functionalist views of crime

• Durkheim believed that a certain amount of crime is normal and integral to society, and that degradation ceremonies, such as public trials, help reinforce shared norms and values
• Every society has a set of core values, and while too much crime is a threat to social order, too little crime is unhealthy
• Crime can create jobs that boost employment, like in the police workforce, and can act as a 'safety valve' for society, for example, prostitution could protect marriages
• Durkheim's theory suggests that changing values can lead to some defying outdated laws, like Nelson Mandela, serving as a signal or warning that there is a defect in the social organization which may lead to changes in society
• Anomie, or normlessness, occurs when the situation becomes so bad that people are unsure of the correct norms and values to follow, impacting cohesion and informal social control
• During great social change or stress, the collective conscience becomes unclear, old norms and values are challenged, and people become uncertain about what is acceptable and unacceptable before new norms and values become established
• Boundary maintenance occurs when crime produces a reaction from society, uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to shared norms and values
• Robert Merton's Anomie/Strain Theory explains how pressure to deviate from accepted norms and values to achieve societal goals can lead to different adaptations like conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion
• Albert Cohen's Delinquent Subculture-Status Frustration theory explains how offenders, especially working-class boys, reject mainstream values due to status frustration and adopt deviant norms and values
• Hirschi's Bond Theory suggests that crime is a choice, and most people choose not to commit crime due to factors like morality, involvement, commitment, and attachment
• Walter Miller's Working Class Focal Concerns theory explains how the working class subculture, passed down through generations, can lead to crime through focal concerns like toughness, smartness, and excitement
• Cloward and Ohlin's Illegal Opportunity Structure theory suggests that an illegal career path is available for individuals to gain status, money, and power, with adaptations like criminal subcultures, conflict subcultures, and retreat