ac 2.3 Flashcards
what are the 3 sections of sociological theories?
social structure, interactionalism, realism
what 3 theories go under the social structure section?
marxism, strain theory and functionalism
what theory goes under the interactionalism section?
labelling theory
what 2 theories go under the realism section?
left and right realism
who came up with functionalism and what is it?
Durkheim, functionalists believe society is based on mutual agreement and unity.
social rules of behaviour and important beliefs are taught by social institutions e.g family and school by a process called socialisation.
society is often compared to the human body by functionalists, called the organ analogy.
Durkheim believed that some crime was inevitable and even beneficial for society however, too much crime and society becomes chaotic and dysfunctional (anomie) if there is no crime society becomes stagnant.
what are the 3 main functions of crime for society according to functionalists?
1) adaption and change 2) boundary maintenance- crimes create public outrage which reinforces our collective conscience and our shared norms and values 3)crime as a ‘safety valve’ - according to some functionalists, committing some crime can be used to relax from the stresses of life which can be beneficial for maintaining social order e.g prostitution
how does functionalism explain criminality?
crime and deviance exists because they are functional and beneficial to our society, a small amount of crime can cause us to evolve, reiterate shared norms and values and even help us relax. without crime out society would not progress however, with too misfit crime we will lose control and create anomie
what is anomie?
when society becomes chaotic and dysfunctional because there is too much crime.
what are some strengths and weaknesses of functionalism?
+ there is supporting evidence (George Floyds murder brought people together), there is credibility to the idea of crime
- It doesn’t actually explain what causes crime just that it is functional for society, it overlooks the negative effect on the victim.
