Functionalism

Question 1

Why do people commit crime according to Durkheim?

Answer 1

DURKHEIM believes there is a tendency towards anomie and that crime is inevitable, disturbing social stability. He believes it is good for society. Not everyone is effectively socialised into the same shared cultures and norms and values, different subcultures create their own norms and values, which some mainstream cultures find deviant

Question 2

What are the four reasons functionalists believe crime is good for society?

Answer 2

Boundary Maintenance
Adaptation and Change
Safety Valve
Warning Light

Question 3

Boundary Maintenance

Answer 3

Crime produces a reaction from society. Which reinforces commitment (of the public) to the shared norms and values. Creating social solidarity.

Question 4

AO3 of boundary maintenance

Answer 4

Recognises how C&D may be functional for society but ignores how it may affect individuals - neglects the micro ( e.g. murder is not functional for society)

Question 5

Adaptation and Change

Answer 5

All changes start with an act of deviance ( think of the snowball effect and adapt it to a deviant act).
Durkheim believes there should be a scope for them to challenge existing norms and values to bring about change.

Question 6

AO3 adaptation and change

Answer 6

Society requires a certain amount of deviance to successfully function, but Durkheim doesn’t say how much is the right amount.

Question 7

Safety Valve

Answer 7

Davis argues that crime can release men’s sexual frustration without threatening a nuclear family. This can prevent further more serious disruptions.

Question 8

AO3 safety valve

Answer 8

Radical feminists would argue this is a function of prostitution, objectification of women. Using women to satisfy men. They would also argue that the law is in men’s favour, it was made for men.

Question 9

Warning light

Answer 9

Cohen argues deviance indicates when an institution is malfunctioning. Informs society a change needs to be made.

Question 10

AO3 warning light

Answer 10

Marxists would argue norms and laws reflect the wishes of the population, it does not consider the possibility that powerful people are imposing their values on the rest of society.

Question 11

Strain theory

Answer 11

Strain theories a argues that people engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means
There is a strain between cultural goals ( that encourage people to achieve) and structural factors (the structure of society- achieving legitimately or illegitimately). ROBERT MERTON

Question 12

Structural factors

Answer 12

Society’s unequal opportunity structure

Question 13

Cultural factors

Answer 13

The strong emphasis on success and weaker emphasis on achieving these through legitimate means

Question 14

The American Dream

Answer 14

Everyone can have the life they desire if they work hard for it.

Question 15

AO3

Answer 15

Focuses on utilitarian crime, ignores collective deviance. Not everyone has the same the opportunities.

Question 16

5 adaptions to strain

Answer 16

Conformity - accepting the means and the goals
Innovation - accepting the goals but not the means
Ritualistic - accepting the means but giving up the goal
Retreatism - rejecting both means and goals
Rebellion - rejecting both means and goals but creating their own

Question 17

Subcultural theories

Answer 17

They believe deviance as the product of delinquent subcultures. Offering lower class members a solution to the problem of how to gain to gain status they cannot achieve by legitimate means.

Question 18

What does Cohen believe?

Answer 18

Deviance is the result of lower classes’ inability to achieve mainstream success goals by legitimate means such as education.

Question 19

Cohen (strain theory)

Answer 19

WC boys face anomie in the MC education system. They are culturally deprived, leaving them at the bottom of status hierarchy. Therefore they suffer status frustration. They resolve this by turning to others in the same situation - forming a subculture. ( creating an alternative status hierarchy through illegitimate opportunities).

Question 20

AO3 cohen (strain theory)

Answer 20

Miller - focus concerns disagree with cohens view on crime and believe that WC never share the same cultural goals as MC.

Question 21

Cloward and Ohlin

Answer 21

They agree with Merton that WC youths are denied legitimate opportunities and their deviance stems from their response to this. Not everyone does this by turning to innovation. Some resort to violence, others to drug use.

Question 22

They identify three differences subcultures:

Answer 22

Professional criminal subcultures
Conflict subcultures consisting of gangs
Retreatist subcultures consisting of dropouts

Question 23

Criminal subcultures (professionals)

Answer 23

• offer an apprenticeship in utilitarian crime
• usually in big high crime rate cities with high access to illegal activity
• hierarchy of professional adult crime
• long term criminal culture

Question 24

Conflict Subculture (gangs)

Answer 24

• in areas on high population turnover
• alternative status is earned through winning ‘turf’
• fewer illegitimate opportunities
• violence provides a release for blocked opportunities

Question 25

Retreatist subcultures (dropouts)

Answer 25

• double failures, fail in both legitimate & illegitimate opportunities
• least amount of access to illegal activity (drugs)
• in any neighbourhood, not everyone who wants to be a criminal actually succeeds

Question 26

AO3 Cloward and Ohlin

Answer 26

C&O ignore the crime of the wealthy, and over predict the amount of WC crime.
Matza - delinquents are not strongly committed to their subcultures, but merely drift in and out of delinquency, at different levels.