Functionalist View on Crime and Deviance, including criticisms
Showing all funcionalist views on Crime and Deviance, including criticism and contextual examples.
- Created by: Jessica Hewett
- Created on: 08-04-13 17:27
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- Functionalist view on Crime and Deviance...
- Durkhiem
- Positive
- Helps society to change and remain dynamic.
- 1) Re-affirming boundaries; catching and punishing criminals sends out a message about where the 'line is crossed'.
- e.g. London Riots, Peter Sutcliffe etc.
- 2) Changing values; prosecution of a criminal can lead to sympathy and changing attitudes which in turn changes the law.
- e.g. Capital Punishment and Homosexuality.
- 3) Social Cohesion; Very horrific crimes can lead to a shared outrage and can bring a society together, strengthening it.
- e.g. Blitz, James Bulger murder and Philpot (6 kids fire.)
- Negative
- Too much crime can be damaging and have serious consequences.
- In periods of great social change or stress the collective conscience could be weakened, and so can lead people to sough selfish interests rather than sticking to social values
- e.g. Industrial Revolution and War.
- Anomie reached as no shared norms and so crime rockets, can only be brought under control through the re-imposing of the collective conscience.
- Positive
- Hirschi
- Bonds of Attachment; crime happens as attachments to society are weakened.
- ATTACHMENT; people's opinions, if we care about them we are less likely to have an attachment.
- COMMITMENT; what have you got to loose, the more e.g. family and house, less likely to commit crime.
- INVOLVEMENT; having the time to do it.
- BELIEF; how strong is out belief that we should obey the rules of society.
- The greater the attachment the person has to a society the lower level of crime there will be.
- Bonds of Attachment; crime happens as attachments to society are weakened.
- Etzioni
- Communitarianism
- Changes in modern society have pushed decision making further away from local communities.
- Feeling powerless and that control is in police and state.
- Communities should engage in direct action of offenders and to support those locally.
- Has been criticised for promoting vigilante behaviour and providing scope for prejudice against certain deviant groups.
- e.g. publishing the sex offenders list.
- Communitarianism
- Putnam
- Social Capital
- Strong social communities are key to social control.
- Encouraged 'privatise' our leisure so in less of a social group.
- e.g. Computer technology and gaming.
- Areas of lower crime have strong community groups.
- Some strong community groups can mean the exclusion for others.
- Social Capital
- Merton
- Crime and Deviance was the product of shared values and goals, rather than breakdown.
- Strain theory;
- Strain between accepted goals and the socially accepted means of getting these goals
- Not everyone can reach socially accepted goals legitimately so turn to illegitimate (crime).
- Those in lower social order have restricted goals so seek alternative ways, 5 responses to strain.
- 1)CONFORMITY; accept position and lower goals.
- 2)INNOVATION; person accepts goals but finds different ways of achieving them.
- 3) RITUALISM; loose sight of goals as get used to everyday life.
- 4) RETREATISM; rejects goals and means, so withdraws from society.
- 5) REBELLION; replaces goals and means with alternatives which usually go against social norms.
- CRITICISMS
- 'American Dream' is not a shared goal by all societies.
- Large variety of values and goals within a society.
- Not all crimes are for financial profit, some crimes are for 'fun', and also why do successful people feel the need to commit crime.
- In Japan they are taught a great importance on respect and not financial success, and so goals are different.
- Many do not achieve goals yet do not turn to crime.
- Durkhiem
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