functionalism

Durkheim

Anomie: refers to a state of normlessness of a breakdown in social order often occurring during periods of rapid uncertainty

Durkheim argues anomie arises when individual no longer feel connected to the collective norms and values of society.

• in a functioning society there is a conscience collective (shares values and norms) consequently to societies institutions, the vast majority in a society has been socialised.

Why is crime and deviance found in all society

• not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values, so some individuals will be prone to deviate e.g. inadequate primary socialisation

• There is a diversity of lifestyles and values, lead to diffrent groups developing their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values, mainstream culture may see these as deviant.

5 positive functions of crime

Boundary maintenance:

• reaffirm society’s shared rules and reinforce social solidarity, crime produces a reaction from society, uniting it’s member in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the shared norms and values.

• This could be done through the courtroom, newsroom or winder society e..g Arian grande’s lone love concert in response to the Manchester bombing

Adaption and change:

• all change starts with an act of deviance, deivancy drives forwards social change

• Individual with new ideas, values and way of living must be completed stifled

• Society will stagnate

• In the 1950s and 1960s, segregation laws treated black American unfairly and activists like Rosa park and Martin Luther king he broke those rules, even tho it was illegal at the time, their actions challenged outdated norms and sparked legal changes eventually leading to new laws promoting equality.

Safety valve:

• crime and deviance can act as a safety valve e.g protect society from a more harmful alternative

• Davi’s argue that prostitution act as a safety valve for the release of men’s sexual frustration without threatening the nuclear family

• Polsky argues that pornography safely ‘channels’ a variety of sexual desires away from alternative such as adultery or asset which would pose as much greater threat to women.

Warning device:

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

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

Licensed deviancy:

• societies sometimes also manage and regulate deviancy rather than seeking to ban it entirely

• Regulation helps to minimise the most serious impact of certain behaviours

• For example, carnivals, festivals, violent sport and student fresher’s week all license misbehaviour that in other context might be punished.

Strain theory (Merton)

• didn’t agree with other functionalist that all aspect of society were always beneficial

• Crime and deviance were evidence of poor fit or strain between the socially accepted goals of society and socially improved means of obtaining these desired goals

• Merton saw the main goals as wealth and power as represented in the American dream supposedly even the poorest had the opportunity to reach the highest level of the society meritocratic

• However, the reality is different as many disadvantaged groups are denied opportunities to achieve legitimately

• this produces frustration, this in turn creates a pressure to resort to illegitimate means pressure to deviate

• increased by the fact that American culture emphasises achieving success at any cost, winning the game becomes more important than playing by the rules

5 strain response (Merton)

Conformity

• individual accept culturally approved goals and strive to achieve them legitimately

• This is most likely amongst middle- class individuals who have good opportunities to achieve.

• This is the typical response of most American

Innovation

• individuals accept the goals of money success but use ‘new’ illegitimate means such as theft or fraud to achieve it

• Those at the lower end of the class structure are under greatest pressure to innovate

Ritualism

• individuals give up trying to achieve the goals but have internalised the legitimate means and so they follow the rules for their own sake

• This is typical of lower-middle class office worker in ‘dead-end’, routine jobs

Retreatism

• individuals rejected both the goals and the legitimate means and become dropouts

• Merton includes ‘translation, outcasts, drug addicts etc as examples

Rebellion:

• individual reject the exciting society’s goals and means, but they replace them with new ones in a deprive to bring about revolutionary change and create a new kind of society, Revels include political radical and counter-culture such as hippies.

A03: Strain theory

• critical of earlier functionalist arguing for the benefit aspect of crime

• Recognises the will of the middle and upper classes to commit crime as there are no upper limit to power, status and wealth

• How still over-estimate working class and underestimate middle class and corporate crime

• Can not explain non-utilitarian crime such as violence , sexual assault etc.

Subculture theory

• see deviance as the product of delinquency subculture with diffrent values from those of mainstream society

• They see subculture as providing an alternative opportunity structure for those who denied the chance to achieve by legitimate means, mail those in the working class

• Subculture are a solution to a problem and therefore functional for their members, even if not for wider society

Status frustration (cohen)

A01: Cohen found that much offending behaviours was no economically motivated and therefore didn’t seem to fit Merton’s idea of the innovator . It was non utilitarian crime, such as vandalism and violence

• lower class boys strove to emulate middle- class values and aspiration but lacked the means to attain success

• Thus led to status frustration: personal failure and inadequacy

A02: WC children are much more likely to fail at school leaving them to feeling humiliated, to gain status, the invent traditional middle class values by behaving badly and engaging in a variety of antisocial behaviour

so they gain status within their peers groups who have similar values, together they form a subculture with it’s own distinctive anti-school values e.g. ‘the lads’ Willis 1977 learning to labour study

• this is why groups or gangs crime was attractive. It gave them the chance to have their crime witnessed by their peer groups so they could get more respect from them and increase their status.

Subculture (cloward and Ohlin)

Criminal Subcultures

Form in stable, long-standing areas with a tradition of crime. They teach youths criminal skills and values, helping them move up in a criminal hierarchy.

• Recruit young people into adult crime

• Provide skills, training, and role models

• Open doors to criminal careers

Example: The Mafia.

2. Conflict Subcultures

Develop in areas with high population turnover, social disorganisation and blocked opportunities. They arise as a response to frustration.

• Violence is a way to vent frustration

• Gangs form for protection and status

• Illegal opportunities are used when legitimate ones are blocked

Example: Gangs in inner-city areas.

3. Retreatist Subcultures

Happen when people see no real chance of success or choose not to play by the rules.

• People withdraw from mainstream society

• Turn to alcohol or drugs

• Seek escape through illegal means

• Use shelters or services for basic needs

Example: Homeless people in deprived areas.