Functionalist, strain theory and subcultural

• Functionalist theory - inevitability of crime (Durkheim)


  • Not everyone is equally socialised into the same norms and values, so some individuals will be prone to deviate
  • Diversity of lifestyles leads to subcultures forming, which produce their own idea of what's normal
• Functionalist theory - boundary maintenance (Durkheim)


  • Reaffirms society's shared rules and reinforces social solidarity
• Functionalist theory - adaption and change (Durkheim)


  • All change starts with an act of deviance
  • Helps highlight when and where a change needs to happen
• Functionalist theory - levels of crime (Durkheim)


  • Too much crime threatens to tear the bonds of society apart
  • Too little means that society is repressing and controlling its members too much
• Functionalist theory - safety valve (Davis)


  • Prostitution helps release men's sexual frustrations without threatening the family
  • Polsky - porn channels sexual desires away from committing adultery or rape
• Functionalist theory - warning (Cohen)


  • Warns that an institution is not functioning properly
  • High rates of truancy may tell us that the educational system may have a problem
• Functionalist theory - criticisms

  • Just because crime creates solidarity, it doesn't mean that this is why it exists in the first place
  • Focuses on effects on society as a whole and ignores subcultures or individuals
  • Produces isolation instead of solidarity, like scaring people to stay at home
  • Prostitution may be beneficial for men, but not for women
• Strain theory - American dream (Merton)


  • Chased by everyone and involves a comfortable and successful life style
  • Disadvantaged groups are denied the chance to reach it legitimately, forcing them to commit crimes to gain it
• Strain theory - deviant adaptions (Merton)


  • Conformity - accept society's goals and aim to achieve them legitimately
  • Innovation - accept society's goals and aim to achieve them illegitimately
  • Ritualism - Given up on society's goals but stays legit for their own sake
  • Rebellion - rejects society's goals and replaces them with their own
• Strain theory - criticisms

  • Marxists - ignores how ruling class make laws to only criminalise the poor
  • Assumes value consensus
  • Only accounts for utilitarian crime
  • Ignores group deviance
• Subcultural strain theories - status frustration (Cohen)


  • WC boys face anomie in MC dominated world
  • They face a problem of adjustment to the low status they are given by mainstream society
  • Turn to each other and form delinquent groups, rejecting the mainstream MC
• Subcultural strain theory - alternative status hierarchy (Cohen)

  • Deviant subcultures offers alternative where they can achieve
  • Win status from peers by committing delinquent actions
  • Offers an explanation of non-utilitarian crime
  • Counter - assumes all WC boys start off sharing MC success goals
• Subcultural strain theory - three subcultures (Cloward and Ohlin)

  • Retreatist - formed by those who fail in both legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures, these dropouts turn to drugs
  • Conflict - violence provides young men an opportunity to gain status and release frustration
  • Criminal - young people are socialised into crime by deviant role models
• Subcultural strain theory - criticisms of three subcultures

  • South - drug trade fits into both conflict and criminal
  • Miller - these people never accepted mainstream goals in the first place
  • Matza - delinquents are not committed to their subculture, drifting in and out
• Subcultural strain theory - institutional anomie (Messner and Rosenfeld)


  • People are encouraged to adopt an 'anything goes' mentality in pursuit of wealth
  • Seen in USA where they have to pay for healthcare and education, making utilitarian crime inevitable