Which deviant adaptation represents withdrawal from society by rejecting both the goals and the means?

Which deviant adaptation represents withdrawal from society by rejecting both the goals and the means?

• A. Retreatism
• B. Innovation
• C. Ritualism
• D. Rebellion

Answer: (A)

Withdrawal from society by rejecting both the culturally approved goals and the legitimate means to reach them is best understood as retreatism in Merton’s framework. It describes people who disengage from the pursuit of success and drop out of the accepted routes to achieve it, effectively isolating themselves from social life. This differs from innovation, which accepts the goal but uses illegitimate means to reach it; ritualism, which goes through the motions of the means without caring about the goal; and rebellion, which rejects both the existing goals and means in favor of a new social order.

Withdrawal from society by rejecting both the culturally approved goals and the legitimate means to reach them is best understood as retreatism in Merton’s framework. It describes people who disengage from the pursuit of success and drop out of the accepted routes to achieve it, effectively isolating themselves from social life. This differs from innovation, which accepts the goal but uses illegitimate means to reach it; ritualism, which goes through the motions of the means without caring about the goal; and rebellion, which rejects both the existing goals and means in favor of a new social order.