Functionalist views of crime Flashcards
Travis Hirschi (1969) Control Theory
focuses on ‘why most people don’t commit crime’
> the stronger a persons social bonds, the less likely they commit crime.
These bonds include:
> ‘Attachment’ to institutions such as the family and the school.
> ‘Commitment’ to our roles and responsibilities
> ‘Involvement’ in our commitments prevents time from being available to commit crime.
> ‘Belief’ in morality - we have too much to lose to commit crime.
EVAL - is crime always committed by those with weak social bonds? - white collar, middle class offenders have bonds but commit crime.
EVAL - not all people with weak social bonds commit crime
Durkheim (1895)
Crime as a healthy component of a healthy society
society is held together by peiople agreeing to value consensus.
> crime is inevitable to not occur as not everyone abides by the same norms and values.
> positive social change starts with some form of crime/deviance.
> crime ‘re-affirms the boundaries of the collective conscience’ - e.g. when a horrific crime occurs people come together to fight the problem - this re-strengthens bonds therefore crime acts as a ‘boundary maintenance’
EXAMPLE - New Zealand Mosque shooting 51 dead and 49 injured - Muslims and non-Muslims unite to grief and fight the problem that occurred.
EVAL - isn’t crime a symptom of social solidarity having broken down? - terrorist attacks could be a result of social solidarity breaking down.
Crime is functional for providing jobs…
without crime, there would be no prison staff, no judges, no lawyers, no police.
> high unemployment is dysfunctional for any society.
> if there were no jobs related to justice and crime prevention, anomie would occur therefore crime can be seen as a positive feature of a healthy society.
Open court rooms and punishment has a deterrence function
member of the pubic are able to sit in viewing gallery of the court rooms - this so people in society can see that the system is fair.
> prison sentences have the aim to stop people from committing crime again.
> life sentences are society’s way of excluding an offender permanently from society.
EVAL - deterrence isn’t always effective - there is a high rate of recidivism meaning re offending and committing another crime.
Kingsley-Davis (1995)
crime can be functional for society.
> pornography is a way of men channelling their sexual frustration in a way that prevents them from committing sex offences.
> prostitution can benefit institutions such as the family, if unhappy husbands pay for the service of a prostitute he will be less likely to start an affair and leave his wife.
EVAL - his theory is far-fetched his ideas undermine the credibility of functionalist views and are an insult to women in particular, sexual violence is taken seriously in Britain as well as exploitation of men.
When is crime dysfunctional for society?
According to functionalists like Durkheim - crime becomes a problem when there is too much of it, therefore unhealthy and leads to ‘anomie’ - too much crime can cause a total collapse of society.
> Durkheim says low crime rates in society are nothing to be proud of - in some ways high rates of theft, burglary and robbery and indications of a healthy society.
> It means people have plenty of money to spend on the thin that they want, but other people want too.
> where theft, burglary and robbery are low, it is an indication that people don’t have very much money meaning there is little for other to take off of them in criminal ways.
EVAL - doesn’t explain individual criminality - he takes a positive approach - ignoring why a person may commit crime.
EVAL - his views are highly insensitive to the victims of the crime - he ignores that crime involves a victim that may have to experience a lot of grief or problems financially.
