Resumen El presente articulo expone la teoria criminologica desarrollada por Ro-bert Merton, a partir del estudio del delito en la sociedad norteamericana. Para ello, en la introduccion se hace referencia a las condiciones econo-micas, sociales y juridicas de la epoca, contextualizando la teoria de la anomia desarrollada por Merton en el marco del pensamiento estructural funcionalista; luego, se menciona la importancia de sus planteamientos, relacionandolos con formulaciones posteriores y la teoria sistemica de la prevencion integradora, y por ultimo, se dan a conocer las conclusiones. Palabras clave: Sociedad, delito, anomia, delincuente (Tesauro de po-litica criminal latinoamerica-na - ILANUD). Abstract This article exposes the criminological theory developed by Robert Merton from his study of crime in the United States society. For this purpose, re-ference is made in the introduction of the economic, social and legal con-ditions of his time, by contextualizing the theory of anomie developed by Merton within the framework of structural functionalism thought. Subse-quently, the importance of his approaches, by associating them with later formulations and the systemic theory of integrating prevention; and, finally, conclusions are exposed.