Functionalist theory of crime

• The inevitability of crime

  - not everyone is effectively socialised

  - different subcultures and lifestyles with distinct norms and values which may be deviant from mainstream society
• Anomie (Durkheim)


  state of normlessness caused by the breakdown of society
• Positive functions of crime


  Boundary maintenance

  Adaptation and change

  Safety valve (Davis)

  Warning device (Cohen)

  Creating jobs
• Boundary Maintenance


  draws a clear line between wrong and right.

  Punishment reaffirms society's shared rules and social solidarity
• Adaptation and Change (Durkheim)


  all change starts with an act of deviance

  too much deviance threatens society

  too little deviance means society is repressing and controlling its members and preventing change
• Safety Valve (Davis)


  For example prostitution acts to

  release men's sexual frustrations

  without threatening the nuclear family.
• Warning Device (Cohen)


  Deviance warns us that an institution isn't working e.g. truancy in education system
• Creating jobs


  e.g. police, judges, courts, lawyers, prison guards etc