in search of creative

self-expression, not economic success and social stability.

The conceptual categories of ritualist, innovator, retreatist, and rebel

set forth in the original paradigm are employed to guide the following discus-

sion of deviance rooted in alienation.

Ritualism

Ritualism is of two types, one involving a scaling down or ab£indonment

of hope for creative expression, the other intentional restriction of abilities in

the face of a scarcity of meaningful challenges. The first tyjse is a process paral-

leled by anomie social actors, involving a trimming of goals to fit available

means.

In Merton's scheme, if unswerving commitment to institutionalized

means produces less than some culturally preferred level of success, the

anomie rituadist reduces aspirations to conform with available opportunities.

When fully utilized abilities are inadequate to meet the demands of existing

resp>onsibilities, a lower level of responsibility is sought. Likewise, alienated

fjersons, frustrated in their search for creative opportunity, may set Siside that

elusive goal but retain their commitment to conventional role relationships.

For some persons the circumstances of their primary roles such as em-

ployment and family may be accepted, though hope for meaningful creative

experience therein is abandoned. Cultural cliches such as "Nobody likes to

go to work but t ha t 's my job so I do i t" or " W h o cares if w e're not happy?

Husbands and wives have a responsibility to stay together for the sake of the

children" illustrate the ritualists' perspective. The ritualist may be bitter and

intolerant toward those who continue to strive for mestningful and creative

outlets on the jo b and at hom e (K aufm an in Schacht, i970 :lii-liii). Peoplewho seek to meike some personal input at work—those who deviate from



33 6 RICHA RD G. MITCHELL , JR.

in occupations presumably offering more creative opportunity, especia

those in the fine arts and academ ia, is dem eaned as "w e ir d ," "lo ng -h air ,"

just plain " ac ad em ic ." Persons who divorce because they find their marriag

unfulfilling are dubb ed by ritualists M " im m a tu re ," "self-ce ntere d," ev

"sinful." Whether or not this form of ritualist adaptation may be considerdeviant dejjends on the degree their prejudice toward self-expressive, creati

persons is manifested in overt discrimination.

A second, more clearly deviant form of ritualistic adaptation is unique

alienated persons: impoverished goals are made more attractive by purpose

reduction of available means and pterformance capacities are intentiona

limited to match available creative chsdlenges. Alcohol and other soporif

may play a part in this self-handicapping process. Traditionsilly, these dru

have been associated with anomic retreatism, serving to blunt the urgency overbearing and ever-present demands on limited resources (Roman, 197

Hessler, 1974). However, alternative applications are possible. Alcohol a

other substances may be used in controlled amounts to limit the range a

variety of possible action, transforming the monotonous chore to a reasonab

challenge as abilities decrease to a level commensurate with the job at han

Routine work and relationships take on added relative complexity as coord

nation, perception, and skill are attenuated by drug effects. In the realm

play, ability to maintain some minimal level of role performance under icreasing drug influence may serve as a source of personal pride or int

personal comf>etition. High school and college students may indulge in drin

ing games. The object of this play is to ingest quantities of alcohol in a limit

period of time—"chug-a-lug" contests—or as a penalty for losing in games

chance—"passout." Status accrues to those who consume the most alcoh

while retaining limited motor skill or, at least, remaining conscious. Oth

drugs were employed during the 1960s in a similar fashion. Novitiate ma

juana smokers under the influence would venture into the strzught world movie houses, ice cresun and pizza parlors, and music events to try their ski

at passing for n orm al. Som e LS D users, likewise, tested their abilities to m ai

tain composure and act plausibly in conventional society.

Games based on drug-induced incapacitation are also adaptable to wo

settings where the difficulty of meeting expectations while inebriated e

livens otherwise laborious routines. I am acquainted with a computer pr

gra m m er wh o worked for m ore than two year s und er th e influence of m2U

juana and periodically cocaine as a buffer against what he perceived as ttedium of an overly simple job.




chemist did not provide this necessary excitement and when too few puzzling

cases were available for him to solve, he sought "mental exaltation." This

was accomplished by experience of the everyday world through altered states

of consciousness produced by morphine and cocaine, the "seven percent

solution" to his problems of vocational boredom.

Innovation

Innovation involves accepting the desirability of creative and meaningful

self-expression but rejecting the conventional avenues through which this

experience is found. This may involve a search for creativity outside of, on the

margins of, or within primary roles. Stagnating jobs and unrewarding family

lives may be seen as undesirable but inevitable. OppKjrtunities for creativity

are sought in dternate activities, in hobbies or play (Grubb, 1975; Spreitzerand Snyder, 1974; WUensky, 1960; Kando and Sumners, 1971). The middle-

managem ent execu tive, stymied in efforts to produce what he conceives to be

a meaningful contribution in work, flnds compensatory action in restoring an

old car, coaching Little League, or, more deviantly, by taking up mountetin

climbing, hang gliding, spelunking, or other high-risk sports (Mitchell,

1983;chap. 12). Th e devoted but dissatisfled husband and father has an aiTair

with his secretary or other co-worker (Roy, 1974:44-66). The middle-class

housewife finds outlets for her frustrated creativity and self-expression con-

ventionally in volunteer work or deviantly in shoplifting (M. Canneron, 1964)

and prostitution.

Other kinds of innovation may involve attempts to fmd creativity on the

periphery of primary roles. Inflexible and unrewarding work is made mesuiing-

ful by the creation of personal performance goals and interaction rituals on the

msirgins of work, where some volitional control remains (Kanter and Stein,

1979:182). Keypunchers keep time with each other or to other subtle rhythms

(Garson, 1979b: 195-197); punch press operators structure job time and mea-

sure progress around daily snack and beverage breaks (Roy, 1959:158-168);

workers in various industries play "wai^gam ei" against m anagement time-rate

evaluations, purposely concealing or misrepresenting tlîr production capaci-

ties (Mathewson, 1931). Moistad (1980) found that woricers in a beer-bottling

plant ran token businesses while on the job, selling cheese, inexpensive cloth-

ing, vitamins, and illicit drugs to their fellow employees. Others reaoid dis-

counted beer outside the plant, circulated football betting cards, or provided

other in-plant gambling action. A pervasive feature of these enterprises was

their limited proHtability. Little was earned, considerable time and energywere invested. One unsuccessful part-time businessman-bottler exfdained his



33 8 RICHAR D G. MITCHELL, JR.

Innovation may also take place within primcu-y roles. Assembly lin

workers commit acts of sabotage by purposefully misusing equipmen

adulterating or damaging products, and disrupting work flow in order to sym

bolically gain control over their surroundings and make a meaningful co

tribution in the work place, even if that contribution is a negative one (Mo

stad, 1980; Swados, 1962). Auto assembly workers deliberately set flre

line controls, scratch paint, dent bodies, bend gejir shift levers, slit upholster

cut ignition wires, leave bolts loose, break off trunk keys in the lock {Tim

1972:76), drop ignition keys in the gas tJink (Garson, 1979a:215), weld bi

of loose scrap metal inside body psuiels (creating permanent unrepairab

rattles) (Swados, 1962:113), drop partisiUy assembled cars from cranes, an

overlook such e rrors as steering w heels that come ofl" in the dr ive r's ha nd

{Blue Collar Trap, 1972). T he guild-craft signatu re of the m od em metsd w orbecomes the surreptitious hammer blow denting the finished product (W.

Upjohn Institute, 1973:88). The task of outwitting security offers the em

ployee-thief "significant job enrichment . . . [providing opportunities] to t£i

matters into his own hands, assume responsibility, make decisions and fa

challenges" (Zeitlin, 1971:24).

Physical aggression and abuse directed toward spouse and children a

other illustrations of deviant actions aime d at prod ucing a m eaningful impa

in primary roles when the requirements of these roles are perceived as stiflior inhibiting (Gelles, 1972; McKinley, 1964:139-157; Steinmetz and Straus

1975:13-14).

Retrtatistn

The retreatist rejects the notion that creative self-expression can be foun

or made possible in primtu-y roles. Meaningful work and other relationshi

are imagined as possible only in some other tim e or place. Cu rre nt unp leasa

circumstances are endured, creative expression deferred. Some believe thunrewarding work or ill-chosen mates are only temporary impediments

their creative urges. They have a plan. Paraphrasing W. Cameron (196

103), such a plan might sound like this: "I'm going to work at this lousy jo

for ten more years, save some money, and then I can quit. Then I'll buy

sailboat, leave my bitchy old woman and sail off to Tahiti, set up housekee

ing with a beautiful native girl and learn to pa in t." O the rs have a less defini

prog ram before th em . T he y accept m ore or less the notion tha t a life of ceas

less and senseless toil with ill-suited and unappreciative companions wultimately lead to opportunities for creative and meaningful action at som




Rebellion

Rebels argue that creativity neither inheres in nor can be infused into

conventional roles. The only way true creativity can be found, they say, is by

a radical restructuring of one's perceptions. In its milder forms this modifica-

tion of perception in search of creative experience is found in religion, psy-

chiatry, consciousness-raising or encounter groups, and the like. All of these

offer an alternative interpretation of experience in primary roles, which

purport to bring meaning and purpose to previously empty acts and relation-

ships. It is claimed that one needs only to get rid of the "p h o n y " conventional

qualities of primary roles and relations and "get in touch with your feelings"

to find the potential for creativity in daily affairs. This is not simply a process

of paying greater attention to the jxjsitive qualities of one's family or work

but a rejection of previous forms of perception in favor of new ones.

In its extreme form this rebellion involves acceptance of Orwellian sorts

of "double think" epitomized by the slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work

Makes You Free) on the gates of Auschwitz concentration camp or Ronald

R ea ga n's dubb ing of a multiwarhead nuclear missile system the " M X Peace-

keeper." Others espwuse the "mind-expanding" drugs as a ready entr6e into

an alternative resdity where creative opportunities abound.*

SummaryI have suggested a form of strain in the relations between socially promul-

gated goals and p rescribed m ean s that explains types of deviance not account-

ed for by Merton and his model of anomie socied actors. This second kind of

strain is the result of a discrepancy between the individual's ability to perform

certain roles and the structured blocks that prevent or limit that role enact-

ment. This strain is the result of a differentiid between what people think

themselves capable of doing and what they are allowed or encouraged to do.

Persons experiencing this variety of strain are not motivated to act by someneed to attain material wealth or social stability but rather by the search for the

satisfaction of experiencing themselves as fully functioning individuals, a

feeling of personal competence. This competence is the experience of effective

interaction with the environment, the act of creative self-expreSsion. Com-

petence is experienced when one's perceived abilities are matched with ap-

proximately equal responsibilities.

When there is an imbalance between capacity and performance, between

the tools at hand and the job to be done, two avenues are open. When chal-lenges outstrip the capacities of the individual to cope with them, we observe



340 RICHARD G. MITCHELL, JR

materialism are too great for those with only a lower-cleiss preparation an

access to that world. The individual experiences a sense of anomie, of existenti

chaos, of normlessness and disorientation. This is the experience Hegel refe

to as separation from Society (Sch2icht, 1970:45-64). On the other hand, whe

individuals perceive that the challenges and responsibilities set before the

are not commensurate with their talents and abilities, when their responsibilitie

do not fully allow them to utilize the skills and capacities they believe the

possess, the response is quite different. They experience eilienation, wh

Hegel refers to as a separation from self. I suggest that the latter reaction mo

frequently characterizes middle-class delinquen t juvenile beh avior a nd certai

kinds of adult criminsdity.

E N D N OT E S

•I would like to acknowledge Robert Merton's patient review of and thoughtful commenta

on this paper. What conceptual errors remain are mine alone. An earlier version was present

at the Society for the Study of Social Problems annual meetings, New York, New York, Septemb

1980.

'The reference here to individual perception is intended and important. While Merto

(1938, 1957) formulation focused pointedly on social structural conditions and rates of devia

acts (see especially M en on , 1957:132 , 163) to the exclusion of individual perception and a ctiomy purpose is to expand the application of the paradigm to the interactional level. Anomie an

alienation are, in this context, conscious, negotiated definitions of experienced situations. Th

are emergent products of the symbolic interaction between persons, social actors' interpretatio

of perceived structural conditions, not Just the conditions themselves.

"While DurKheim was aware of a condition in direct opposition to anomie that I refer

as alienation, where "excessive regulation" and "oppressive discipline" overly restrict individu

action, he granted this circumstance little importance. It receives mention only in a footnot

followed by the qualiHcation that "it has so little contemporary importance and examples a

so hard to fmd . . . that it seems useless to dwell upon it" (Durkheim, 1951:226).

'Alienation is one of the oldest concep ts in the social sciences derived from yet earlier n otio

of original sin. It has been used to describe a wide range of psychological and social condition

including loneliness, powerlessness, isolation, despair, depersonalization, ruthlessness, apath

aggression, self-estrangement, normlessness, atuiety, meaninglessnesg, and hopelessnes

Am ong the social categories said to be alienated or anomie in varying degrees are blacks, wo me

blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, migrant farm workers, artists, college professor

the mentally ill, drug addicts, the aged, adolescents, the poor, the newly rich, voters, victim

of prejudice, the prejudiced, political conserveuives, political radicals, the physically handicappe

immigrants, exiles, bureaucrats, beatniks, and recluies (]ose|^ son and josep hson , 1962:12-13

The Joiephsons observe that, even taking into account possible duplications, this lilt includes

sizable proportion of the persons found in any industrial society.

Eilbrts to organize the melange of meanings applied to alienation have been made b




thai requires little or no thought and "can be used in a great variety of contexts with an air of

expertise" yet signify little or nothing (Kaufman in Schacht, 1970:xlix). In the face of this apparent

ambiguity and vagueness some have called for the abandonment of the term in favor of more

precise and appropriate references (Israel, 1971:289; Feuer, 1%3). My effort here and elsewhere

(M itchell, 1983) has not been to deny the term but to clarify it, to locate alienation and anom ie

on a single dimension of social experience, thus bringing a variety of theory and research ontosome common ground. The perspective of alienation used here has its roots in Marx's use of

the term.

Marx is often credited with bringing alienation into sociology Certainly he did much to

popularize it. His notion of alienation focused on a person's position in the economic order.

Tho se in a capitalistic system who are required to sell their labor are stripped of any meaningful

relationship to the things they produce. Pride of authorship, a sense of personal efTicacy, of

creative self-expression in work are lost. The individual is denied the gratification of the full

use of his or her capacities. Alienated labor is work for some end exterior to the work itself, such

as a paycheck. Such work is no longer intrinsically rewarding but becomes a burden, a noxious

but necessary drudgery (Marx, 1956:169-170).

'Maurice Zuckerman (19 71; Zuckerman in Hooper, 1983) argues that "sensation-seeking"

behavior varies from one individual to the next but is a basic biological trait akin to exploratory

behavior in other species and is related to reduced levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase.

Frank Farley goes further by tying sensation-seeking behavior to creativity. Sensation seekers

are curious, imaginative individuals who enjoy juggling the modalities of perception, rcconcep-

tualizing the world about them in novel ways. Farley posits a kind of opportunity structure

theory of delinquency reminiscent of Cloward and Ohiin (1960) wherein sensation seekers who

are denied opportunities for conventional outlets of their creativity express that capacity in

deviant ways. "H igh creativity and delinquency spring from the same source, like Ja nu s, an

underaroused nervous system . . . . W e just com pleted a study of low-arousal [high sensation-

seeking] kids, in which we found . . . the probability of delinquency was greater in the lower-class

group; of creativity in the higher-class group. I think upper middle-class families can provide

for the low-arousal child's stimulation in socially acceptable ways. A tower-class child with the

same needs may hit the streets, join a gang, run away or get in trouble" (Farley in Hooper,

1983:80, 173).

'The organizers of the Tupperwarc-type parties where glass, cookware, lingerie, basketry

and the like are sold to friends and neighbors demonstrate similar behavior. These exchanges

provide occasions for token business participation and demonstration of sales skills yet are

seldom motivated exclusively by extrinsic proFit except perhaps for mid-level sales managers.

Others m ay display their entrepreneurial com petence by fund-raising efforts on behalf of charitabk

and philanthropic organizations where personal financial gain is altogether precluded but the

real and intransigent challenges of the marketplace remain.

'The pharmacological properties of drugs used in the adaptive proceu are less important

than their social definitions. As noted, h allucinogens may be emp loyed by ritualists to purposely

limit performance capa cities or, alternatively, as tools for rebellious manipulation of conventional

perceptions of reality. Still others may flnd in the use of opiates a confirmation of their creative

abilities. Finestone (1957) has shown that heroin addicts sometimes develop shared rationaliu-

tions, which give them a sense of superiority through rejection of conventional standards. From

this alternative subcultural perspective, drug usage is not an escape but a valued enhancement<il and achievement in perception, a form of creative setf-expreuion.



3 4 2 RICH ARD G. MITCHELL, JR.

REFERENCES

Arnott, Catherine, and Vern L. Bengtson

1970 " 'Only a homemaker'; Distributive justice and role choice among married wo m en

Sociology and Social Research 54:495-507.Barakat, Halim

1969 "A lienatio n: A process of encounter between Utopia and rea lity." British Journal

Sociology 20(1):l-IO.

Berlyne, Daniel

1960 Con flict, Arousal and Curiosity. New York: McGraw Hill.

Blue Collar Trap

1972 A Nationa l Broadcasting Com pany fUm. W llmelle, 111.: Films Incorporated.

Bryant, Clifton D. (ed.)

1974 Deviant Behavior: Occupational and Organizational Bases. Chicago: Rand McN all

Cameron, Mary Owen

1964 Th e Booster and the Snitch . New York: Free Press.

Cameron, William Bruce

I%7 Informal Sociology. New York: Random Ho use.

Clinard, Marshall B. (ed.)

1964 Ano mie and Deviant Behavior. I^n don : The Free Press of Glenco e.

Cloward, Richard D., and Lloyd E. Ohlin

1960 Delinq uency and Op portunity. New York: Free Press.

Coburn, David

1975 "Job-worker incongruence: Consequences for hea lth." Journal of Health and Soci

Behavior 16(2):213-225.

Cohen, Albert K.

1955 Delinquent Boys: Th e Culture of the Ga ng. New York: Free Press.

Cooley, Charles Horton

1912 Social Organization: A Study of the Larger M ind. New York. Charles Scribner

Sons.

Coser, Lewis A.

1969 "Alienation and an om ie." Pp. 503 -505 in Lewis A. Coser and Bernard Rosenbe

(eds.). Sociological Theory (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly1975 Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. San Francisco: Josey-Ba ss.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, and Reed Larson

1978 "Intrinsic rewards in school crim e." Crime and Delinquency 24(2 ):322 -335 .

deOrazia, Sebastian

1962 O f Tim e, Work and Leisure. New York: Doub leday.

Durkheim, Emile

1951 Suicid e. New York: Free Press. (Origina lly published 1897.)

Empey, LaMar

1978 Am erican Delinquency. Hom ewoo d, III.: Dorsey Press.

Finestone, Harold1957 "C ats , kicks and colo r." Social Problems 5tJuIy) 3-1 3-



ALIENATION AND DEVIANCE 3 4 3

Friedan, Betty

1963 The Feminine M ystique. New York: Dell.

Friedenberg, Edfâr

1966 "Ad olescence as a social pro blem ." In Howard S. Becker (ed .), Social Probletns:

A Modern Approach. New York- Wiley.

Feuer, Lewis1963 "W hat is alienation? Th e career of a concept." Pp . 127-147 in Ma urice Stein and

Arthur Vidich (eds .), Sociolojjy on Trial. Englewood Cliffs, N.J Prentice Hall, Inc.

Garson, Barbara

1979a "Luddites in Lordstown " Pp. 2 U -2 1 7 in Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Barry Stein

(eds ), Life in Organ izations New York. Basic Books.

1979b "R outine work ." P p. 190 -204 in Peter I. Rose (ed .). Socialization and the Life

Cycle. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Gelles, Richard

1972 Th e Violent Ho me . Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage.

Glaser, Daniel

1975 Strategic Critninal Justice Planning. Rockville, Md .: National Institute of Mental

Health, Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency. DHEW publication no.

(ADM)75-195.

Grubb, Eric A.

1975 "Assem bly line boredom and individual differences in recreation participation ."

Journal of Leisure Research 7(4).256-269.

Hebb, Donald O

1955 "Drive and the C N S ." Psychological Review (July):243-25 2.

Hessler, Richard M

1974 "Junkies in white: Drug addiction among physicians." Pp. 146-153 in Clifton D.

Bryant (ed.). Deviant Behavior: Occupational and Organizational Bases. Chicago:

Rand McNally.

Hirschi, Travis

1969 Causes of Delinq uency . Berkeley: University of California Press.

Hirschi, Travis, and Michael Gottfredson

1983 "A ge and the explanation of crim e." American Journal of Sociology 89(Novem ber):

552-584.

Hooper, Judith

1983 "Charts of the sou l." Om ni (M arch):73 -78, 80, 137.Hunt, Joseph M.

1965 "Intrinsic motivation and its role in psychological develo pm ent." Nebraska Symposium

on Motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Israel, J.

1971 Alienation from Marx to M odem Sociology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Johnson, Frank (ed.)

1973 Alienation. New York: Seminar Press.

Josephson, E., and M. Josephson

1962 Man Alone. New York: Dell.

Julian, Joseph1977 Social Problems. Englewood ClifTs, N .J .: Prentice Hall.



3 4 4 R IC HA R D G. MITC HELL, J R .

Kamer, Rosabeth Mos.s, and Barry Stein (eds.)

1979 Life in Org anizations. New York: Basic Bo olu.

Marx, Karl

1956 Karl Marx: Sflected Writings in Sociology and Social Ftiilos(iphy. T. B. Boitom

and Maxiniilicn Rukxl, i-ds. London: Watts

Mathewson, Stanley B.

1931 Restriction of Output among Unorganized Workers New York: Th e Viking Pr

Mc Gr a t hJ . E .

1970 "A conceptual formulation on stress ." Pp. 10-21 in J. E. McGrath (ed.). Social

chological Factors in Stress. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

McK inley, D onald Gilben

1%4 Social Class and Family Life. London: Free Press.

Merton, Robert K.

1938 "Social structure and an om ie." American Sociological Review 3(Octo ber)-672-6

1957 Social Theo ry and Social Structure. G lenco e, III.: Free Press.Mitchell, Richard G., Jr

1983 M ountain Experience C hicago: University of Chicago

Molstad, Clark

1980 "W orker alienation ." Unpu blished manu script. Department of Sociology, Univer

of California, Los Angeles.

Oakley, Ann

1974 Th e Sociology of Housework. L ondon: Martin Robertson and Co , Ltd.

Rollin, Betty

1973 "M otherhood: Who needs it?" Pp. 322 -329 in Marcia E. I^sswell and Th oma

L.asswell(eds.), Love, Marriage, Family. Glenview, 111. Scott, Foresman and Com pa

Roman, Paul M.

1974 "S ettings for successful deviance: Drinking and deviant drinking amo ng middle-

upper-level employees." Pp. 109-128 in Clifton D. Bryant (ed.). Deviant Behav

Occupational and Organizational Base. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Roy, Donald F.

1959 "B ana na time: Jo b satisfaction and informal interaction " Hum an Orga nization

158-168.

1974 "Se x in the factory: Informal heterosexual relations between supervisors and w

groups." Pp. 44-66 in Clifton D. Bryant (ed.). Deviant Behavior: Occupational

Organizational Bases. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Schacht, Richard

1970 Alienation. Garden City , N.Y .: Dou bleday.

Scott, M. D.

1965 "T he social sources of alienation ." Pp. 239 -252 in I. Horowitz (ed .). The New S

ology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Seeman, Melvin

1959 "O n the meaning of alienation ." American Sociological Review 24:7 83-7 91.

Spreitzer, Elmer A., and Eldon E. Snyder

1974 "W ork onentation, m eaning of leisure and mental hea lth." Journal of Leisure search 6(Summer):207-2I9.




Swados, Harvey

1962 "T he myth of the happy worker." Pp. 106 -114 in Eric and Mary Josephson (eds.),

Man Alone. New York; Dell.

Time

1972 "Sabotage at Lordstown?" Tim e (February 7):76.

W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research1973 Work in Am erica. Report of a Special Task Force to the Secretary of He alth, Educa-

tion and Welfare Cam bridge, Ma ss.: MIT Press.

White, Robert W.

1959 "M otivation reconsidered: The concept of com petence." Psychological Review 66.

297-333.

Wilensky, Harold L

1960 "Work careers and social integ ratio n." International Social Science JournaU 12(Fall):

543-560

Zeitlin, Lawrence R

1971 "A little larceny can do a lot for emp loyee mora le." Psychology Tod ay (Jun e):22 ,

24, 26, 64.

Zuckerman, Maurice

1971 "Dim ensions of sensation-seeking." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

36(February):45-52.



Documents

Strain Theory Reconsidered