Functionalists

• Durkheim

  small amount of c/d is necessary and functional for society

  • acted as boundary maintenance encourages social solidarity
  • minor crime is a safety valve= pressure lease from society

  ->> excessive crime leads to anomie
• Hirschi

  focuses why people do not commit crimes->> 4 bonds of attachment that maintain social order:

  1. attachment->> how much others' opinions matter
  2. commitment->> what do why have to lose?
  3. involvement->> participation in society
  4. belief->> how far do we believe that obeying the law is the right thing
• Merton

  • Strain theory->>anomie as a result of the strain between socially accepted goals/ socially accepted means to achieve them
  • does not consider social inequalities that contribute to anomie
  • has little explanation for non utilitarian crime (except drug abuse)
  • 5 ways to respond to strain: conformist, innovator, retreatist, ritualist, rebel
• Non-utilitarian crime

  crime that isn't materially beneficial eg graffiti
• Albert Cohen (A.K Cohen)

  Status frustration->> criminal subcultures

  • looks at how w/c white boys form deviant subcultures ->> failing at school= low status
  • realising they don't have the means to achieve socially accepted goals in a socially accepted manner
  • found c/d was praised in these s/c and felt validated
• Cloward and Ohlin

  ->> three types of deviant subcultures

  1. criminal: organised crime->> career criminals can socialise the youth into criminals for material gain
  2. conflict: gangs organised by youth= turf wars etc
  3. retreatist: those unable to attain opportunities (legal/ illegal->> completely drop out

  ->> do not consider bigger gender/class issues
• Miller

  Focal concerns->> w/c boys socialised into values that make them more prone to deviant behaviour

  6 values->>

  1. excitement->> can lead to non-utilitarian crime
  2. toughness->> prove themselves
  3. smartness->> wit and smart remarks
  4. trouble
  5. autonomy
  6. fate-> fatalistic mindset
• Matza

  • we all have delinquent tendencies but most of us choose to suppress them->> learned skill= more likely to be c/d young
  • this mindset is their conformist or deviant= we drift between the two during our lives (subterranean values)
  • neutralisation: people 'neutralise' their deviant acts as they share mainstream values to remain apart of the value consenus/ not break social order
  • techniques of neutralisation->>

  1. denial of responsibility
  2. denial of injury
  3. denial of the victim
  4. condemnation of the condemners
  5. appeal to higher loyalties