Crime And Devinance-Functionalist Theories Flashcards
What did Durkheim believe about crime?
-norms and values act as a social glue
Saw crime and law as functional because:
- maintains boundaries of acceptable behaviour
- brings about adaptation and change
What did A.Cohen think crime functioned as?
A warning device that signals dysfunction in society eg terrorism
Explain Merton’s “Strain theory”
There is a strain between peoples success of the goal and the access to achieving it.
American culture makes people believe that they can achieve through hard work and effort but in reality they underachieve in education and end up in a bad job or unemployed leading them to crime
Some people have blocked opportunities eg w/c underachieving in education
Outline and explain Merton’s “5 possible strains”
Merton argued that individuals respond to the anomie caused by blocked opportunity in 5 ways
Conformity- accept goals and strive to achieve legitimately
Innovation- individuals create new ways of achieving goals eg theft
Retreatism- reject fails and means and become dropouts eg drug addicts
Rebellion- reject goals and means but act out against society and replace the desires to bring about change to create a new society eg terrorist
Ritualism- give up on trying and settle into a routine of dead end jobs
What did Etzioni believe about crime?
Believed that people in the West had too much freedom and not enough responsibility
Coined “communitarianism” to mean a system where the community works together to work out what is a good and bad
He favours social order where the community identifies the common good and persuades it’s members to act towards it
Explain Hirschi’s theory of social bonds of attachment
-examines the idea that people are deterred from crime because of social bonds
Attachment- to what extent we care about other people’s opinions
Commitment- the personal investments we make eg what would I lose if caught? Eg status
Involvement- how busy am I? Do I have time to commit crime?
Belief- how strong is a persons sense that we should obey the rules
General criticisms of functionalism
Ignores individuals motive for crime
Glorifies or excuses criminals and their acts
Doesn’t indicate how much crime is too much crime
Explain status frustration- A.Cohen(1955)
Drew up on Merton’s ideas
Acts weren’t committed due to being economically motivated but for the thrill
Lowers class boys lacked the means to attain success so it lead to status frustration- sense of personal failure
Rejected values and it is suggested that school is the key area for playing out
W/c pupils more likely to fail and be humiliated so to gain status they engage in anti social acts
Explain the illegitimate opportunity structure- Cloward and Ohlin(1960)
Criminal- thriving local criminal subcultures, with successful role models. Young offenders can work their way up the criminal ladder
Conflict- no local criminal subculture to provide a career opportunity. Groups brought up like this are likely to turn to violence usually against other similar groups
Retreatist- occurs when the individual has no opportunity or ability to engage in either of the two subcultures. They retreat to drugs/alcohol
Explain the 6 focal concerns-Miller
According to Miller, young w/c males are pushed towards crime by their imbedded values of their w/c subculture
Smartness- person looks good and is witty
Toughness- being physically strong is good
Autonomy- important to not be pushed around
Fate- individual has little chance to overcome the wider fate
Excitement- important to search for thrills
Trouble- “I don’t go looking for trouble but…”
Criticisms of status frustration
No discussion of women
Fails to prove that school is the place where success and failure are demonstrated
Evaluation of the illegitimate opportunity structure
Shows for some people there really is a criminal opportunity structure
Shares some weaknesses with Merton’s theory:
No discussion for female deviancy
Difficult to accept that it fits with one category
Evaluation of the focal concerns
Provides little evidence to show these are specifically lower class values
