Functionalism

Question 1

Why is crime good for society according to Functionalists

Answer 1

Boundary maintenance
Adaptation and change
Safety valve
Warning light

Question 2

Boundary maintenance

Answer 2

Crime produces a reaction from society
Uniting members in condemnation of wrongdoer
Reinforcing commitment to shared norms and values
Reaffirms societys shared rules
Reinforces social solidarity
Rituals of courtroom dramatise wrongdoing and publicly shame offender
Discourages others from rule breaking

Question 3

Boundary maintenance AO2

Answer 3

2011 UK riots

Question 4

Boundary maintenance AO3

Answer 4

Ignores how it may affect the individual
Isn’t functional for the victim

Question 5

Adaptation and change

Answer 5

Durkheim - all change starts with an act of deviance
Individuals with new ideas, values and ways of living must both be completely stifled
Should be scope for them to challenge existing norms and values to bring about change
Society needs to adapt with new ideas and change

Question 6

Adaptation and change AO2

Answer 6

Natashas Law
Clares Law
Suffragettes

Question 7

Adaptation and change AO3

Answer 7

Durkheim offers no way of knowing how much is the right amount of deviance for society to function

Question 8

Safety valve

Answer 8

Davis- crime can release mens sexual frustrations without threatening the monogamous nuclear family
Can be positive and prevent more serious disruptions
Polsky- pornography safely channels sexual desires away from adultery

Question 9

AO2 safety valve

Answer 9

Prostitution

Question 10

Safety valve AO3

Answer 10

Radical feminism
Women dont get safety valve
Keeps women below men

Question 11

Warning light

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Warning light AO2

Answer 12

Truancy

Question 13

Warning light AO3

Answer 13

Marxism
Assumes norms and laws reflect wishes of population
Does not consider possibility that a powerful group is imposing its values on the rest of society

Question 14

Strain theory

Answer 14

People engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means
Crime is result of strain between cultural goals and structural factors

Question 15

Structural factors

Answer 15

Societys unequal opportunity structure

Question 16

Cultural factors

Answer 16

Strong emphasis on success and weaker emphasis on achieving these through legitimate means

Question 17

AO3 strain theory

Answer 17

Ignores crimes of the suites
Focuses on utilitarian crine
Doesnt take into account state crimes

Question 18

American dream

Answer 18

American society is meritocratic and anyone who makes the effort can get ahead
Expected to achieve through legitimate means - a good job, qualifications etc
Disadvantaged may not achieve this legitimately
Strain to anomie

Question 19

American dream AO3

Answer 19

Ignores collective deviance
Explains why WC crime rates are higher

Question 20

Merton- 5 adaptations to strain

Answer 20

•Conformity
•Innovation
•Ritualism
•Retreatism
•Rebellion

Question 21

Conformity

Answer 21

Accepting the goal and striving to achieve it by legitimate means

Question 22

Innovation

Answer 22

Accepting the goal but using illegitimate means to achieve it

Question 23

Ritualism

Answer 23

Giving up on the goal but internalised the legitimate means

Question 24

Retreatism

Answer 24

Rejecting both the goals and the means become dropouts

Question 25

Rebellion

Answer 25

Individuals reject the existing society’s goals and means but they replace them with new ones and desire to create a new kind of society

Question 26

Subcultural theories

Answer 26

Deviance is the product of delinquent subcultures

Question 27

Cohen

Answer 27

WC boys face anomie in the MC education system
They are culturally deprived and lack the skills to achieve
Leaves them at the bottom of the official status hierarchy
As a result suffer status frustration
Resolve it by rejecting MC values and turn to others in the same situation to form a subculture
Offers an illegitimate opportunity structure
Provides and alternative status hierarchy

Question 28

Cohen AO3

Answer 28

Cohen offers an explanation for non utilitarian deviance
Assumes WC boys start off sharing MC goals only to reject them when they fail
Ignoring the possibility that they never shared them in the first place so weren’t reacting to failure

Question 29

Cloward and Ohlin

Answer 29

Agree with merton that WC youths are denied legitimate opportunities and that their deviance stems from their response to this
not everyone adapts to a lack of legitimate opportunities by turning to ‘innovation’ Some resort to violence, others to drug use.
· The key reason for these differences is access to legitimate opportunities and access to illegitimate opportunity structures. They identify three different subcultures:: 1. Professional Criminal Subcultures
2. Conflict Subcultures consisting of Gangs
3. Retreatist Subcultures consisting of dropouts

Question 30

Criminal subcultures

Answer 30

Offer an apprenticeship in utilitarian crime

· Longstanding, stable criminal culture
· Hierarchy of professional adult crime
· Provides opportunities on the criminal career ladder

Question 31

Conflict subcultures

Answer 31

· Arise in areas of high population turnover
· No stable criminal network
· Offer few illegitimate opportunities in loosely organised gangs
· Violence provides a release for blocked opportunities
· Alternative status is earned through winning ‘turf’

Question 32

Retreatist subcultures

Answer 32

· In any neighbourhood, not everyone who aspires to be a professional criminal or gang leader actually succeeds
· Double failures - fail in both legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures
· Turn into a retreatist subculture based on illegal drug use