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What did Durkheim argue?
Crime is normal and healthy in all societies as some individuals werenât socialised correctly at home or in institutions.
Crime performs boundary maintenance, where society reacts to someone committing a crime and uniting society to condemn the wrongdoers actions and reinforce their commitment to the shared norms and values.
Crime also performs adaptation of change, where all change starts with deviance, someone with a new idea subverting societal expectations and starting a new trend
What did Davis argue?
Crime creates a safety valve which ensures the family remains stable. Prostitution does this as a man can release their sexual desires without affecting the monogamous nuclear family
What did Cohen argue?
Another function of deviance is to warn society that an institution is not functioning properly, such as high rates of truancy telling us there is a problem with the school
Working-class boys are most likely to commit crimes and turn to gangs as they face anomie (isolation) in the middle-class school system and are unable to achieve success as a result of their background
What did Walsh argue?
Gangs are good for society as they can produce positive role models and allow other members to grow up and set boundaries to ensure no harm is caused
What did Merton argue?
People are unable to achieve socially approved goals through legitimate means, so they resort to deviant behaviour, feeling strain in being unable to achieve the âAmerican Dreamâ
What did Cloward and Ohlin argue?
Not everyone can succeed in committing crimes after they fail in school as they may not have the ability to do so, resulting in them turning into retreatists and taking drugs
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