Durkheim

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  • Created by: Emma
  • Created on: 03-04-15 10:04

In Durkheim's view a crime is an action that offends collective feelings. Crime reflects particular social values and norms, so it can vary from society to society and over time. Crime is normal in society and needs to occur but there is a right amount of crime and a wrong amount of crime. One of the roles of crime is that it provides boundary maintance, it helps to reinforce social values and norms, as well as defining right and wrong.

Durkheim identified two ideal social formations mechanical and organic both used to describe forms of social solidarity. In mechanical societies, which are more primitive, social norms were enforced through retributive means and tended to have lower amounts of crime and deviance. Organic solidarity however, describes modern society and when describing crimes notes a higher crime rate and an aim on regulating interactions…

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