Functionalist Theories of Crime

Question 1

key theorists

Answer 1

Durhiem
Merton

Question 2

what is Durkheim considered with

Answer 2

1. The inevitability and normality of crime as a result of improper socialisation
2. How crime/deviance can play a positive role or function for society
3. How important it is to have balance in society between normal and deviant behaviour

Question 3

crime is normal and inevitable

Answer 3

Societies work best with shared values (collective conscience) which helps to maintain social solidarity. This is achieved through socialisation and social control. Whilst balance is desirable, crime is inevitable and universal because people will not always be properly socialised and in modern complex societies there is a diversity of lifestyles and values, subcultures may emerge with alternative values which the mainstream culture may see as deviant. Some families may not pass on the values needed to be a normal person in society and so their child grows up criminal

Question 4

crime has a function in society

Answer 4

Crime is found in all known societies as it is inevitable and a normal aspect of social life. Durkheim argues that if it exists as an institution in society it must exist because it serves a positive function. Therefore crime is functional, it can be beneficial for society and without it, society would fail

Question 5

positive functions of crime

Answer 5

1. Boundary Maintenance
2. Strengthen bonds
3. Act as a warning device
4. Produce social change
5. To provide a safety valve

Question 6

boundary maintenance

Answer 6

Crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the value consensus. According to Durkheim, it reaffirms society’s shared values and reinforces social solidarity. This may be done for example, through the rituals of the courtroom which dramatise wrongdoings and publicly shame and stigmatise the offender. This reaffirms the values of the law-abiding majority and discourages others from rule breaking eg when a murder is committed our shock reminds us that it is unacceptable behaviour

Question 7

strengthen bonds

Answer 7

The outrage shared by the public at atrocities such as the Manchester attacks create bonds

Question 8

to act as a warning device

Answer 8

Crime acts as a warning device to indicate that an aspect of society is malfunctioning. For example, the storming of the capitol in 2021 suggests that there may be something wrong with the legistiave and electoral system in America

Question 9

to produce social change

Answer 9

For Durkheim, all change starts with an act of deviance, individuals with new ideas challenge existing norms and values and this will appear as deviance, but in the long run, their values may give rise to a new culture and morality. If those new ideas are suppressed, society will stagnate and be unable to make necessary adaptive changes eg the suffragettes broke the law but this helped to change the law on women’s votes

Question 10

to provide a safety valve

Answer 10

Young people might set off steam through petty vandalism rather than turning to more serious crime

Question 11

the amount of crime/balance of crime

Answer 11

The amount of crime is central for Durkheim. The collective conscience can fail especially at periods of great social strain and dramatic change and periods of anomie occur when rules are less clear-cut. This can result in far too much crime and threatens the stability of society. For example, war is often seen as a period of normlessness and the amount of crime tends to increase. Therefore, it is important that agents of social control function to limit the amount of crime that exists in society. But if there is too much control there are not enough challenges to the status quo, not enough people breaking the norms and values which generate social change. - society becomes stagnant. According to D, the amount of crime in society is significant because too much crime threatens stability and can lead to anomie, too little crime and society stagnates.

Question 12

Marxists and feminists eval of Durkheim

Answer 12

Durkheim overstates the extent to which a consensus exists, the concept of power and the ideology we are being socialised into. He doesn’t question whether the consensus is actually the ideology of the powerful enforced on a weaker group

Question 13

new right eval of Durkheim

Answer 13

He is vague about improper socialisation as a cause of crime. He doesn’t explain why certain such as men and the working class are more likely to commit crimes than others. - doesnt explain what group does the improper socialisation

Question 14

PM eval of Durkheim

Answer 14

Functionalism is out of date, the world is far more complex now and a value consensus no longer exists in any society. Crime crosses boundaries and occurs on a global scale

Question 15

general critics of Durkheim

Answer 15

Ignores victims and how crime may affect different groups and have a negative impact on different groups or individuals within a society. Crime may be functional as it provides a safety valve such as prostitution acting as a safety valve for male sexual frustrations but it’s not functional for the illegally trafficked sex worker who has to meet his needs. Functionalism fails to answer the question of functional for whom?
Crime doesnt always promote solidary, it may produce the opposite, leading people becoming more isolated for example - forcing women to stay indoors for the fear of rape

Question 16

analysis of Durkheim

Answer 16

D believed that crime is functional because it helps to meet a number of society’s needs by bringing people together and enforcing a collective conscience
Our likelihood of committing crime is higher if poor socialisation occurs as individuals will not adhere to the consensus. However, crime serves to reinforce the consensus and so plays a vital, positive role in society.

Question 17

what did Merton come up with

Answer 17

Strain Theory

Question 18

strain theory

Answer 18

Strain theorists claim that deviance occurs when people cannot achieve the goals of society with legitimate means available to them. Merton adapted D’s concept of anomie to deviance. He based his research on 1930s american society, he suggested that societies have shared goals (value consensus) that they encourage their members to achieve. Most members of that society try and meet this goal through legitimate means. For example, for americans their shared goal is to achieve the American Dream to gain wealth and possessions. The dream claims that society is meritocratic and anyone regardless of their place in society can end up owning a Cadillac and a Beverley hills mansion.

Question 19

ways of achieving society’s shared goals

Answer 19

The legitimate ways of achieving these goals are through hardwork, educational qualifications, talent, drive and determination, and ambition. However, the reality is different - many are denied opportunities to achieve legitimately the shared goals legitimacy. This causes strain not being able to reach their aspired goal through legitimate means. The resulting strain between the cultural goal of material success and the lack of legitimate opportunities to achieve it produces frustration and this in turn creates a pressure to resort to illegitimate means such as crime, merton calls this pressure to deviate the strain to anomie

Question 20

deviant adaptations to strain

Answer 20

Merton uses strain theory to explain some of the patterns of deviance found in society. He identified the different reactions to strain, he goes a step further than D, he doesnt just blame socialization but how individuals respond to them

Question 21

5 reactions to strain

Answer 21

conformity - individuals who accept the culturally approved goals and serve to achieve them legitimately - law abiding citizens
innovation - individuals who accept the shared goals of money but use illegitimate means such as theft or fruad to achieve them - embezzler
ritualists - individuals give up trying to achieve the goals but have internalised the legitimate means and so they follow the rules
retreatism - individuals reject both the goals and the legitimate means
rebellion - individuals reject the existing societys goals and means but they replace them with new ones in a desire to being about revolutionary change and create a new kind of society

Question 22

analysis of merton

Answer 22

Merton’s theory is helpful to study crime because it explains strain - the pressure individuals experience when they cannot achieve society’s goals through legitimate means makes them turn to C and D - as the cause of crime
Merton uses his idea that strain pushes people into different forms of behavioral response so he can account for different forms of C and D
It helps to explain why most crime is against property since the pursuit of wealth is a key goal in society in which many individuals cannot achieve legitimately they will respond to this strain by becoming innovations
It can be used to explain why working class commit the most crime as they are individuals under the most strain, as they have the least access to the legitimate means by which to achieve them

Question 23

criticisms of Merton

Answer 23

Marxists - Taylor et al argue that Merton ignores the power struggle in society, he doesn’t question who makes the goals and the laws that encourage people to commit the crime
It assumes that society operates on a shared goal or value consensus - everyone strives for money success, it ignored the possibility that not everyone share this goal
it is too deterministic - not all WC people suffer from strain deviate
it only accounts for utilitarian crime for monetary gain and not crime of violence, vandalism etc
Sub - func - it explains how deviance results from individual adapting to strain to anomie but ignores the roles that deviant subcultures plays