Durkheims Functionalist theory

Question 1

What is deviance?

Answer 1

deviance is behaviour that does not conform to the norms of society or group

Question 2

What is a crime?

Answer 2

an offence which goes beyond the personal, and into the public sphere, breaking rules and laws, to which legitimate punishments, or sanctions are attached, and which requires the interventions of a public authority

Question 3

The nature of society

Answer 3

-Society is based on mutual agreement and unity, and is fair and meritocratic- everyone has a possibility to succeed and be socially mobile
-Everyone wants to have high life, chances, but people are chosen and moved into positions of success on the basis of their demonstrated merits and abilities
-Durkheim believes some people are able to achieve more than others, and this is still useful because all of societies roles get filled up, no matter how high or low they might be- ROLE ALLOCATION

Question 4

What are some barriers in society?

Answer 4

poverty, level of education, ethnicity, gender, age, class

Question 5

‘ crime is normal… an integral (essential) part of all healthy societies”

Answer 5

crime will always occur because meritocracy creates differences and inequality between individuals, meaning some groups will have advantages while others are at a disadvantage

Question 6

What are some positive functions of crime?

Answer 6

-boundary maintenance
-adaptation and change
-Safety valve
-As a warning sign
-Create jobs e.g police, courts etc

Question 7

boundary maintenance

Answer 7

crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the shared, norms and values
-Purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society, shared values and reinforce social solidarity e.g. Through publicly shaming, and stigmatising the offender.
-reaffirms values of the law abiding majority and discourages others from rule-breaking
-STANLEY COHEN: role played by media in the ‘ dramatisation of evil’- media coverage of crime and deviance often creates ‘ folk devils’

Question 8

adaptation and change

Answer 8

all change starts with an act of deviance
-There must be some scope for challenge and change to existing norms and values
-e.g. Authorities may persecute religious visionaries, who espouse a new message or value system, but in the long run, their values may give rise to a new culture and morality.
-If new ideas are suppressed society will stagnate and be unable to make necessary adaptive changes, so that says neither too much, nor too little crime is desirable

Question 9

Why is too much crime not desirable?

Answer 9

threatens to tear the bonds of society apart

Question 10

Why is too little crime not desirable?

Answer 10

means society is repressing and controlling its members too much, stifling individual freedom, and preventing change

Question 11

Davis

Answer 11

prostitution acts as a ‘ safety valve’ for the release of men’s sexual frustrations without threatening the monogamous nuclear family

Question 12

Crime acting as a warning sign: Cohen

Answer 12

crime and events can act as a warning side that an institution is not functioning properly
e.g. High rates of truancy may tell us that they are problems with the education system, and that policy makers need to make appropriate changes.

Question 13

Anomie

Answer 13

A condition of instability or chaos, due to lack of standards or values

Question 14

Atrophy

Answer 14

erosion

Question 15

Why does crime exist in the first place?

Answer 15

when people experience inequality and barriers in their life-chances, they begin to experience ANOMIE so they turn to crime/deviance in order to gain the things that have been prevented from achieving
-anomie and the resulting deviant behaviour breaks down social solidarity and weakens value consensus, which is described as the atrophy (erosion) of society’s norms and values thus atrophy is dysfunctional if it occurs on a large scale.
-Deviant are those that experience anomy, and as a result, go against society’s value consensus
-deviance are therefore somehow ‘different’ to ‘normal’ people

Question 16

Why is crime and deviance found in all societies?

Answer 16

-not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values
-Particularly in a complex modern society, there is a diversity of lifestyles and values, so different groups develop their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values- what its members regard as normal, mainstream culture may see it as deviant

Question 17

Criticisms

Answer 17

): Durkheim believes society requires a certain amount of deviance to function successfully, but he offers no way of knowing how much is the right amount
): just because crime may have supposed functions, like social solidarity is not necessarily why exists in the first place
): looks at what functions crime serves for society as a whole, but ignores how it may affect different groups or individuals in societies, such as the victims and their family/ e.g 9/11
): Crime doesn’t always promote solidarity and may instead lead to people becoming more isolated e.g forcing women to stay indoors for fear of attack
(: some crimes do reinforce collective sentiments e.g. uniting the community in condemnation of a brutal attack
): does not actually look at the causes of crime, only that it is functioning
): ignore the issues of class/ gender/ ethnicity etc.