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Functionalism and Crime/Deviance - Coggle Diagram
Functionalism and Crime/Deviance
Durkheim
Argues crime increases during periods of social change/anomie (normlessness). Therefore it is linked to social order. He called a society where no one broke the law 'a society of saints' and said it would be impossible. Saw crime as inevitable and universal. Durkheim says crime and the punishment of crime are necessary to maintain a healthy society. Saw crime as having useful functions such as:
Boundary maintenance - reinforcing the value consensus and achieving social order (Punishments are enforced if laws are broken so people have shared values and views on morality creating social solidarity and social order)
Adaption and change - creating positive social change (A society with no crime would be bad as no one would question social order or challenge existing beliefs and so no social change would occur)
Criticism - claims society requires a certain amount of deviance to function but does not specify how much is the right amount. They ignore the impact on victims. They like the functions of crime but these may not be why crime exists in the first place
Merton
Argues we need to acknowledge the inequalities in society. The strain theory suggests that people engage in deviant behaviour when they cannot achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means. Not all social groups have the same ability to achieve the common cultural goals, so there is a strain between the culture goals of a society and the means of achieving them which leads to criminal activity. Eg American Dream - hard work and education = success. However this assumes meritocracy and ignores inequality - produces frustration so people turn to illegitimate means (crime) to achieve the goals they cannot reach legitimately
Conformists - accept goals and means
Ritualists - lose the belief in goals but stick to means
Retreatists - give up on means and goals (withdraw from society)
Innovators - accept the goals but reject the means
Rebels - reject goals and means - replace them with alternative goals and means.
He argues most crime is property crime and working class crime is the highest as they have the least opportunity to obtain wealth legitimately. Crime and deviance result from lack of balance between goals and means of achieving them
Cohen (Subcultural Functionalist)
Argues Merton's approach assumes all crime is committed for material gain ignoring crime such as vandalism and ignores group deviance by focusing on individual deviance. Cohen argues working class boys face anomie in the middle class education system where they are culturally deprived and so are at the bottom of the status hierarchy. As a result there is status frustration and they reject mainstream middle class values and turn to others in the same situation. They turn to delinquency creating an alternative status hierarchy where they can gain status through delinquent actions. The subcultures value spite, malice and hostility and condemn what society praises (eg society respects property so they commit vandalism). Similarly activities such as fighting and 'joy-riding' do not make criminals rich but bring status within their sub-culture
Cloward and Ohlin (Subcultural Functionalist)
Agrees with Merton - wc youths are denied legitimate opportunities to achieve and that their deviance stems from this. However they argue some subcultures resort to violence, others turn to drugs. Key reasons for this is not only unequal access to the legitimate opportunity structure but unequal access to illegitimate opportunity structures. (Eg not everyone who fails at school can become a successful burglar). Different neighbourhoods provide different illegitimate opportunities to learn criminal skills and develop criminal careers.
Identify three subcultures:
Criminal - Neighbourhoods of long standing criminal culture and hierarchy of professional adult crime therefore young people learn how to successfully commit utilitarian crime. Adult criminals will train young people with the ability to go up the criminal career ladder
Conflict - Areas of high population turnover. Only illegitimate opportunities are with loosely organised gangs. Violence provides a release for frustration at blocked opportunities and an alternative source of status (winning 'turf' between gangs)
Retreatists - double failure - fail both the legitimate and the illegitimate opportunities so turn to a retreatist ('drop out') subculture based on illegal drug use
Hirschi
Control theory - 4 social bonds (suicide)
Attachment - how much do we care how it may affect others
Commitment - what have we got to lose (Jobs)
Involvement - how involved are we with society
Belief - to what extent do we believe obeying the law is the right thing to do
Social policies look at how bonds can be promoted and reduce deviance
This model does not look at white collar crime
Other functions of crime
A safety valve - Davis - crime acts as a safety valve to protect societys institutions eg prostitution helps release mens sexual frustrations without threatening the nuclear family
A warning sign - Cohen - crime is useful to indicate that an institution is not working effectively. For example high levels of vandalism may suggest a problem emerging in society. A society with no crime and deviance may have strong integration which may prevent social change or challenging of social order. Crime levels can indicate dysfunction in different areas of society
Creates jobs
Durkheim
Suicide - a study of deviance. Suicide as a social fact
Social integration - how individuals are made to feel part of society - too much (altruistic) vs too little (egoistic)
Social regulation - how we're controlled by society - too much (fatalistic) vs too little (anomic)
Criticisms - vague (what amount is the right amount), ignores individuals motives and meanings behind the act