SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as an anomie

SARS-CoV-2 is a pathogenic viral infection that was identified in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. After just a few weeks, further viral infections have also been detected in other countries. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, and in April 2020, numerous infections and deaths were reported in almost all parts of the world. The dynamic development of this virus infection and the COVID-19 disease caused by it have led to restrictions and new regulations being introduced in almost all countries to halt the exponential growth of infections and protect the health and life of citizens. The most common restrictions are the closure of places of education, culture and work until further notice, breaks in tourist traffic and forced social isolation. The new restrictions make many people fear the possibility of illness and death, economic crisis, and the uncertainty of the future, but they also adopt attitudes of rebellion or rejecting the possibility of danger. Some may try to take advantage of the new circumstances to make money from trading in rare goods. The pandemic, and in particular the experiences and behaviours that accompany it, has led to the disintegration of existing rules within society while introducing new rules that are necessary to achieve new goals: survival, avoidance of infection and maintenance of social order. The research was conducted among students from Poland and Iraq. The aim was to determine different ways of adapting to the anomie (according to Robert Merton’s theory) among students. The research was conducted from the 30th of March to the 16th of April 2020. The research tool, a survey questionnaire, was distributed via the internet. A total of 502 students participated in the survey. The results showed that conformist behaviour is the most common among the respondents, while deviant ways of adaptation to new conditions were noticed only incidentally. Students from Iraq followed rules that can help to reduce the infection more than students from Poland. Medical students much more practised the principles associated with quarantine and personal hygiene than by students of other faculties. Moreover, these principles are more often observed by residents of large cities and rarely by those living in the countryside.