Functionalist and Strain Theories

• Durkheim’s Functionalist Theory

  • Crime is natural and inevitable, society needs crime
  • There are three positive functions of crime - social integration, social regulation and social change
• Hirschi’s Social Control/ Bonds of Attachment Theory

  • Crime is most common amongst individuals who are detached from society
  • Four types of attachment - commitment, involvement, attachment and belief
  • Correlation between, truancy, single parent households, unemployment and crime
• Merton’s Strain Theory posits that there is a strain between society’s cultural value system, which values money, and the social structure.
• Merton's Strain Theory identifies five adaptations of strain: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion.
• Conformity, according to Merton's Strain Theory, is the adaptation where an individual accepts the culturally accepted goals and strives to achieve them legitimately.
• Innovation, another adaptation of strain, is when an individual accepts the money success goal but uses illegitimate means to achieve it.
• Ritualism, in Merton's Strain Theory, is when an individual gives up on the goal, but accepts the legitimate means and follows the rules for their own sake.
• Retreatism, in Merton's Strain Theory, is when an individual rejects both the goal and the legitimate means.
• Rebellion, is when an individual replaces existing goals, creating new ones to bring social change.
• Postitive Evaluations of Functionalist and Strain Theories of Crime

  • Generally recognise the relationship between social structure and crime
  • Durkheim recognises crime exists in every society and that a crime-free society is an unrealistic goal
  • Merton explains the different types of deviance
• Negative Evaluations of Functionalist and Strain Theories of Crime

  • Can’t explain hidden crimes such as Domestic Violence
  • Ignores Power and labelling and that elite crimes happen but generally aren’t recorded
  • Can’t explain recent decrease in crime