Functionalist Theories of Crime Flashcards
Which 2 mnemonics are about Durkheim’s view on crime?
FIN and SWAB
What does Durkheim argue causes crime?
If someone is not socialised effectively into society’s value consensus (e.g. due to poor upbringing)
What is anomie and what does Durkheim argue causes it?
Normlessness, a lack of social cohesion and solidarity
Caused if there’s too much crime and the value consensus is weakened
How does crime act as a safety valve?
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
How does crime act as a warning device?
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
How does crime cause adaptation and change?
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
What is stagnation?
Where there’s little/ no change, society doesn’t evolve
How does crime facilitate boundary maintenance?
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
Weakness of Durkheim’s view - Marxists
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.
Weakness of Durkheim’s view - Postmodernist
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.
Strength of Durkheim’s view - Application
Offers a useful social explanation which can be used to help control crime levels through social engineering (warning device).
What goals does Merton talk about?
The American Dream (success and material wealth)
What means does Merton talk about?
Hard work
What is strain according to Merton?
Unequal access to the goals and the means
Name Merton’s 5 responses to strain
CIRRR
Conformity
Innovation
Ritualism
Retreatism
Rebellion
Explain conformity (Merton).
Accept goals and means
American Dream success story, law abiding citizens
Explain innovation (Merton).
Accept goals but don’t have the means so use illegitimate ones
Mainly w/c who resort to theft/ burglary
Explain ritualism (Merton).
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
Explain retreatism (Merton).
Reject the goals and the means, often react
by dropping out of society
e.g. drug addicts, alcoholics
Explain rebellion (Merton).
Reject the goals and means, ideally would like to replace them with radical alternatives to bring social change
e.g. political activists
Strength of Merton’s strain theory - Crime stats
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.
Weakness of Merton’s strain theory - Utilitarian crime focused
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
Weakness of Merton’s strain theory - Deterministic
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.
Name Hirschi’s 4 bonds of attachment (why people don’t commit crimes).
CABI
Commitment
Attachment
Belief
Involvement
Explain commitment (Hirschi).
What you have to lose
e.g. a good job may be put at risk if you commit a crime
Explain attachment (Hirschi).
How much we care about what others think
e.g. family, friends
Explain belief (Hirschi).
Moral compass, do we think obeying the law is the right thing to do
Explain involvement (Hirschi).
How involved are we in society
e.g. group hobbies/ clubs, volunteering
Would we have time to commit crime
Explain The Cambridge Study in Delinquency Development - supporting evidence of Hirschi’s bonds of attachment
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.
According to Hirschi, who would be more likely to commit crime?
Those with no family, no job, not involved with school, don’t have a clear moral code.
Therefore, likely marginalised, young and single.
Strength of Hirschi’s view - Application
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
Weakness of Hirschi’s view - Marxist
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.
Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Marxist
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.
Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Feminist
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.
Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Postmodernist
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).
Weakness of Functionalist’s explanation - Realists
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.
