Perspective Theories of Crime and Deviance

Too much crime - destabilises society 

Crime is inevitable and universal

Durkheim (1893) - 'crime is normal... an integral part of all healthy societies' 

Two reasons why crime and devianmce is found in all societies:

• Not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values - prone to deviate 
• In complex, modern societies = diversity fo lifestyles and values -different groups develop own subcultures with distinctive norms and values 

Modern societies tend towards anomie or normlessness - rules governing behaviour become weaker and less clear-cut - modern societies have complex, specialised divisons of labour - individuals become increasingly different - weakens shared culture or collective conscience - leads to increased levels of deviance

Durkheim argues that crime fulfils two important functions:

• Boundary Maintenance 

Crime produces a reaction from society - unites members in condemnation of the wrongdoer  - reinforces commitment to shared norms and values 

Durkheim - purpose of punishment = reaffirms society's shared rules and reinforces social solidarity 

• Adaption and Change

All change starts with deviance - individuals must have some scope to challenge and change existing norms and values (appears to be deviant at the start) - long-run = values give rise to new culture and morality 

Too much crime threatens to tear the bonds of society apart

Too little crimes means society is repressing and controlling its members too much, stifling individual freedom and preventing change 

Durkheim offers no way of knowing how much crime is the right amount 

Society doesn't necessarily create crime in advance with the intention of strengthening solidarity 

Functional fails to ask 'functional for whom?' 

Crime doesn't always promote solidarity - may lead people to become more isolated 

Robert K. Merton (1938) adapted Durkheim's concept of anomie to explain deviance

Two elements:

• Structural factors - society's unequal opportunity structure
• Cultural factors - strong emphasis on success goals - weak emphasis on using legitimate means to achieve them

Deviance is the result of strain between two things:

• The goals that a culture encourages individuals to achieve 
• What the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately 

The American Dream:

Society is meritocratic - anyone who makes an effort can succeed - equal opportunities for all 
Reality - many disadvantaged groups are denied opportunities to achieve legitimately 

Strain between the cultural goal of money success and lack of legitimate opportunites to achieve - produces frustration - creates pressure to resort to illegitimate means (crime and deviance) - known as the strain to anomie

Conformity - individuals accept the culturally approved goals and strive to achieve them legitimately

Innovation - individuals accept the goal of money success but use 'new', illegitimate means to achieve it 

Ritualism - individuals give up on trying to achieve the goals but have internalised the legitimate means and so they follow the rules for their own sake

Retreatism - individuals reject both the goals and legitimate means and become dropouts

Rebellion - individuals reject the existing society's goals and means, but they replace them with new ones in a desire to bring about revolutionary change and create a new kind of society

Takes official crime statistics at face value - over represent w/c crime - crime is a w/c phenomenon 

Too deterministic - w/c experience the most strain yet don't deviate

Marxists - ignores the power of the ruling class that make and enforce laws which criminalise the poor

Assumes there is a value consensus 

Only accounts for utilitarian crime for monetary gain - ignores crimes of violence, vandalism etc

Ignores group deviance 

Albert K. Cohen (1955) - agrees with Merton that crime is largely a w/c phenomenon  

Criticisms of Merton:

• Merton sees deviance as an individual response to strain - ignores group deviance
• Merton focuses on utilitarian crime committed for material gain - ignores crimes which may have no economic motive

Cohen focuses on deviance among w/c boys ->

Face anomie in the m/c dominated school system ->

Suffer from culturual deprivation and lack the skills to achieve ->

Inability to achieve leaves them at the bottom on the status hierarchy ->

Suffer from status frustration 

Delinquent subculture inverts the values of mainstream society

Subculture's function: offers boys an alternative status hierarchy 
Failed in the legitimate opportunity structure ->
Create their own illegitimate opportunity structure ->
Boys can win status from their peers through delinquent actions 

Strengths:

• Offers an explaination of non-utilitarian deviance
• The hierarchy helps to explain non-economic delinquency

Weaknesses:

• Assumes w/c boys start off sharing m/c success goals and then they reject these when they fail - they may not have shared these goals to start with

Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin (1960) - agree with Merton - w/c youths are denied legitimate opportunites to achieve 'money success' and their deviance stems from the way they respond
Different neighbourhoods provide different illegitimate opportunities
Three Deviant Subcultures:
Criminal Subcultures:

• Provides youths with an apprenticeship for a career in utilitarian crime
• Arise in neighbourhoods with longstanding and stable criminal culture with an established hierarchy of professional adult crime

Conflict Subcultures:

• Arise in areas of high population turnover 
• High levels of social disorganisation and prevents a stable professional criminal network developing 
• Absence means the only illegitimate opportunites available are within loosely organised gangs

Retreatist Subcultures:

• 'Double failures' - those who fail in both legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures

Their theory is too deterministicand over-predicts the extent of w/c crime

They ignore the wider power structure - including who makes and enforces the law

Draw boundaries too sharply between the different types

Assumes everyone starts off sharing the same mainstream success goals