1. Functionalist, Strain and Subcultural theories Flashcards
Durkheim’s functionalist theory
- Functionalism sees society based on value consensus - sees members of society as sharing a common culture
- A culture is a set of shared norms, values, beliefs and goals
- Sharing the same culture produces social solidarity - it binds individuals together, telling them what to strive for and how to conduct themselves
How is social solidarity maintained? (2 points)
- Socialisation - insists the shared culture into its members, helping to ensure that individuals intervene the same norms and values.
- Social Control - mechanisms include rewards for conformity and punishments for deviance. Helps to ensure individuals behave in a way society expects.
Why does crime exist in society?
- Ineffective socialisation - not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values.
- Diversity of lifestyles and values - different groups develop their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values.
Two positive functions of crime
- Boundary maintenance
- Reaction to crime - unites members in condemnation and reinforces shared norms and values
- Explains functions of functionalism
- Dramatized wrongdoing, public shaming etc.
Role of the media (Cohen) - Adaptation and change
- Change starts with an act of deviance
- There must be challenge and scope to change norms and values
- If new ideas are suppressed, society will stagnate and will not make necessary adaptive changes
Evaluation of Durkheim’s functionalist theory
+ A USEFUL EXPLANATION - provided on alterative explanation to biological and psychological explanation at the time
- IT IGNORES SOCIAL DIFFERENCES - it fails to explain the social differences of crime. It doesn’t account for why certain individuals are more prone to commit crime than others.
- IT IGNORES THE CRIMES OF THE POWERFUL - fails to explain the relationship between power and crime. Fails to acknowledge criminal laws are made to benefit powerful social groups. Bias of law-enforcement agencies is against the lower w/c.
- IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE TO MODERN SOCIETY - may be outdated or more appropriate for more simplistic societies rather than modern multi-cultural societies, such as the UK.
- THEORETICAL CONTRADICTION - does deviance help promote social stability and reaffirm moral boundaries through punishment of offenders OR does it prepare the way for social change through the testing of society’s social boundaries
Merton’s strain theory overview
Merton. functionalist, expanded on Durkheim’s concept of anomie to explain criminal and deviant behaviour. He explained the causes of crime and deviance were due to structural inequality (unequal opportunities due to class position) which can lead to some people deviating from the agreed basic rules of society. He notes the interplay of 2 factors which can lead to crime and deviance.
- STRUCTURAL FACTORS - structural inequality, i.e. unequal opportunity, notably for the lower w/c
- CULTURAL FACTORS - the emphasis on achieving society’s cultural goods, i.e. the ‘American Dream’ (material wealth and lifestyle) but not having the legitimate means of achieving them.
5 types of mode of adaptation to strain anomie in attempting to achieve society’s cultural goals
- CONFORMITY - individuals who accept the goals through legitimate means.
- INNOVATION - individuals who accept the goals of a society but don’t have the legitimate means of achieving them so they use illegitimate means .
- RITUALISM - individuals who accept the goals of success and money or the means of achieving them, but have lost sight of the ‘end goals’ (material wealth) but continue to follow the ‘means’ of achieving them.
- RETREATISM - individuals who reject the goals and the legitimate means of acquiring them and who often react by dropping out of a society.
- REBELION - individuals who reject the goals and means of success and ideally would like to replace them with radical alternatives to bring about social changes in society (e.g. political activists)
Merton’s strain theory explained
- When there is STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY, most notably within the w/c, the opportunity to achieve culturally approved goals places greater ‘STRAIN’ (pressure and tension) on individuals to achieve them.
- This can lead to the breakdown or norms of accepted behaviour known as ‘ANOMIE’ which can result in criminal behaviour and deviancy.
Evaluation of Merton
Merton shares how both normal and deviant behaviour can arise from the same mainstream goods e.g. conforms and innovators are both pursuing same goals but by different means.
We can use this to explore patterns in crime:
- Property crime is high because American society values material wealth so highly.
- Lower class crime rates are high because they have least amount of opportunities to obtain wealth legitimately.
Criticisms of Merton
- Takes statistics at face value, too deterministic
- Marxists argue it ignores the power of the ruling class to make and enforce the laws that discriminate against the poor
- Assumes value consensus - everyone wants monetary success
- Only accounts for utilitarian crimes not crimes of violence, vandalism etc. Can strain theory explain state crimes?
- Doesn’t take into account deviant subcultures - focus on individual
Hirschi - Bonds of Attachment
Identifies 4 social bonds which pull people away from crime and towards conformity:
Commitment - people are committed to conventional activities like working, getting educated, raising a family and building for the future. Have a stake in conformity an have no wish to risk this through crime
Attachment - people are attached to those around them, like family, friends and those in their local communities; sensitive and interested in their needs and wishes
Belief - people share moral beliefs such as respect for rights of others and need for obedience to the law
Involvement - people are involved with and kept busy with sports teams, school activities, community and religious groups and social clubs. They have no time or opportunity for crime.
Subcultural Strain Theories - Cohen-status frustration
Agrees with Merton that deviance largely a lower-class phenomenon
Criticises Merton’s explanation of deviance on 2 grounds:
- Merton sees deviance as an individual response to strain, ignoring the fact that much deviance is committed in or by groups, especially among the young
- Merton focuses on utilitarian crime committed for material gain, such as theft or fraud. Largely ignores crimes such as assault and vandalism, which may have no economic motive.
Cohen focuses on deviance among w/c boys. He says that they face anomie in the m/c dominated school system.
They suffer from CD and lack of skills to achieve; their inability to succeed in this m/c world leaves them at the bottom of the official status hierarchy.
As a result of being unable to achieve status by legitimate means (education), the boys suffer status frustration
Struggle to adjust to the low status they are given by mainstream society
In Cohen’s view, they resolve their frustration by rejecting mainstream m/c values and they turn instead to other boys in the same situation, forming or joining a delinquent subculture
Alternative status hierarchy
- Subculture values are often spite, malice, hostility and contempt
- Status is gained from going against the mainstream values e.g. vandalising, property, truancy
- The subculture offers alternative status hierarchy in which to achieve
- Helps to explain non-economic delinquency
- Assumes w/c boys start in sharing m/c success goals - what if they didn’t share these goals in the first place and therefore never saw themselves as failures?
Cloward and Ohlin - 3 subcultures
- Criminal subcultures - provides youth with an apprenticeship for a career in utilitarian crime. A rise in neighbourhoods with longstanding and stable criminal culture. Established hierarchy. Selected because of appropriate aptitude and abilities. Provided with training and role models as well as opportunities.
- Conflict subcultures - in areas of high population turnover. High levels of social disorganisation, prevents stable professional criminal network forming. Illegitimate opportunities are available in loosely organised gangs. Violence provides a release for young men’s frustrations, alternative source of status, turf wars. Closest to that described by Cohen.
- Retreatist subcultures - those who aspire to being a professional criminal or gang leader don’t always succeed. They have failed in both the legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures. These people often result in retreatist subcultures based on illegal drug use
Evaluation of subcultural strain theories
- Overpredict the w/c (ignores wider power structure including who makes and enforces the laws)
- Boundaries between different types of subculture are drawn too sharply (crossover between different types of subculture)
- Don’t explain why subcultures form, over-reliant on the idea that everyone shares values
- Miller (subculturalist) - says w/c have their own independent subculture with their own values and ‘success’ in a conventional sense, is not one of them. Miller calls these values ‘focal concerns’:
- Excitement
- Smartness
- Trouble
- Fatalism
- Toughness -> Toxic masculinity, post modernists
- Autonomy -> regulate yourself
- Motza - says C and O work is too deterministic. He says young people don’t have the kind of commitment to subcultures that C and O describe. Instead, they ‘drift’ in and out of them. Subterranean values - everyone is capable of criminal and deviant behaviour (kept in check most of the time). Occasionally such values ruse to surface. (e.g., losing temper, getting into a fight) (drugs and alcohol)
