Functionalist theory of crime

Crime

Behaviour which is against the law

Deviance

Behaviour that breaks some rules - it may fail to conform to the norms and expectations of society or a social group

Social Control

Methods used to persuade or force individuals to conform to the dominant social norms and values of a society or group

Social order

A stable society where people agree with social norms and values

What is functionalism?

Theory that all aspects of society serve a function and are necessary for survival

How do functionalists believe social solidarity is achieved?

• Socialisation - ensures individuals internalise the same norms and values and feel the need to act the same way society requires

• Social Control - mechanisms including rewards for conformity and punishments for deviance, which ensures individuals behave the way society expects

What does Durkheim argue?

Believed “crime is normal… an integral part of all healthy societies”

He argues that small amounts of crime are necessary for society to function and maintain boundaries based on value consensus (shared ideas about what is considered wrong and right)

Why is crime so inevitable?

• Not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms, so some would be prone to deviate and others can remind them of the importance of social solidarity.

• In complex modern societies, there is a diversity of lifestyles and values, which leads to different groups developing their own subcultures with distinctive norms that mainstream culture may see as deviant

What are 4 positive functions that crime provides?

Boundary Maintenance (Durkeim)

Adaptation and change (Durkheim)

Safety valve (Polsky and Davis)

Warning device (Cohen)

Social solidarity

What is boundary maintenance?

• Purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society norms

• Crime produces reaction from society, uniting members in disapproval of wrongdoing and reinforcing commitment to shared norms.

• Without boundaries, crime rates might increase, leading to anomie (a sense of moral confusion that weakens their commitment to shared values, that can encourage crime)

• e.g. Ariana Grande’s One Love concert in response to the Manchester bombing

What is meant by adaptation and change?

• All change starts with an act of deviance, which can drive forward positive social changes

• individuals with new ideas must not be suppressed by social control and must challenge the norms in order to change them otherwise society will stagnate

• e.g. segregation laws treated Black Americans unfairly - activists like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. broke these laws

• e.g. the Suffragette movement broke the law in order to highlight gender inequalities

Safety Valve

• Crime and deviance can act as a safety valve like protecting society from a more harmful alternatives

• Davis argued that prostitution acts as a safety valve for the release of men’s sexual frustrations without threatening the nuclear family

• Polsky argues that pornography safely “channels“ a variety of sexual desires away from alternatives like adultery or assault which would pose a much greater threat to women

Warning Device

• Crime and deviance provides a warning that an institution is not functioning properly

• E.g. high rates of truancy may tell us there are problems with the education system and that policy-makers need to make appropriate changes to it

Strengths of Functionalist theory

+explains why some crimes exists

+some crimes can reinforce social norms and values to try prevent more serious crimes or to unite the community in condemnation of a brutal attack

Criticisms of functionalist theory

-doesn’t show how much crime is the right amount for a healthy society

-difficult to falsify theory in that crime is good and bad

-crime isn’t functional for the victim

-crime doesn’t always promote solidarity e.g. can lead to people coming back more isolated (women staying indoors for fear of attacks at night)

-doesn’t explain why people commit crimes in the first place