When our staff informed me that the subject for our Amarillo meeting was to be 'Amorie in Texas' by professor Helen Smeadon of Texas Tech in Lubbock, I told them: 'I don't know what that word means and I will bet none of the others do, either.'  After phone calls confirming this I asked the young people to formulate a definition, which they circulated prior to the meeting:                                                                                                   AMOMIE (French) or AMOMY (English).  A precise sociological term popularized by the French scolar Emily Durkheim.  1.)  Collapse of the guiding social structures governing a specific society.  2.)  State of alienation experienced by a class or an individual resulting from such collapse.  3.)  Severe personal disorganization resulting in anti-social behavior.                                                                                                               [Greek  anomia= lawlessness < amonos = lawless: a - without + nomos law.]                                                                       Characterized by a feeling of rootlessness and a contempt for others who do not obey the social laws. Commonly witnessed  1.) In times of radical change  2.) During movement from one society to another  3.) As a result of death in one's family or divorce  4.) Following severe or disorienting mental illness.                                                                                                                                                                                                   A common cause of movement to frontier societies or a result of such movement.                                                                                                     ULTIMATE MANIFESTATION:  SUICIDE !