Functionalist, strain + subcultural theories

Question 1

What are the 2 mechanisms that functionalist state that we need to achieve a solidarity society

Answer 1

. Socialisation
. Social control

Question 2

Why is crime inevitable

Answer 2

. Not everyone is equally socialised
. There is a diversity of lifestyles of value

Question 3

What are the 3 positive function of crime according to Durkheim

Answer 3

. Boundary maintenance
. Adaptation + change
. Social cohesion

Question 4

What are the criticisms of functionalist

Answer 4

. right amount of crime?
. just because crime does these things is not necessarily why it exists in the first place
. ignores the effect it has on different groups + individuals as it only focuses on society
. does not always promote solidarity

Question 5

What theory did Merton talks about?

Answer 5

Strain theory - people engage in deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means

Question 6

Merton argues that deviance is the result of strain between two things… what are they?

Answer 6

. the goal that a culture encourages individuals to achieve
. what the institutional structure of society allows them to achieve legitimately

Question 7

what are the 5 deviant adaptation to strain

Answer 7

. Conformity - accepts the culturally approved goals and strive to achieve them legitimately
.Innovation - accept the goal of money success but use ‘new’ illegitimate
. Ritualism - gives up on trying to achieve the goals, but have internalised the legitimate means and
. Retreatism - rejects both goals eg dropouts
. Rebellion - rejects society goals + means and replace them with new ones

Question 8

what are the evaluations of Merton

Answer 8

. it takes official crime statistics as face value -
. too deterministic - w/c experience the most strain, yet they don’t all deviate
. Marxists - ignores the power of the ruling

Question 9

How does the subcultural strain theories see deviance

Answer 9

as the product of a delinquent subculture with different values from those of mainstream society

Question 10

A.K Cohen status frustration

Answer 10

WC boys suffer from cultural dep, inability to achieve well in schools
Lack social status as they are undesirable to mainstream school system
Status frustration because of inability to achieve status legitimately
Turn to others in similar position in form of delinquent subcultures

Question 11

Cohen Alternative status hierarchy

Answer 11

Subcultures offer an opportunity for boys who have failed to achieve legitimately to gain status from their peers through deviance

Question 12

What are the three subcultures by Cloward + Ohlin

Answer 12

. Criminal subcultures - organised crime - career criminals socialise youths into their own criminal career
. Conflict subcultures - gangs organised by young people + based on claiming territory from other gangs - “turf wars”
. Retreatism subcultures - drop out all together = abuse drugs

Question 13

What are the evaluations of Cloward and Ohlin

Answer 13

. Ignores wealthy + wider power structure + over predict w/c crime
. Try + explain different types of w/c deviance in terms of different subcultures
. draw boundaries too sharply

Question 14

What did the recent strain theory say

Answer 14

. argued that young people may pursue a variety of goals other than money success eg popularity
. m/c juveniles may have problems achieving such goals

Question 15

what is Messner + Rosenfeld’s Institutional Anomie theory

Answer 15

. the American dream exert pressures towards crime by encouraging an anomic culture environment - encouraged to adopt to an ‘anything goes’ mentality in pursuit in wealth
. concluded - societies based on free - market capitalism and lacking adequate welfare provisions