FUNCTIONALIST, STRAIN AND SUBCULTURAL THEORIES

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DURKHEIMS FUNCTIONALIST THEORY

THE INEVITABILITY OF CRIME

  • For Durkheim, 'crime is normal.. an integral part of all healthy societies'
  • Crime and deviance is found in all societies as not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values so some are more prone to deviate. Also, in complex modern societies, theres a diversity of lifestyles and values and different groups develop their own subcultues with distinctive norms and values, so what they may see as nornal, others in mainstream culture may see it as deviant.
  • Modern soieties tend towards anomie or normlessness and so the rules which govern behaviour become weaker and less clear-cut due to modern societies having q complex and specialised division of labour which leads to individuals becoming different from one another. 
  • This weakens the shared culture/collective conscience and results in higher levels of deviance.

POSITIVE FUNCTIONS OF CRIME

  • Boundary maintenance - crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the shared norms and values.
  • For Durkheim, this eplains the function of punishment. This means not to make the wrongdoer suffer or mend his ways, nor to remove crime from society. The purpose of punishment is to readdirm society's shared rules, reinforcing social solidarity.
  • Stanly Cohen has examined the important role played by the media in this 'dramatisation of evil'. The media coverage of crime and deviance creates folk devils.
  • Adaption and change - all change starts with an act of deviance. Laws cannot be changed without some form of deviance. For Durkheim, neither a high nor a very low level of crime is desirable.
  • Too much crime threatens to tear the bonds of society apart.
  • Too little means that society is repressing and controling its members too much, stifling individual freedom and preventing change
  • Deviant behaviour can act as a safety valve. Kingsley Davis argues that prostitution acts as a safety valve for men's sexual frustration, even though its a crime, it is a much less worse crime than something like ****.

CRITICISM OF DURKHEIM & FUNCTIONALISM

  • Crime doesnt always promote solidarity and it can have the opposite impact leading to people becoming more isolated - people (women) may be scared of going out in case of attacks.

MERTONS STRAIN THEORY

  • Strain theory is adapted to Durkheims concept of anomie, to explain deviance, Merton's explanation combines:
  • Structural factors - societies unequal opportunity structure
  • Cultural factors - the strong emphasis on success goals and the weaker emphasis on…

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