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Journal Article 1: Carter, E. M., & Carter, M. V. (2007) A social psychological analysis of anomie among National Football League players. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 42(3), 243-270.

Abstract: This exploratory study utilized a mixed-method approach to examine why some NFL players participate in deviant, and sometimes law-breaking, behavior and others do not. The qualitative findings in conjunction with Durkheimian theory provided the conceptualization of a quantitative instrument. Through a snowball sample, 104 NFL players were interviewed and surveyed. From the qualitative data, three core themes emerged: 1) deviance, 2) anomie, and 3) social ties. Within the study group, a substantial number of players had prior experience with deviant and illegal behaviors. It appeared that some level of anomie was present in a number of these players' lives. However, players that had strong ties to various social groups appeared less likely to succumb to anomie and deviance. Supporting the qualitative data, the quantitative findings revealed that anomie was one of the significant predictors of law-breaking players. It would therefore appear reasonable to suggest that some of the players were involved in behaviors that could be labeled anomic deviance. Furthermore, the findings supported the primacy of social ties/support in buffering anomie and deviance in the lives of NFL players in the study group.

Journal Article 2: DiCristina, B. (2015). Durkheim’s theory of anomie and crime: A clarification and elaboration. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 49(3), 311-331.

Abstract: In contemporary criminology, the proposal of a relationship between anomie and crime typically is traced to the work of Émile Durkheim. Yet, despite the prominence of anomie theory in this field, Durkheim’s theory of anomie and crime has not been carefully explicated and elaborated. Durkheim did not provide an extensive discussion of how anomie affects crime rates, and he certainly did not present anomie as the only cause of crime. Nonetheless, a careful examination of his rather elusive concept of anomie, together with a few small inferences, yields a relatively coherent theory of crime that differs from the popular interpretations of his work. The analysis begins with an inquiry into five different conceptions of anomie that can be abstracted from Durkheim’s writings. This is followed by an examination of what he implied regarding anomie as a cause of property crime, violent crime, and “juvenile crime.” The final section explores the effects of anomie on criminal law—that is, on decisions to define and treat various actions as criminal. Unlike most contemporary anomie theories, Durkheim’s theory, as elaborated in this article, integrates a theory of crime causation with an account of criminal law.