FUNCTIONALISM AND CRIME AND DEVIANCE Flashcards
How can Social Solidarity be achieved according to Functionalists?
through socialisation and social control
What is the Functionalist view of crime?
- crime is universal and inevitable
- for Durkheim, ‘crime is normal.. an integral part of all healthy societies’
Why is Crime found in all societies?
- not everyone is equally effectively socialised into shared norms and values
- there is diversity of lifestyles and values particularly in complex societies
Why is collective conscience weaker in modern societies according to Durkheim?
- modern societies turn towards anomie (normlessness)
- rules governing behaviour are weaker and less clear cut because modern societies are more complex and specialised into division of labour which leads to individuals becoming different from one another
What are the positive functions of crime according to Durkehim?
Social regulation - reaffirming the boundaries of acceptable behaviour
social integration - strengthens social cohesion
social change - provides a constant test of boundaries
When is crime dysfunctional?
- when there’s too much or too little crime, this threatens to tear the bonds of society apart
- too little crime means members of society are being controlled and repressed
Evaluation of Durkheim’s View
- talks about crime in general terms and fails to distinguish between different types of crime. some crimes are dysfunctional
- interactionists suggest that whether a crime is functional or dysfunctional depends on the individual’s relationship to crime
- looks at what functions deviance performs for society as a whole and ignores how it might affect different groups of individuals
- crime doesn’t always promote social solidarity. it may lead to isolation
What is Merton’s Strain Theory?
- argues the cultural system of USA is built on the ‘American Dream’ which assures people the equality of opportunity to all regardless of gender, class, ethnicity
- this encouraged people to pursue a goal of success measured by wealth through legitimate means
- however these goals aren’t attainable by all
- strain occurs between the goals that a culture encourages individuals to achieve and what the institutional structure allows them to achieve legitimately
How do people adapt to their status?
conformity - accepts goals and means
innovation - accepts goals but rejects means
ritualism - rejects goals but accepts means
retreatism - rejects goals and means
rebellion - replace the goals and means with the desire to bring about revolutionary change
Why is there a higher crime rate in lower class areas according to Merton?
- ‘american dream’ puts pressure on people with lower social class backgrounds to achieve the goals through illegitimate means
- mainly young men internalise the desire to achieve these goals, but the only way they can do is through crime
Evaluation of Merton’s Strain Theory
- not all lower class people turn to crime so we need something else to explain why some do and some don’t
- merton’s reliance of official statistics means he overestimates the extent of working class crime rates and underestimates middle class crime
- only explains utilitarians crime and neglects non utilitarian crime
- ignores the power of the ruling class to make and enforce laws that criminalise the poor but not the rich
- ignores group deviance
What is Subcultural Strain Theory
- Subcultural theories argue that crime is rooted in criminal subcultures, and criminologists must identify the cultural codes and common values that exist in these groups.
- deviant working-class subcultures emerge because people within the working class are denied status in society. These delinquents band together and devise their own values contrary to those of greater society.
What is Cohen’s Perspective?
- criticises Merton’s ignorance of group deviance and non utilitarian crime
- status frustration caused by the unequal distribution of opportunities leads young men to reject mainstream values and form/join subcultures
- offers young menan alternative status hierarchy in which deviant role models dominate, and where attitudes and moral values usually contradict the society’s
Evaluation of Cohen
+ helps understand non utilitarian crime
+ explains relationship between social norms and crime
- based on studies of North American street gangs and youth
- doesn’t explain white collar crime
- too deterministic as it assumes every member of a subcultural group shares the same culture
What is Cloward and Ohlin’s Perspective?
- there is a legitimate opportunity structure but also an alternative illegitimate opportunity structure through gang membership
- there is strain in relation to illegitimate opportunity subcultures too. not everyone can find a criminal path to wealth and success
