functionalism

Question 1

what type of theory is functionalism?

Answer 1

• right-wing
• structuralist
• consensus

Question 2

what is the functionalist view of crime?

Answer 2

claims that crime and deviance serves a beneficial function to society as a whole

Question 3

what names can we use when discussing functionalism and crime?

Answer 3

• durkheim
• clinard
• davis
• cohen
• merton
• hirschi

Question 4

durkheim - society of saints

Answer 4

• deviance would still exist even in a ‘society of saints’ populated by ‘perfect’ individuals who never commit a crime.
• he argued that, in this society, even the smallest level of deviance would elicit a major reaction because the deviant behaviour would seem all the more unacceptable.
• this means crime can never be eliminated because it’s part of our social nature to create it.

support with malinowski - found crime on trobriand island

Question 5

what is anomie according to durkheim?

Answer 5

• a temporary state of normlessness
• he developed the term anomie to explain why some people became dysfunctional and turned to crime.
• Anomie means being insufficiently integrated into society’s norms and values.
• Anomie causes society to become less integrated and more individualistic - causes individuals to look out for themselves rather than the community.

Question 6

what are the positives of crime according to durkheim?

Answer 6

• brings about social change
• social cohesion
• reaffirms boundaries

Question 7

durkheim - reaffirming boundaries

Answer 7

Seeing criminals being punished, makes it clear to the rest of society what is and is not acceptable. These boundaries need to be shown to everyone. This is done by making it dramatic to make people interested.

supported by Erikson

Question 8

Erikson

Answer 8

pointed out for example, the dramatic setting of the courtroom where the lawyers and judges dress in special clothes, and where there is a ceremony, which condemns a person’s actions in a public arena.

Question 9

durkheim - social cohesion

Answer 9

• refers to the cohesion that members of society experience when they share a collective expectation of the norms and values within their community
• for example, when particularly horrific crimes have been committed the whole community joins together in outrage and the sense of belonging to a community is therefore strengthened.

Question 10

durkheim - social change

Answer 10

• deviant behaviour causes people to reflect on what is or isn’t allowed within a particular society, allowing them to discover when the law doesn’t line up with the collective sentiments of the majority.
• This can lead to necessary legal reform which ends up benefiting the community and its members.

e.g. sarah’s law, stephen lawrence and double jeopardy, suffragettes

Question 11

examples of social change

Answer 11

• sarah’s law - following the kidnapping and murder of sarah payne, the uproar caused the governemnt to enact sarah’s law which alows the disclosure of the whereabouts of some sex offenders in certain circumstances
• stephen lawrence - government changed the law on double jeopardy - the new law provides that if new evidence is found that wasn’t available at the time of the trial, a defendant could be tried again
• suffragettes - women’s rights

Question 12

davis

Answer 12

• argues that sex work is functional because the small crime of prostitution helps to prevent the bigger crime of rape
• it allows those with no other means to make money to please the customer who otherwise may have had to get pleasure through rape

Question 13

cohen

(functionalism - prostitution)

Answer 13

• said that “prostitution performs such a safety valve function without threatening the institution of the family”
• this is because he believed this crime of prostitution could relieve the stress in a discrete way without damaging the rest of the clients life.

Question 14

clinard

Answer 14

• writes about the ‘warning function’ of crime and deviance.
• argues that they ‘may serve as a signal or warning that there is some defect in the social organisation which may lead to changes that enhance efficiency and morale’.

Question 15

what theory did merton develop?

Answer 15

strain theory

Question 16

what is the strain theory?

Answer 16

• crime occurs as a result of strain or tension in society when people fail to attain society’s mainstream cultural goals (financial success or the ‘American Dream’)
• when people fail to achieve the goals set out for them in a socially acceptable way through the legitimate opportunity structure (conformity) they may look for alternative routes - sometimes criminal (innovation). these are ‘modes of adaption’

Question 17

what are the modes of adaption in merton’s strain theory?

Answer 17

• conformity - pursing cultural goals through socially approved means
• innovation - using socially unapproved or unconventional means to obtain culturally approved goals. e.g. dealing drugs or stealing to achieve financial security
• ritualism - using the same socially approved means to achieve less elusive goals (more modest and humble)
• retreatism - to reject both the cultural goals and the means to obtain it, then find a way to escape it
• rebellion - to reject the cultural goals and means, then work to replace them

Question 18

Box

in support of merton

Answer 18

• Box has used Merton’s work to explain corporate crime
• He argues that if businesses cannot achieve their goals through legitimate means they may turn to illegal activities to pursue their goal of profit maximisation.

Question 19

hirschi

Answer 19

identifies four bonds of attachment’ that keep people closely linked to the value consensus and ensure social control and order. These are:

• Attachment: how much you care about others’ opinions of you
• Commitment: how much you will lose if you commit a crime (job, children, house, reputation, etc.)
• Involvement: how involved and integrated you are in society
• Beliefs: how much you have shared beliefs, norms and values with society

supp - 17yr olds most likely to commit crime - less committed to society

Question 20

evaluating funtionalist views of crime

Answer 20

• doesn’t explain WHY some people commit crime and others don’t Laurie Taylor - fruit machine analogy
• ignores the fact that some crimes have no positive function, eg paedophilia or rape Dworkin
• ignores inequality in society - CAGE eg Black men are more likely to be stopped and searched so appear more criminal Stuart Hall
• realist theories argue that Functionalism offers no solutions to crime Lea & Young
• postmodernists claim there are no longer collective sentiments / beliefs in society so the ‘collective conscience’ idea no longer works Foucault
• harold shipman - serial killer of more than 200 ppl but also a doctor, father and husband - ao3 for hirschi

Question 21

what is the fruit machine analogy?

evaluation of merton

Answer 21

‘It is as though individuals in society are playing a gigantic fruit machine - but the machine is rigged, and only some players are consistently rewarded. The deprived resort to using foreign coins or magnets to increase their chances of winning (innovation), or play on mindlessly (ritualism), give up the game (retreatism), or propose a new game altogether (rebellion).

• However, in the analysis, no-one asked who put the fruit machine there in the first place? or who takes the profits?’.

developed by Laurie Taylor