Functionalist Explanations of Crime and Deviance
- Created by: l.ni
- Created on: 08-06-13 12:43
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- Functionalist Explanations of Crime and Deviance
- Durkheim saw that one way to strengthen the collective conscience was to challenge and test it's fundamental beliefs.
- A limited amount of crime and deviance are therefore necessary.
- Tierney suggests that crime and deviance are social facts and if found in an "average society" then they are normal.
- Durkheim suggests there would even be deviance in a society of saints.
- Deviance also performs a number of functions.
- Enkson- boundaries need to be known by everyone, this occurs in the setting of the courtroom.
- Cohen - Deviance can act as a safety valve to show discontent and thereby protecting social order.
- Cohen- deviant acts are a useful sign that society is dysfunctional or malfunctioning.
- It draws attention to problem and thus leads to measures to solve it
- eg The Jamie Bulger murder produced a lower jailing age.
- It draws attention to problem and thus leads to measures to solve it
- Durkheim explains that there are also negative impacts of crime such as anomie.
- Merton sees this concept as too vague and suggests an alternative definition to anomie.
- Anomie: a situation where the socially approved goals of society aren't obtainable by a substantial amount of the population.
- Merton sees this concept as too vague and suggests an alternative definition to anomie.
- + This approach represented major breakthrough as it no longer saw criminals as "sick" or "abnormal."
- - Durkheim offered no explanation why some people are more likely to commit crime.
- Parsons argues that this is due to inadequate socialisation.
- - Marxists challenge the idea that social behaviour is based on a consensus of values.
- - There is also view that powerful groups can use the existence of deviance to curtail civil liberties.
- Durkheim saw that one way to strengthen the collective conscience was to challenge and test it's fundamental beliefs.
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