Resumo

RAMIREZ DE GARAY, Luis David. The Anomia-Tension Approach and the Study of Crime. Sociológica (Méx.) [online]. 2013, vol.28, n.78, pp.41-68. ISSN 2007-8358.

This article proposes a revision of the anomia-tension approach in terms of its usefulness for the empirical study of crime. Beginning with its origins, it reviews its principal exponents and identifies a group of indispensable criticisms. In the end, it is possible to visualize the aforementioned focus as an instrument with the potential to guide the study of the relationship between crime and social context. However, two problems must be dealt with: the limits for explaining expressive crime (violent crime), and the explanatory capabilities restricted to specific contexts (like the North American one). For that, the author puts forward an alternative based on certain key reformulations for increasing the focus's applicability in the study of violent crime.

Palavras-chave : crime; violent crime; anomia; tension; context.