Functionalist Theories of Crime

What are positive functions of crime?

• Boundary maintenance and social cohesion

• Warning sign

• Adaption and change

• Safety value

Who is thinker for boundary maintenance and social cohesion?

Durkheim

What is boundary maintenance and social cohesion?

• Crime reinforces acceptable behaviour by publicly demonstrating the consequences of breaking rules.

• Severe crimes unite society in condemnation.

Who is thinker of warning sign?

Clinard/Cohen

What is warning sign?

An increase in certain crimes indicates societal dysfunction, signalling a need for change.

Who is the thinker of adaption and change?

Durkheim

What is adaption and change?

Deviance is necessary for societal progress; its absence leads to stagnation.

Who is the thinker of safety value?

Davis/Polsky

What is safety value?

Minor deviance prevents more serious crimes (e.g., pornography access preventing sexual offences).

What is the marxist evaluation of positive functions of crime?

Ignores the powerful's role in shaping definitions of crime and deviance, and the impact of social inequality.

What is Durkheim’s evaluation of positive functions of crime?

Ignores the impact on individual victims, focusing instead on society.

What is qualification’s evaluation of positive functions of crime?

Fails to quantify beneficial crime levels

What is solidarity’s evaluation of positive functions of crime?

Crime can cause isolation instead of solidarity

Who is the thinker for Strain theory?

Robert K. Merton

What is the overview of Strain theory?

Crime results from the strain of achieving societal goals (American Dream) through legitimate means in the 1950s.

What are types of strain?

• Conformity

• Innovation

• Ritualism

• Rebellion

• Retreatism

What is conformity?

Accepting societal goals and the means to achieve them.

What is innovation?

Accepting societal goals but using alternate means to achieve them.

What is ritualism?

Following societal means without believing in goal attainment.

What is rebellion?

Rejecting societal goals and means, replacing them with new ones.

What is retreatism?

Rejecting societal goals and means without replacement.

Who is the thinker of status frustration?

Cohen

What is status frustration?

Frustration from an inability to achieve social goals leads to crime for status.

What is an example of status frustration?

Willis: Working-class boys have different status ideas than middle-class boys.

• Ignores female delinquency.

• Focuses only on youth crime.

Who is the thinker for illegitimate opportunity structures?

Cloward and Ohlin

What are illegitimate opportunity structures?

• Criminal subcultures

• Conflict subcultures

• Retreatist subcultures

What are criminal subcultures?

They socialise youth into crime

What are conflict subcultures?

They lack social cohesion

What are retreatist subcultures?

They fail to access criminal or conflict subcultures

What is an evaluation of illegitimate opportunity structures?

• Assumes official crime statistics are accurate.

• Exaggerates criminal opportunities for youth.

Who is thinker of focal concerns?

Miller

What are focal concerns?

The working class has different values that include hypermasculinity, leading to normalised criminal behaviour.

Who is the thinker for the control theory?

Hirschi

What is the control theory?

Focuses on why people don’t commit a crime, suggesting strong societal bonds prevent it.

What is the evaluation for the control theory?

• Assumes inherent human badness, with society as the controller.

• Doesn’t explain bond strength or formation.

• Deviance can occur despite strong bonds (e.g., sexuality).