Functionalism and crime
- Created by: zoe_chetty
- Created on: 08-01-19 12:40
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- Functionalism and crime
- Durkheim- the inevitability of crime
- Too much crime would be destabilising for society, but it is inevitable and universal
- Crime is found in every society because:
- Not everyone is equally socialised into shared norms and values, some individuals are therefore prone to deviate
- There is diversity of lifestyles and values. These are subcultures (groups with distinctive norms and values which may be seen as deviant)
- He argues that modern societies tend towards anomie (sense of normlessness)
- This is because:
- Complex modern societies have a specialised division of labour, meaning there is greater individualism
- This weakens the shared culture and collective conscience, meaning there is less social solidarity and more deviance
- Complex modern societies have a specialised division of labour, meaning there is greater individualism
- This is because:
- Durkheim- the positive functions of crime
- Boundary maintenance
- This explains the function of punishment, the reaffirm society's shared rules and reinforce social solidarity
- Crime produces a reaction from society, leading to criminals condemnation and acting as a deterrent as it reinforces societies norms and values
- Adaptation and change
- All change starts with an act of deviance by challenging norms and values
- Deviance helps society to evolve
- Boundary maintenance
- Durkheim- conclusion
- Too much crime threatens to tear the bonds of society apart
- Too little crime shows that society is repressing and controlling it's members too much, preventing change
- Crime may strengthen social solidarity but it does not exist for this purpose
- Doesn't look at groups and individuals. Ignores the victims
- Crime can lead to isolation instead of solidarity
- Merton- Strain theory
- People engage in deviant acts when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means
- Combined two elements
- Structural factors
- Cultural factors
- Deviance is the result of a strain between two things:
- 1. The goals that a culture encourages individuals to achieve
- 2. What the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately
- The American Dream
- Ideology of the 'American dream' society is meritocratic, 'opportunities for all'
- Americans are expected to pursue this goal through legitimate means
- Reality is different- people are denied opportunities, therefore there is strain to achieve goals so they turn to illegitimate means
- The pressure to deviate is known as 'the strain to anomie'
- An individual's position in society affects the way they adapt to the strain
- Conformity
- Accepting the culturally approved goals and strive to achieve them legitimately. Typical response
- Innovation
- Accept the goal of money success, use illegitimate means to achieve it- theft or fraud. Lower classes under most pressure to innovate
- Ritualism
- Individuals give up trying to achieve goals in society but have internalised the legitimate means and so follow the rules. Lower MC workers in dead-end jobs
- Retreatism
- Individuals reject both goals and legitimate means. They become drop outs, tramps
- Rebellion
- Individuals reject existing goals and replace them with new ones to bring about revolutionary change
- Conformity
- Evaluation
- Explains deviance as arising from the structure of society
- Both normal and deviant behaviour can arise from the same mainstream goals
- Official stats, most crime is property crime (material wealth)
- Crime stats over represent wc crime. Too deterministic
- Marxists- ignores the power of the ruling class to enforce law and criminalise the poor
- Only accounts for utilitarian crime for monetary gain. Violence?
- Durkheim- the inevitability of crime
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