Charles M. Grigg

Urbanism, Race, and Anomia

The variables most emphasized in relation to anomia have been (1) urban residence and (2) position in the social structure. However, empirical studies testing these hypotheses have relied primarily on white samples. This study, using both white and Negro samples, suggests that for whites position in the social structure is more closely related to high anomia than is urban residence, although urban residence and low status have an additive effect. For Negroes, however, anomia is high for both small-town residents and lower-class urban Negroes. But high position in the social structure plus urban residence reduces anomia.

Societal Coordination by the Educated Minority

The authors have performed field research on some of the problems of societal consensus posed by Louis Kriesberg in PROD III (September, 1959). They find that a high degree of consensus does not exist except on the most abstract principles concerning society and government, and this primarily among the highly educated. They suggest that apathy may be a functional adaptation of modern society to the absence of extended consensus, and that further research may indicate which groups among the educated minority are responsible for the coordination of society.