Durkheim’s Functionalist Theory Flashcards
What are the 2 key mechanisms that functionalists argue achieve solidarity in society ?
-Socialisation instils the shared culture into its members
-Social mechanisms include rewards for conformity and punishments for deviance , these help to ensure that individuals behave in the way that society expects
What do functionalists see crime as ?
Functionalists see crime as inevitable and universal , every known society has some levels of crime and deviance
What does Durkheim see crime as ?
Durkheim “crime is normal …. An integral part of all healthy societies “
What are the 2 main reasons that crime is found in all societies ?
- not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values , so some individuals will be prone to deviate.
-in complex modern societies , there is diversity of lifestyles and values , different groups develop their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values , and what the members of the subculture regard as normal , mainstream culture may see as deviant
Why does Durkheim believe individuals in a modern society become increasingly different from one another ?
In Durkheim’s view , modern societies tend towards anomie - the rules governing behaviour become weaker and less clear cut . This is because modern societies have a complex , specialised division of labour , which leads individuals to become increasingly different from one another . This weakens the shared culture and results in higher levels of deviance . For example , Durkheim sees anomie as a cause of suicide
What are the 2 positive functions of crime put forward by Durkheim ?
-Boundary maintenance
-Adaptation and change
Durkheim - positive function of crime - what is meant by boundary maintenance ?
-crime produces a reaction from society , uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoers and reinforcing their commitment to shared norms and values
-In Durkheim’s view ,the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society’s shared rules and reinforce social solidarity
-This may be done through the rituals of a courtroom which dramatise wrongdoing and publicly shame the offender this discourages others from breaking rules and laws
What did Cohen’s study find out about boundary maintenance - positive function of crime ?
Cohen has examined the important role played by the media in the dramatisation of evil . In his view , media coverage of crime and deviance often creates folk devils
Durkheim - Positive function of crime - what is meant by Adaptation and change ?
-For Durkheim , all change starts with an act of deviance
- individuals with new ideas ,values and ways of living must not be completely stifled by the weight of social control . There must be some scope for them to challenge and change existing norms and values , and in the first instance this will inevitably appear as deviance
Durkheim - positive function of crime - Adaptation and change - what are the 2 reasons too much crime or too little crime that Durkheim believes signals some malfunctioning of the social system ?
Durkheim believes neither a very high or very low level of crime is desirable .
Each of these signals some malfunctioning of the social system ;
-Too much crime threatens to tear the bonds of society apart
-Too little means that society is controlling its members too much , and not letting individuals have freedom and preventing change
What does Davis believe is a positive function of crime ?
Davis argues that prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release of men’s sexual frustrations without threatening the nuclear family
What does Polsky believe is a positive function of crime ?
Polsky argues that pornography safely channels a variety of sexual desires away from alternatives such as adultery , which would pose a much greater threat to the family
What if one function of deviance and crime that cohen came up with ?
Cohen identifies another function of crime and deviance - a warning that an institution isn’t functioning properly
For example high truancy rates may tell us that there are problems with the education system and policy makers need to make appropriate changes to it
What did Erikson say about the inevitability of crime ?
Erikson argues that if deviance performs social positive functions , then perhaps it means society is actually organised so as to promote deviance . He suggests that the true function of agencies of social control such as the police may actually be to sustain a certain level of crime rather than to rid society of it
Criticisms of Durkheim’s (Functionalism ) functionalist theory ?
-For Durkheim , society requires a certain amount of deviance to function successfully , but he offers no way of knowing how much is the right amount
-Functionalism look at what functions crime serves for society as a whole and ignores how it might affect different groups or individuals within society eg seeing a murderer punished for his crime may be seen as functional in reinforcing solidarity among the rest of society but obviously isn’t functional for
the victim . Functionalism misses this because it fails to ask functional for whom ?
-Crime doesn’t always promote solidarity , it may have the opposite effect , leading people to become isolated . For example forcing women to stay indoors for fear of attack
