Within my own community, I have seen this as more and more people travel farther and farther away for college, and settle far away from their parents. Access to expanded opportunities motivates the individual to break his or her existing social ties.

A third and final sociological concept manifested in the McMinden example is seen in the prevalence of drug addiction in the town. As noted by Manuel Mendoza, a Hispanic police officer who has made some inroads into the once almost entirely white town's law enforcement hierarchy, drug use crosses all racial divides, as the town's economic condition has worsened, so has the prevalence of addiction. Individuals who feel they have been denied the opportunity to fully enjoy the American Dream, particularly when confronted with increasingly unrealistic expectations of material success in the media, often experience what Robert K. Merton called anomie, or alienation. One of the ways individuals...
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