Functionalist, Strain and Subcultural Theories

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  • Created by: Najmin_
  • Created on: 03-02-22 10:32
What is Durkheim's Theory of Crime?
Sees society as a stables system based on value consensus - Shared norms, values, beliefs and goals.
Produces social solidarity - Binds individuals together into a harmonious unit - Telling them what to strive for and how to conduct themselves.
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What is needed to achieve this solidarity?
(1/2 Key Mechanisms)
Socialisation:
Instils the shared culture into its members to ensure that they internalise the same norms and values, and that they feel it's right to act in the same ways that society requires.
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What is needed to achieve this solidarity?
(2/2 Key Mechanisms)
Social Control:
Mechanisms including rewards (positive sanctions) or conformity and punishments (negative sanctions) for deviance. These help to ensure that individuals behave in the way society expects.
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How is crime seen as inevitable and universal?
Functionalist would regard crime and deviance as negative - A threat to social order and existence of society.
Every known society has some level of crime and deviance.
However Durkheim sees crime as a part of healthy societies.
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What are the reasons why crime and deviance are found in all societies?
(1/2)
1. Not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the spread norms and values, so some individuals would be prone to deviance.
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What are the reasons why crime and deviance are found in all societies?
(2/2)
2. Particularly in complex modern societies, there is a diversity of lifestyles and values. Different groups develop their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values - Different from one another and the shared rules of behaviour become less clear.
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What is anomie (normlessness) and how does it affect modern societies?
The rules governing behaviour become weaker and less clear-cut.
Modern societies have a complex, specialised division of labour, which leads to individuals coming increasingly different from one another.
Weakens the shared culture or collective conscienc
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How is crime seen as a positive function?
(1/2)
Boundary Maintenance:
Crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members against the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the value consensus.
Durkheim's view, the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society's shared rules and reinforc
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How is crime seen as a positive function?
(2/2)
Adaptation to Change:
Durkheim - All change starts as deviance.
For change to occur, individuals with new ideas must challenge existing value consensus, and at first will appear as deviance.
However in the long run their values may give rise to a new cul
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Criticisms of Durkheim:
(Durkheim's Own Point)
Durkheim claims that society requires a certain amount of deviance to function but offers no way of knowing how much is the right amount.
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Criticisms of Durkheim:
Functionalists explain for existence of crime in terms of its supposed functions - To strengthen solidarity, but doesn't mean society actually creates crime in advance with the intention of strengthening solidarity.

Just because crime does these things
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Criticisms of Durkheim:
Functionalism looks at what functions crime serves for society as a whole and ignores how it might affect different groups or individuals within society.

E.g. Seeing a murderer punished for his crime might be functional in reinforcing social solidarity
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Criticisms of Durkheim:
Crime doesn't always promote solidarity - can have opposite effects, leading to people becoming more isolated - E.g. Forcing women to stay indoors for fear of attack.

Crime can reinforce collective sentiments - Uniting the community in condemnation of a
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Merton's Theory of Crime and Deviance
Strain theories argue that people engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means.

E.g. They may become frustrated and resort to criminal means of getting what they want, or lash out at others in a
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Merton's Theory of Crime and Deviance
He adapted to Durkheim's concepts of anomie to explain deviance. His explanation combined two elements.
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What is Structural Factors?
Society's unequal opportunity structure.
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What is Cultural Factors?
The strong emphasis on success goals and the weaker emphasis on using legitimate means to achieve them.
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Merton - Deviance is the Result of a Strain Between Two Things.

What Are They?
- The goals that a culture encourages individual to achieve.
- What the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately.

E.G. American culture values 'money success' individual material wealth and the high status that goes with it.
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What is American Dream?
Americans are expected to pursue this goal by legitimate means; self-discipline, study, educational qualifications and hard work in a career.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is needed to achieve this solidarity?
(1/2 Key Mechanisms)

Back

Socialisation:
Instils the shared culture into its members to ensure that they internalise the same norms and values, and that they feel it's right to act in the same ways that society requires.

Card 3

Front

What is needed to achieve this solidarity?
(2/2 Key Mechanisms)

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

How is crime seen as inevitable and universal?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What are the reasons why crime and deviance are found in all societies?
(1/2)

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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