Functionalist Theories of Crime

Positive Functions of Crime

Boundary Maintenance and Social Cohesion

• Thinker: Durkheim

• Explanation:

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

  • Severe crimes unite society in condemnation.

Warning Sign

• Thinkers: Clinard/Cohen

• Explanation:

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

Adaptation and Change

• Thinker: Durkheim

• Explanation:

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

Safety Valve

• Thinkers: Davis/Polsky

• Explanation:

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

Evaluation of Positive Functions of Crime

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

• Durkheim: Ignores the impact on individual victims, focusing instead on society.

• Quantification: Fails to quantify beneficial crime levels.

• Solidarity: Crime can cause isolation instead of solidarity.

Strain Theory

Thinker

• Robert K. Merton

Overview

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

Types of Strain

Conformity

• Accepting societal goals and the means to achieve them.

Innovation

• Accepting societal goals but using alternate means to achieve them.

Ritualism

• Following societal means without believing in goal attainment.

Rebellion

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

Retreatism

• Rejecting societal goals and means without replacement.

Sub-Cultural Theories

Status Frustration (Cohen)

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

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

    • Ignores female delinquency.

    • Focuses only on youth crime.

Illegitimate Opportunity Structures (Cloward and Ohlin)

• Criminal subcultures: Socialise youth into crime.

• Conflict subcultures: Lack social cohesion.

• Retreatist subcultures: Fail to access criminal or conflict subcultures.

  • Assumes official crime statistics are accurate.

  • Exaggerates criminal opportunities for youth.

Focal Concerns (Miller)

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

Control Theory

Thinker

• Hirschi

Explanation

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

Evaluation

• 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).