FUNCTIONALISM

ON CRIME AND DEVIANCE

THE INEVITABILITY OF CRIME

Functionalists believe crime is inevitable and universal despite the fact they think it makes society less stable.Durkheim said “crime is normal… an integral part of all healthy societies.”

WHY IS CRIME UNIVERSAL?

Durkheim identifies two reasons…O Not everyone is equally and effectively

socialised into the shared norms and values, so some will deviate

O The diversity of lifestyles and values. This means that some norms in one culture may be deemed deviant in another.

Durkheim says this is due to anomies in society. Modern society has a more complex, specialised division of labour. Therefore, the collective conscience is weak, and so crime rates are on the rise.

THE POSITIVE FUNCTIONS

Nevertheless, Durkheim says crime performs positive functions too…O Boundary MaintenanceO Adaption and Change

BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE

Crime produces a reaction which unifies it’s members in condemnation of the wrong doer. This reinforces an individual’s commitment to the shared norms and values. The purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society’s shared rules and social solidarity. Courts can also dramtise the wrong doing and publically stigmatise the offender, which will prevent people from rule breaking.

ADAPTION AND CHANGE

All change starts with deviance. For example, challenging existing norms and values is deemed a deviant act, but it could give rise to a new culture. If this doesn’t happen, society could stagnate and not make necessary adaptive changes.Durkheim says…O Too much crime could tear society apartO Too little crime could indicate that society is

repressing it’s members which results in no change or freedom.

OTHER FUNCTIONS…

O Davis says prostitution acts as a ‘safety valve’ for the release of men’s sexual frustration

O Polsky says porn safely channels a variety of sexual desires resulting in less adultery

O Albert Cohen says some acts can indicate that an institution isn’t functioning properly. For example, truancy could highlight a fault in the education system.

O Erikson say that is crime can be seen as positive, maybe society is organised to promote it? Is the job of agencies to sustain a suitable level of crime? Crime and festivals etc. license misbehaviour which would normally be punished.

CRITICISMSO Society doesn’t create crime in

advance of strengthening social solidarity.

O They do not consider the effect of individuals; who is crime functional for?

MERTON’S STRAIN THEORY

Merton distinguishes between two factors which led to him creating a strain theory.O Structural: what the institutional

structure of society allows an individual to achieve legitimately.

O Cultural: the goals a culture encourages an individual to achieve.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

An American society is supposedly meritocratic, with opportunities for all. However, the reality is that disadvantaged groups are denied opportunities. The strain between the cultural goal of money and success and the lack of legitimate opportunities to achieve this produces frustration, creating a pressure to deviate (‘the strain to anomie’). This is increased by the fact that more emphasis is put on achieving the goal than there is on achieving it legitimately.

DEVIANT ADAPTATIONS TO STRAIN

Merton identifies 5 responses to the strain of succeeding:O Conformity: accepting the goals of society and striving

to achieve them legitimately.O Innovation: accepting the goals, but achieving them

illegitimately.O Ritualism: giving up on achieving the goals but

internalising legitimate means to achieve their own goals.

O Retreatism: rejecting the goals and legitimate means (drop-outs)

O Rebellion: rejecting the goals, and bringing in new ones to be achieved via a revolution (e.g. Martin Luther King)

EVALUATION

Merton is useful for showing how normal and deviant behaviour can arise from mainstream goals and explaining patters in official statistics.However, he is criticised…O He takes crime statistics at face value and over

represents working class crime.O He is too deterministic – not all of the working

class deviateO Marxists argue he ignores the power of the

working classO He assumes value consensus

SUBCULTURAL STRAIN THEORY

Cohen also criticises Merton…O He does not explain non-utilitarian

crimeO He ignores group devianceCohen conducted a study which focused on working class boys, each of whom were culturally deprived. He found their lack of skills to achieve the goals of society led to frustration. In order to obtain a high status, they joined a delinquent subculture.

ALTERNATIVE STATUS HIERARCHY

Subcultures are characterised by spite, malice and hostility and they invert the values of mainstream society.Cohen believes a subcultures’ function is to offer an alternative status hierarchy through delinquent acts, having failed legitimately.

EVALUATION

This theory is useful because it offers an explanation of non-utilitarian crime and explains non-economic delinquency.Criticisms…O He assumes the working class begin

sharing middle class valuesO His study is gender biasO He assumes all working class people

will resort to a subculture

THREE SUBCULTURES…

Cloward and Ohlin identify three subcultures which have arose due to unequal access to illegitimate structures. Which subculture depends on neighbourhoods…

O Criminal Subcultures: these provide an apprenticeship in utilitarian crime. They are found in neighbourhoods with a long standing criminal culture.

O Conflict Subculture: these are loose gangs which provide a release for men with blocked opportunities. They can be found in neighbourhoods with a high population turnover, social disorganisation and no professional crime network.

O Retreatist Subcultures: the members turn to illegal drug use because they haven’t succeeded as a criminal or gang leader. They can be found in any neighbourhood.

EVALUATION

Cloward and Ohlin are useful because they provide an explanation of different types of working class deviance. Nevertheless, they have been criticised…

CRITICISMSO South explains how the drug trade means being in

more than one subculture, but their theory doesn’t account for this.

O Some retreatists are professional dealers making a living from utilitarian crime.

O Their theory is a ‘reactive’ one – they assume everyone shares the same goal at first.

O Miller explains how the working class have their own independent subculture separate from the mainstream culture. Deviance occurs from trying to achieve goals of their own (‘focal concerns’)

O Matza says most delinquents drift in and out of delinquency

INSTITUTIONAL ANOMIE THEORY

Messner and Rosenfield’s theory focuses on the American Dream (like Merton). They argue its obsession with money and success and its ‘winner takes all’ mentality exert ‘pressures towards crime by encouraging an anomic cultural environment in which people are encouraged to adopt an anything goes mentality’. However, in the pursuit of wealth, wealth is over focused and so things like manners are not taught. Therefore, crime is inevitable.

EVIDENCEO Downes and Hansen found that (through a

survey) societies that spent more on welfare had lower rates of imprisonment. This supports Messner and Rosenfield’s claim that societies that protect the poor from the worst excesses of the free market have less crime.

O Savelsberg applies the strain theory to post-communist societies in Eastern Europe, which saw a rapid rise in crime after the fall of communism in 1989. He attributes this rise to communism’s collective values being replaced by new western capitalist goals of ‘money success’