Functionalists view on crime

Functionalists view on crime

They see the law as a reflection of societies shared values, so crime is the inaedquate socialisation of these values.

Crime is inevitable ?

Fucntionalists see crime as inevitable and universal, there is crime in every society

Crime is a social construct?

not everyone is adequately socialised into shared values and because of modern societies different groups develop different subcultures which may be deemed as deviant to other societies

Crime is functional?

a certain degree of crime is needed in a society as it strengthens bonds between individuals

Give two reasons why crime is important

boundary maintenance, adaptation and change

Boundary maintenance

Durkheim argues the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society’shared rules and reinfiorce social solidarity

Adaptation and change

There must be a scope for people to challenge the existing norms and values in order to change as a society even though it may be seen as deviant at first, if there is to much social control society will stagnate as peope feel suppressed

Stanley Cohen - folk devils

Cohen argues that the media plays an important role in ‘dramatisation of evil’, where media coverage on crime and deviance create ‘folk devils’

Give an evaluation point for Durkheims view on crime

Functionalism looks at what functions crime serves for society as a whole and ignores how it might affect different groups or individuals within society (ethnic minorities)

Evaluation of crime promoting solidarity

crime doesn’t always promote social solidarity and may do the opposite, making people more isolated (women encouraged to stay indors to avoid sexual attacks)

Parsons “moving equilibrium”

Crime could be reduced if individuals were constantly controlled, but would prevent the development of positive deviants who go against society's norms/values, yet move society forward.