Functionalist Theories of Crime

Question 1

Which 2 mnemonics are about Durkheim’s view on crime?

Answer 1

FIN and SWAB

Question 2

What does Durkheim argue causes crime?

Answer 2

If someone is not socialised effectively into society’s value consensus (e.g. due to poor upbringing)

Question 3

What is anomie and what does Durkheim argue causes it?

Answer 3

Normlessness, a lack of social cohesion and solidarity
Caused if there’s too much crime and the value consensus is weakened

Question 4

How does crime act as a safety valve?

Answer 4

Some deviant behaviour prevents further harm from occurring
Davis - prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release of men’s sexual frustration -> reducing sexual crimes
Polsky - pornography safely channels a variety of sexual desires -> less adultery and preventing nuclear family breakdown

Question 5

How does crime act as a warning device?

Answer 5

Cohen - deviant acts can indicate an institution isn’t functioning properly, allowing it to be fixed so society can run smoothly
E.g. truancy highlights an issue with education so it needs improving/ fining parents

Question 6

How does crime cause adaptation and change?

Answer 6

Challenging existing norms seems deviant but allows people’s voices to be heard, without this society could stagnate
E.g. the Suffragettes used violence and vandalism, Emily Davidson killed by the king’s horse to help gain women the vote

Question 7

What is stagnation?

Answer 7

Where there’s little/ no change, society doesn’t evolve

Question 8

How does crime facilitate boundary maintenance?

Answer 8

It reinforces belief in the collective conscience
People unite to condemn offenders, collectively agreeing their behaviour’s wrong and shouldn’t be repeated
E.g. 2011 riots, public condemnation of the rioting and looting

Question 9

Weakness of Durkheim’s view - Marxists

Answer 9

He fails to explain the relationship between power and crime, laws benefitting the u/c and biased against the w/c
Doesn’t account for the influence those in power have over the social distribution of crime in society, leading to biased view of criminal stats of the w/c.

Question 10

Weakness of Durkheim’s view - Postmodernist

Answer 10

Not applicable to the UK’s modern, multi-cultural society (more fragmented and diverse).
Hard to see how there can be a shared agreement on morality.

Question 11

Strength of Durkheim’s view - Application

Answer 11

Offers a useful social explanation which can be used to help control crime levels through social engineering (warning device).

Question 12

What goals does Merton talk about?

Answer 12

The American Dream (success and material wealth)

Question 13

What means does Merton talk about?

Answer 13

Hard work

Question 14

What is strain according to Merton?

Answer 14

Unequal access to the goals and the means

Question 15

Name Merton’s 5 responses to strain

Answer 15

CIRRR
Conformity
Innovation
Ritualism
Retreatism
Rebellion

Question 16

Explain conformity (Merton).

Answer 16

Accept goals and means
American Dream success story, law abiding citizens

Question 17

Explain innovation (Merton).

Answer 17

Accept goals but don’t have the means so use illegitimate ones
Mainly w/c who resort to theft/ burglary

Question 18

Explain ritualism (Merton).

Answer 18

Accept the means but lost sight of the goals (American Dream not achievable for them), fine with what they have
e.g. civil servants, teachers

Question 19

Explain retreatism (Merton).

Answer 19

Reject the goals and the means, often react
by dropping out of society
e.g. drug addicts, alcoholics

Question 20

Explain rebellion (Merton).

Answer 20

Reject the goals and means, ideally would like to replace them with radical alternatives to bring social change
e.g. political activists

Question 21

Strength of Merton’s strain theory - Crime stats

Answer 21

Explains crime stat patterns, most crime is poverty-driven since US society values material wealth so highly, lower class rates highly since lack legit means.
HOWEVER crime stats unreliable, ‘hidden figures’, white-collar m/c crimes more widely committed than stats would have us believe.

Question 22

Weakness of Merton’s strain theory - Utilitarian crime focused

Answer 22

Focus on economically driven crimes and fails to explain those done for ‘fun’/ out of hatred/ other emotions
e.g. vandalism, murder, violent/ sexual crime

Question 23

Weakness of Merton’s strain theory - Deterministic

Answer 23

Merton exaggerated the degree of consensus in America (and other Western capitalist societies) that everyone wants material wealth.
May have been true in the 1930s (outdated) but now in a modern diverse society people don’t all share the same objectives.

Question 24

Name Hirschi’s 4 bonds of attachment (why people don’t commit crimes).

Answer 24

CABI
Commitment
Attachment
Belief
Involvement

Question 25

Explain commitment (Hirschi).

Answer 25

What you have to lose
e.g. a good job may be put at risk if you commit a crime

Question 26

Explain attachment (Hirschi).

Answer 26

How much we care about what others think
e.g. family, friends

Question 27

Explain belief (Hirschi).

Answer 27

Moral compass, do we think obeying the law is the right thing to do

Question 28

Explain involvement (Hirschi).

Answer 28

How involved are we in society
e.g. group hobbies/ clubs, volunteering
Would we have time to commit crime

Question 29

Explain The Cambridge Study in Delinquency Development - supporting evidence of Hirschi’s bonds of attachment

Answer 29

411 S. London males followed from age 8-32.
Found the most important predictors of delinquency were antisocial child behaviour, low attainment.
Marriage, employment and moving out of London fostered desistance from offending.

Question 30

According to Hirschi, who would be more likely to commit crime?

Answer 30

Those with no family, no job, not involved with school, don’t have a clear moral code.
Therefore, likely marginalised, young and single.

Question 31

Strength of Hirschi’s view - Application

Answer 31

Introduces ideas on how to prevent crime and achieve social order.
Hirschi influenced social policymakers to take more interest in how attachment can be promoted and deviance reduced.
e.g. children stay in education until 18yrs, raises employment prospects

Question 32

Weakness of Hirschi’s view - Marxist

Answer 32

There’s no value consensus which benefits all, society characterised by conflict.
Capitalism produces detached, marginalised individuals deliberately to create an unemployed reserve army of labour to keep wage levels down.

Question 33

Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Marxist

Answer 33

Ignores who creates the laws, they see the law as a reflection of society’s value consensus which everyone agrees on and those who don’t are deviant.
Laws aren’t a reflection of collective conscience, they’re made by the powerful to reflect a powerful minority’s (the ruling class) interests.

Question 34

Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Feminist

Answer 34

There is a gender blindness, only some reference to working class boys.
New Right - Charles Murray blames single mothers for not providing positive male role models thus creating an underclass but classic functionalists ignore women entirely.

Question 35

Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Postmodernist

Answer 35

Crime is not due to weakened value consensus/ socialisation but rather out of boredom.
Lyng - ‘edgework’, the idea that people like taking risks (including criminal behaviour).
Katz - crime can seem thrilling and alluring.
HOWEVER do agree that some commit minor crimes to release tension that, if not relieved, could lead to more significant problems (safety valve).

Question 36

Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Realists

Answer 36

Explores is as a phenomenon, not helping to solve it (even strain theory of limited usefulness to policymakers)
Crime being functional and normal is little comfort to victims.
HOWEVER Left Realists support the idea of relative deprivation causing crime, that policies should promote equality.