Functionalist Theories Of Crime

Question 1

Emile Durkheim, what did he think of crime

Answer 1

• Deviance and by extention crime is a natural consequence of any society with customs and rules. It is inevitable.
• Crime can also have positive ramifications.
• Without crime society would not have it’s boundaries reinforced, this is called ‘Boundry maintenance’.
  Without this there would be normlessness, refered to as ‘anomie’

Question 2

Durkheim said there were positive effects of crime. What are they?

Answer 2

• Value consensus is reinforced through demonstrating punishment publically. This keeps order as a deterrence.
• In times of collective trauma over a particularly horrific crime, people are drawn together in common grief, strengthening the bond between a people.
• Crime can be progressive and begin progressive conversations about what societies deficits are.

Question 3

What are some points to be made about Durkheim’s theories of crime?

Answer 3

• More progressive than the biological atavistic explanations gaining speed before by Lombroso and before him only church moral explanations and ideas of possession.
• Durkheim’s theory does not at all address why criminals become criminals in the first place.
• Some horrific attacks alienate entire communities. Although the Manchester attacks drew people together, hate crimes against Muslims increased dramatically.

Cohen: Moral panic theory tells us that media is often alarmist, eg: satanic panic.
This spirals out of control creating ‘folk devils’.

Question 4

To a functionalist, a response to crime should have 5 purposes.

Answer 4

• Restitution for victims
• Retribution for everyone
• Reform for the criminal
• Preventing further offending
• Deterrence for other would be criminals

Question 5

What prison systems should be made a point of in discussing approaches to punishment?

Answer 5

The U.S vs Norway

Question 6

Clinard believes (1974)

Answer 6

Crime And Deviance exposes society’s deficits
Eg: School truancy might indicate that the education system is not accommodating and or that child support organisations need to be funded more.
1/10 students are consistently absent in U.K schools post pandemic.