Durkheim

• Durkheim

  1. Socialisation = instils shared cultute to its members > same norms and values > feel its right to act the way societ wants
  2. Social control = rewards those who conform and punishes for deviance
• Durkheim

  • Crime is natural for a healthy society
  • In every society some people are inadequately socialised and are prone to deviance
  • Modern society = highly specialised division of labour and diversity of subcultures > individuals become different > shared rules of behaviour become less clear = anomie
• Function of crime: Boundary maintenance

  • Crime produces reaction from society > unities members against deviant > reinforces commitment to value consensus
  • Punishment helps affirm shared values and solidarity
  • E.g, courtroom = ritual where offender is publically stigmatised reminding everyone of what's right
• Function of crime: Adaptation and change

  • All change started as deviance
  • To change individuals, challenging ideas must appear as deviance
  • If suppressed, society stagnates, e.g. anti-racism protests
• Criticisms of Durkheim

  • Assumes crime performs positive function for society as a whole (solidarity) but ignores victims of crime. Doesn’t perform positive function for victim, e.g. suffragettes performed extreme protests harming others
  • Claims society needs a certain amount of deviance to function > is subjective and how much is necessary?
  • Explains crime in terms of function it performs for society, but it may not be reason crime actually exists