Functionalist View Flashcards
Which functionalists do we look at?
Durkheim
Merton
What does Durkheim talk about?
- the inevitability of crime
- the positive functions of crime : boundary maintenance / adaptation and change
What does Merton talk about?
Strain theory
According to Durkheim, what are the 4 key characteristics of crime?
- Inevitable
- Universal
- Relative
- Functional
What 2 key mechanisms does society have in order to achieve solidarity?
- Socialisation - instils shared culture so every member has the same norms and values
- Social control - rewards for conformity and punishments for deviance to ensure individuals behave in the way society expects.
Why is crime inevitable?
- Inadequate socialisation
- Diversity of lifestyles and cultures
- Decline in religious beliefs
Explain how inadequate socialisation leads to crime
Not everyone is socialised into the correct norms and values due to poor parenting, so some individuals will be prone to deviate.
Explain how diversity of lifestyles and cultures leads to crime
Different groups develop their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values, what the members of the subculture regard as normal may be seen as deviant by mainstream culture.
Explain how decline in religious beliefs leads to crime
As people become less religious, integration, social solidarity and collective conscience lose power and crime becomes inevitable.
According to Durkheim, what 2 positive functions does crime perform?
- Boundary maintenance
- Adaptation and change
Explain boundary maintenance
- Crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the shared norms and values
- When a crime is reported it reinforces the difference between us and them (criminals)
- Crime leads to integration, social solidarity and reinforces the collective conscience
- Durkheim says the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society’s shared rules and reinforce social solidarity e.g. the courtroom publicly stigmatises the wrongdoer and discourages others from law breaking.
Explain adaptation and change
- Sometimes criminal behaviour is needed to move society on e.g. the Suffragette and Rosa Parks.
- Durkheim says all change starts with an act of deviance. People must have the freedom to deviate or else society will never move forward and will stagnate.
- For Durkheim, neither a very high or a very low level of crime is desirable. Too much = society could fall apart / too little = change can never occur.
Who has developed Durkheim’s idea that deviance can have a positive function?
Kingsley and Polsky
What does Kingsley argue?
Prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release men’s sexual frustrations without threatening the monogamous nuclear family.
What does Polsky argue?
Pornography safely ‘channels’ a variety of sexual desires away from alternatives such as adultery, which would pose a much greater threat to the family.
Give some criticisms of Durkheim
- For Durkheim, society requires a certain amount of deviance to function successfully, but he offers no way of knowing how much is the right amount.
- Crime doesn’t always promote solidarity - it may have the opposite effect leading people to become more isolated. E.g. forcing women to stay indoors for fear of attack.
- Functionalists say crime exists to strengthen solidarity but this doesn’t mean society actually creates crime in advance with the intention of strengthening solidarity.
Give a criticism of crime as a safety valve argument
- Look at the functions crime performs for society but ignores how it might affect different groups or individuals e.g. prostitution may be functional as a safety valve for male frustration, but isn’t for the illegally trafficked sex worker who has to meet his needs.
What do strain theories argue?
Strain theories argue people engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means.
Deviance is a result of a strain between 2 things:
- the goals that a culture encourages individuals to achieve
- what the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately
What did Merton argue?
Many types of crime exist because society shares the same American Dream but not everyone can achieve these things lawfully. A strain exists between the goals and ambitions of people and their ability to achieve them.
