Crime Topic 1

• Durkheim: 'Crime is normal.. An integral part of society'
• Positive functions of crime


  • Boundary maintenance
  • Adaptation and change
• Boundary maintenance


  1. Crime produces a reaction from society

  2. Unites members via condemnation of offender

  3. Reinforces commitment of the same shared norms and values

  4. Explains the function of punishment: to reaffirm society's shared norms and value reinforcing social solidarity

  5. Reaffirms values if the law abiding majority discouraging from rule breaking
• Dramatisation of evil


  Creates a folk devil
• Just because crime helps social solidarity etc does not explain why it exists in the first place
• Crime does not always promote social solidarity e.g. more people might become isolated such as women not going out in fear of attack
• Functional theory ignores how crime might affect different groups or individuals
• Functional theory fails 'functional for whom'
• The American dream tells individuals that society is meritocratic
• Disadvantaged are denied opportunities to achieve legitimately i.e poverty, inequality in job market etc
• Merton's strain theory is too deterministic
• Merton's strain theory ignores the power of the ruling class who enforce laws in ways that criminalise the working class but not the rich
• Subcultural strain theories


  See deviance as the product of delinquent subculture who have different values to mainstream society
• Strain theories falsely assume all individuals share the same goal