There are social bonds that hold society together. Crime and deviance occurs when bonds break and attachments weaken. When a bond breaks you have nothing to lose.

We are socialised correctly but are blocked from the material goals. This causes strain and could therefore lead to innovation - the goal and the means do not match.

He altered anomie to mean a society where there is a 'disjunction between goals and means'.

Lower-class boys are driven to commit deviance because they have status frustration. They are blocked from status in education and have a reaction formation from being blocked. They then feel status frustration and form a subculture where status is awarded through deviance.

The working-class have an illegitimate career structure which has three subcultures: Criminal, Conflict, Retreatists. Agree with Merton that the common factor behind crime is blocked opportunities and argue this often results in lower working-class delinquents driven to seek status within their own communities through an illegitimate career structure.

Deviancy is linked to the culture of lower-class males. All lower-class males have their own norms and values. Male working-class delinquent behaviour is a normal part of macho lower-class culture or 'focal concerns'.

Studied young working-class males in London. He could find no evidence of them having distinct values. He suggested that they were 'dissociated' from mainstream values. They were more concerned with leisure than their long-term future or employment, and were more likely to engage in petty crime. Young men go through periods of conformity and periods of deviance. e.g. they work from 9-5 and are bored yet conform. When they leave work they are then deviant and seek thrill.

Influenced by the work of Durkheim, as shown by their concept of social disorganisation. The 'zone in transition' has the most crime because of the very fluid population - cannot regulate behaviour.

Criticism - Women commit petty crimes like shoplifting and prostitution which is them conforming to their gender roles as providers.

Criticism - Merton is wrong to assume there is a set of common goals in society.

Criticism - This sociologist pointed out that these focal concerns could equally apply to males right across the class structure.

Instead of adopting a counter-culture, young black youth actively embraced mainstream US culture. This stems from media with its emphasis upon consumerism. Black youth are often denied material wealth through legitimate means so they engage in crime in order to obtain them.