The functionalist perspective of crime and Deviance

Learning objective: To understand the functionalist perspective of crime

and deviance

Durkheim's explanation

Functional • Boundaries of acceptable behaviour are made known to the public by

the ways in which people are punished. For example, people become aware of someone’s arrest if they have transgressed from what is perceived as normal behaviour to deviating from the norm.

• It strengthens the bonds between members of society and reaffirms the values when they are drawn together by horrific crimes, such as terrorism.

• It is generally agreed that if the public perceives something to be harmful and wrong, then there is a need for social changed, hence leading to the changes within the law.

• Law and crime are seen to form one of the most distinct boundaries on modern life – i.e. people

Known what is right or acceptable and what is wrong, or frowned upon.

• Normal • There is no society which exists

where crime is not committed. Abnormal levels of crime occur in times of social upheaval when the power of the collective conscience is weakened, and a state of anomie develops – where people look after their own interests rather than looking out for their neighbours as well. Individualism is therefore a major source of crime.

• Inevitable • It is inevitable for every member of

society to be equally committed to the norms and values of societies, in a multicultural society. Even if there are clear distinctions between what is seen as acceptable or unacceptable, because there are major differences between individuals and cultures, some of which may be natural occurrences (socialisation) there are bound to be those who step over the boundary into what is classifies as unlawful behaviour.

Crime is normal

• Crime is seen as normal because people focus on individual interests rather than others beliefs, attitudes and opinions.

• A society of anomie (normlessness) appears – where individual interest is seen as the most important aspect of society.

• The collective conscience fails in societies as a result on selfish individual behaviour and attitudes.

Task- Complete using Durkheim’s explanation

Inevitable

Normal

Functional

A functionalist perspective- strengthes or weaknesses?

1. 1. Durkheim suggests that there is a purpose to the existence of all social phenomena, the necessary purpose of deviance being to bond the social group. This is difficult to imagine because it treats society as a living thing, an object which forces individuals to follow, like sheep or robots, the wider

social pattern2. He does not explain why certain people are more likely to commit crimes

than others.3. . It is difficult to test the theory of crime. It seems to be a ‘have your cake

and eat it theory’, where crime may invalidate the functionalist claims of social stability, but it seen to ‘really’ function to create such stability by

showing people how not to behave. Thus functionalists are able to ‘prove’ stability in life, even where conflict is shown to exist

4. He seems to ignore the concept of power. It is generally accepted that in all societies some groups have greater ability than the bulk of the

population to influence the law making process. 5. Functionalism fails to provide an answer to the question ‘Functional for

whom?’. 6. Durkheim’s work was perhaps the first to analyse deviance in terms of a

broad sociological theory.

Complete all questions

1. Evaluate the usefulness of the functionalist perspective of crime and deviance (4)

2. What are the disadvantages of the functionalist perspectives? (4)

3. What are the advantages of the functionalist perspectives? (4)

Merton’s theory: Social structure and anomie

• Not all functionalists would agree completely with the following view of crime and deviance. Robert Merton (1949) argued that functionalists need to pay more attention to inequalities in society. Merton’s strain theory, argues that as a result of inequalities, not all social groups have the same ability to achieve the common cultural goals of society, so there is a strain (tension) between the cultural goals of society and the means of achieving them. Merton claims that some groups will have less access to the means of achieving cultural goals by, for example, not having an equal chance of gaining entry to higher education and top professions.

• Merton contends that this means that social groups ill adapt or respond to cultural goals in different ways, and he identified five main adaptations to common goals.

Merton’s 6: categories

• Conformists accept the goals and the means of achieving tem.• Rituals lose their belief in the goals, but stick to the means or rules in

society.• Retreatists withdraw from society having given up on the goals and the

means.• Innovators accept the goals but reject the means.• Rebels reject the means and the goals and replace them with alternative

means and goals.

• Merton says that crime and deviance are therefore likely to occur when there are unequal opportunities to the means of achieving common social goals. Merton’s idea of strain reflects his functionalist approach, since he’s claiming that crime and deviance are the result of a lack of balance between goals and the means of achieving them during periods of social change. This reflects the functionalist idea of the organic analogy, and the idea that societies have to be based on consensus and harmony if they are to function effectively.

Mode of adaptation

Intuitional means

Cultural goals

Description

Conformist, eg law abiding

Yes Works hard to achieve success and wealth

Ritualist, eg bureacrats No

Innovator, eg _____

Yes No

____ , eg drug user

No Rejects both by dropping out of society

Rebel, eg terrorist / freedom fighters

Yes and No