The functionalist perspective of
crime and Deviance
Learning objective: To understand
the functionalist perspective of crime
and deviance
Durkheim's explanation
Functional
• Boundaries of acceptable behaviour are made known to the public by
the ways in which people are punished. For example, people become
aware of someone’s arrest if they have transgressed from what is
perceived as normal behaviour to deviating from the norm.
• It strengthens the bonds between members of society and reaffirms the
values when they are drawn together by horrific crimes, such as
terrorism.
• It is generally agreed that if the public perceives something to be
harmful and wrong, then there is a need for social changed, hence
leading to the changes within the law.
• Law and crime are seen to form one of the most distinct boundaries on
modern life – i.e. people
Known what is right or acceptable and what is wrong, or frowned upon.
• Normal
• There is no society which exists
where crime is not committed.
Abnormal levels of crime occur
in times of social upheaval
when the power of the
collective conscience is
weakened, and a state of
anomie develops – where
people look after their own
interests rather than looking
out for their neighbours as
well. Individualism is therefore
a major source of crime.
•
•
Inevitable
It is inevitable for every member
of society to be equally committed
to the norms and values of
societies, in a multicultural society.
Even if there are clear distinctions
between what is seen as
acceptable or unacceptable,
because there are major
differences between individuals
and cultures, some of which may
be natural occurrences
(socialisation) there are bound to
be those who step over the
boundary into what is classifies as
unlawful behaviour.
Crime is normal
• Crime is seen as normal because people focus
on individual interests rather than others
beliefs, attitudes and opinions.
• A society of anomie (normlessness) appears –
where individual interest is seen as the most
important aspect of society.
• The collective conscience fails in societies as a
result on selfish individual behaviour and
attitudes.
Task- Complete using Durkheim’s
explanation
Functional
Inevitable
Normal
A functionalist perspective- strengthes or weaknesses?
1. 1.
Durkheim suggests that there is a purpose to the existence of all social
phenomena, the necessary purpose of deviance being to bond the social
group. This is difficult to imagine because it treats society as a living thing,
an object which forces individuals to follow, like sheep or robots, the wider
social pattern
2. He does not explain why certain people are more likely to commit crimes
than others.
3. . It is difficult to test the theory of crime. It seems to be a ‘have your cake
and eat it theory’, where crime may invalidate the functionalist claims of
social stability, but it seen to ‘really’ function to create such stability by
showing people how not to behave. Thus functionalists are able to
‘prove’ stability in life, even where conflict is shown to exist
4. He seems to ignore the concept of power. It is generally accepted that in
all societies some groups have greater ability than the bulk of the
population to influence the law making process.
5. Functionalism fails to provide an answer to the question ‘Functional for
whom?’.
6. Durkheim’s work was perhaps the first to analyse deviance in terms of a
broad sociological theory.
Complete all questions
1. Evaluate the usefulness of the functionalist
perspective of crime and deviance (4)
2. What are the disadvantages of the
functionalist perspectives? (4)
3. What are the advantages of the functionalist
perspectives? (4)
Merton’s theory: Social structure and anomie
• Not all functionalists would agree completely with the
following view of crime and deviance. Robert Merton (1949)
argued that functionalists need to pay more attention to
inequalities in society. Merton’s strain theory, argues that as a
result of inequalities, not all social groups have the same
ability to achieve the common cultural goals of society, so
there is a strain (tension) between the cultural goals of society
and the means of achieving them. Merton claims that some
groups will have less access to the means of achieving cultural
goals by, for example, not having an equal chance of gaining
entry to higher education and top professions.
• Merton contends that this means that social groups ill adapt
or respond to cultural goals in different ways, and he
identified five main adaptations to common goals.
Merton’s 6: categories
• Conformists accept the goals and the means of achieving tem.
• Rituals lose their belief in the goals, but stick to the means or rules in
society.
• Retreatists withdraw from society having given up on the goals and the
means.
• Innovators accept the goals but reject the means.
• Rebels reject the means and the goals and replace them with alternative
means and goals.
• Merton says that crime and deviance are therefore likely to occur when
there are unequal opportunities to the means of achieving common social
goals. Merton’s idea of strain reflects his functionalist approach, since he’s
claiming that crime and deviance are the result of a lack of balance
between goals and the means of achieving them during periods of social
change. This reflects the functionalist idea of the organic analogy, and the
idea that societies have to be based on consensus and harmony if they are
to function effectively.
Mode of
adaptation
Intuitional
means
Conformist, eg
law abiding
Yes
Ritualist, eg
bureacrats
No
Innovator, eg
Yes
_____
____ ,
Yes and
No
Description
Works hard to
achieve success
and wealth
No
No
eg drug user
Rebel, eg
terrorist /
freedom
fighters
Cultural goals
Rejects both by
dropping out of
society