Functionalist perspectives on crime

Question 1

… argued that crime is an inevitable feature of society and is benefical to society

Answer 1

Durkheim

Question 2

Durkheim’s benefits of crime

Answer 2

1. Strengthening collective values (reminding people of right and wrong, emphasised by media)
2. Enabling social change (allows new ideas and progression of society eg protest)
3. Acting as a “safety valve” (allows people an outlet to express discontent eg mass protest)
4. Acting as a warning device eg drug issues pointing out wider issues in society

Question 3

… suggests social order is based around goals and those who cannot achieve these collective goals (lack of opportunity) commit crime

Answer 3

Merton - strain theory

Question 4

Merton’s modes of adaptation (ways people respond to social goals)

Answer 4

1. Conformity - non-deviant, non-criminal
2. Innovation - turn to crime as a means to achieve social goals (success)
3. Ritualism - give up on achieving goals but stick to means eg teachers who don’t care about student success
4. Retreatism - people who give up on social goals completely
5. Rebellion - reject existing social goals but substitute new ones to create a new society eg revolutionaries

Question 5

Disadvantages of Merton’s Strain Theory

Answer 5

• assumes everyone shares social goals (different people value different things eg money, family, happiness)
• focuses on individual responses rather than social patterns of crime
• doesn’t explain why not everyone who lacks opportunity is criminal
• doesn’t recognise that many outwardly successful people commit crime (white collar crime)

Question 6

… suggests that WC youth want to achieve social goals but can’t so feel a sense of status frustration, and react by developing a delinquent subculture which encourages crime/deviance. This subculture has an element of revenge against the system that denies them status eg vandalism, anti-social behaviour

Answer 6

Cohen (status frustration theory)
a subcultural theory

Question 7

Disadvantages of Cohen’s status frustration theory

Answer 7

• presumes WC youth share mainstream social goals
• WC youth typically aren’t delinquent their whole lives

Question 8

… argues that WC don’t reject social values, but that the WC has a different set of subcultural values anyway

Answer 8

Miller
can use to critique Cohen’s status frustration theory

Question 9

… studied WC delinquency and found that most young delinquents were committed to mainstream values and drifted in and out of deviance rather than committing to it

Answer 9

Matza
can use to critique Cohen’s status frustration theory

Question 10

… suggest that the varied social circumstances of WC youth lead to them being part of 1 of 3 delinquent subcultures

Answer 10

Cloward and Ohlin
subcultural theory
more detailed than Cohen

Question 11

Cloward and Ohlin’s 3 WC youth delinquent subcultures

Answer 11

1. criminal subcultures - useful (utilitarian) crimes like theft - develops in areas with pattern of adult crime - provides a learning opportunity/ potential career to achieve social crime - adult criminals stop them committing non-utilitarian crimes (eg vandalism) to stop police attention
2. conflict subcultures - areas that lack social cohesion, no stable adult criminal subculture - violent crime, gang culture etc
3. Retreatist subcultures - those who have failed in both mainstream and deviant subcultures so retreat into drug addiction, alcoholism etc paid for by petty crime

Question 12

Evalutation of Cloward and Ohlin’s 3 WC youth delinquent subcultures

Answer 12

+ Insights into varying responses
- exaggerates difference between the subcultures (eg overlap in types of crime)
- doesn’t mention overlap between them

Question 13

Miller’s focal concerns (central characteristics of a distinctive WC subculture)
subcultural theory

Answer 13

emphasis on toughness, masculinity, smartness, autonomy, freedom, thrill-seeking
these values carry a risk of law-breaking

Question 14

Criticisms of functionalist-based explanations of crime and deviance

Answer 14

1. generally presume value consensus (Taylor et al says this is wrong - different people have diff. goals)
2. mainly focus on WC crime/deviance, rather than white collar/ corporate crime
3. rely on pattern of crime shown in official crime stats
4. implies that WC youths are socialised into crime/deviance, but not all WC people are criminals/deviants
5. Matza highlights similarity between deviants and mainstream society - often share values, shown by criminal remorse and excuses, and deviants drift in and out of deviant behaviour

Question 15

Techniques of neutralisation - Matza (key term)

Answer 15

justifications used by criminals to excuse their crime/ deviance eg denying responsibility, denying harm to the victim or trying to justify what they did (excuses eg shoplifting for Mum’s birthday)
the use of these justifications shows commitment to mainstream values

Question 16

Hirschi’s control/ social bonds theory

Answer 16

believes all human beings have potential to be criminal but social bonds prevent them - if social bonds are weakened/broken they will commit crime

Question 17

Hirschi’s 4 social bonds which prevent crime

Answer 17

1. Belief - people share moral beliefs
2. Commitment - people are committed to mainstream goals eg building a family
3. Involvement - people are involved in society (too busy to commit crime)
4. Attachment - people feel emotionally attached to those around them and are sensitive to the needs/wishes of their community

Question 18

Hirschi later added that…

Answer 18

Opportunity to commit crime must also be present, as well as weakened social bonds

Question 19

Disadvantages of Hirschi’s social bonds theory

Answer 19

1. assumes that criminals have broken away from mainstream values (contrasts Merton’s theory and Matza)
2. doesn’t explain how bonds weaken or why weakened bonds lead to crime
3. doesn’t explain the variety in forms of crime and deviance
4. doesn’t recognise that you can be deviant and have social bonds (white collar crime, MC drug use)
5. suggests that everyone is a potential criminal so behaviour should be closely monitered