1: Boundary Maintenance

• Crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the shared norms and values. For Durkheim, this explains the function of punishment. This is not to make the wrongdoer suffer or mend their ways, nor is it to remove crime from society. In Durkheim's view, the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society's shared rules and reinforce social solidarity.
• This may be done through the rituals of the courtroom, which dramatise wrongdoing and publicly shame and stigmatise the offender. This reaffirms the values of the law-abiding majority and discourages others from rule breaking. Similarly, Stanley Cohen (1972) has examined the important role played by the media in this 'dramatisation of evil'. In his view, media coverage of crime and deviance often creates

  'folk devils'.