Functionalism

• Durkheim's perspective on crime-

  -Natural component of all societies
• Durkheim's functions of crime-

  -Social cohesion- brings communities closer in a shared outrage

  -warning light- an Increase in crime can be an indication that a certain institution isn't functioning correctly

  -social change- some social deviance is necessary to allow society to progress

  -safety valve -smaller crimes can help prevent more dangerous, larger crimes
• Evaluation of Durkheim's functions of crime-

  -Doesn't define how much crime is optimum for society

  -Marxism- structural inequalities aren't taken into account as the elite classes are typically able to get away with white collar crimes while the WC are harshly penalised for theft so it could be argued that the WC act as a scapegoat to allow for this to happen
• Strain theory- Merton-

  -Crime exists due to structural inequalities

  -this prevents W/C from reaching socially accepted goals such as wealth in a legitimate way

  -this leads to strain and people cope with this in 1/5 ways: conforming, innovation, retreatism, ritualism and rebellion
• Evaluation of strain theory-

  -helpful in explaining why M/C commit crimes

  -however, doesn't explain why some commit crime while others reform, retreat or rebel
• Bonds of attachment- Hirshci-

  -People are more likely to commit crimes if they don't have strong bonds of attachment to society

  -Attachment- strong emotional connections between individuals

  -Commitment- involvement in conventional activities

  -Involvement- engagement in constructive activities

  -Belief- internalisation of social norms and values
• Evaluation of bonds of attachment-

  -There's a correlation between absent parenting and crime

  -blames victim (marxists)

  -ignores wider societal factors e.g. poverty

  -can’t explain crime of the elites

  -too deterministic- not all attached individuals are criminals
• Subcultural theory-

  -A subculture has values that are different to mainstream culture

  -subcultural theorists argue that deviance is the result of whole groups breaking off from society who have deviant values

  -it's peer group pressure that encourages individuals to commit crime rather than a lack of attachment to society.
• Status fustration- Cohen

  W/C strive to emulate MC values but lack the means to be successful leading to an alternative status hierarchy where they gain positive rewards through crime resulting in subcultures e.g. Willis
• Evaluation of status frustration-

  -Accounts for individual deviance

  -Marxist- ignores the power of the ruling class as they enforce laws
• Illegitimate opportunity structure-

  There's three different types of subcultures: criminal, conflict and retreatist
• Criminal subculture-

  -Utilitarian crimes such as, theft

  -they develop in more stable W/C areas where there is an established pattern of crime

  -this provided a learning opportunity and career structure for young aspiring criminals
• Conflict subcultures-

  -emerge in socially disorganised areas where there's a lack of social cohesion

  -are characterised by violence, gang warfare, mugging and other street crime

  -both approved and illegal means of achieving mainstream goals are blocked or limited so frustration is expressed through violence or street crime to gain status
• Retreatist subcultures-

  -Emerge among W/C youth who are double failures- failed at both mainstream society and crime subcultures

  -their response is a retreat into drug addiction and alcoholism, paid for by petty theft, shoplifting and prostitution
• What did Willis find about the lads' aspirations?

  They rejected middle-class aspirations
• Why do postmodernists find subcultural theory irrelevant?

  Because deviance is now seen as normal