Outline and Evaluate Functionalist Explanation of Crime.

Functionalists look at society as a whole. They explain crime and deviance by stating that the source of deviance lies in the nature of society rather than the individual.

In those works, Durkheim argued that crime and deviance is “an integral part of all healthy societies”. He reasoned that crime and deviance are not only inevitable, but also functional for society and that they will only be considered dysfunctional when they

Furthermore Durkheim doesn’t specify how much crime is good for society before we fall into anomie. New Right sociologists such as Murray would be critical of this as they believe that subcultures which carry out criminal and deviant acts form an underclass which threatens society on the whole rather than strengthening ‘boundary maintenence.However Durkheim doesn’t state why people commit crimes, another functionalist who did was Merton.

The amount of crime in a society reflects the society’s values greatly. Alex and his friends commit violent crimes in this book purely for their entertainment. Alex says,“ But what I do, I do because I like to

Crime and deviance are seemingly effortlessly defined by the Oxford dictionary. However sociological prospectives have differing views on crime and the explanations for it.

Firstly, they provide evidence that deviant behaviour can be explained through the ecological theory of crime. Each aspect and moral order response offers a unique explanation for why crime and deviance continues to be a pervasive force in certain neighbourhoods. In addition, the interrelatedness of each aspect allows for a logical flow between propositions that explains why deviance is so widespread. For example, the proposition, “Stigmatized neighbourhoods will suffer from more lenient law enforcement,” is essential in establishing the importance of the proposition, “More lenient law enforcement increases the incidence of crime and deviance” (Stark 1987: 172). Secondly, the author’s argument is furthering the ecology of crime, meaning that one cannot simply examine environmental factors of crime and deviance but also identify and analyze the types of responses that individuals have in relation to these factors. As previously mentioned, the four responses are moral cynicism, increased opportunities for crime, increased motivation to deviate, and diminished social control (Stark: 1987). Identifying these four responses is important to the author’s argument because neighbourhoods are not static and abstract entities but spaces that are continuously acted upon by social actors and forces. To just examine structural or environmental factors is to ignore how humans living in these

Functionalism is a theory by Durkheim that conveys that all aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary for the survival of that society. In this way, society is like an organism. If all institutions work properly it contributes to the

The causes of crime seem to be indefinite and ever changing. In the 19th century, slum poverty was blamed; in the 20th century, a childhood without love was blamed (Adams 152). In the era going into the new millennium, most experts and theorists have given up all hope in trying to pinpoint one single aspect that causes crime. Many experts believe some people are natural born criminals who are born with criminal mindsets, and this is unchangeable. However, criminals are not a product of heredity. They are a product of their environment and how they react to it. This may seem like a bogus assumption, but is undoubtedly true.

Introduction: Throughout history there have always been many different theories of crime and why people commit crimes. In the late 1930s a new theory rose to the forefront; this theory was called the anomie theory. Anomie means a lack of ethical standards. The anomie theory was proposed by Roberton Merton. It stated that society, as a whole, generally shares the same goals relating to having success in life; whether that is having a family, wealth, power, or just happiness. Society generally agrees that these are things that are to be sought after. Furthermore, Merton proposed that society, as a whole, also has a list of generally accepted ways to achieve such goals (Merton, 1938). Criminal activity, such as robbery, murder, and corruption, are among the things that are not accepted by society as appropriate means to achieve these goals. Merton’s anomie theory was built upon in 1992 by Robert Agnew who developed the general strain theory. General strain theory argues that when members of society are unable to achieve the general goals that society has set forth, they will, in order to avoid further rejection, further alienate themselves from society. Agnew also argued that if these individuals feel as if their shortcomings were a result of their environment failing them they will likely develop very negative feelings towards society, causing them to

juvenile is to commit that crime. Both theories, place the individuals as rational decision makers who debate the risks with the benefits of law breaking.

The functionalist theories share a common structural explanation of causes of deviance . They assume that conformity in society is achieved through the existence of norms and values shared by the general consensus and that a high level of social integration is required for society to function successfully .

The functionalism theory is also known as structural functionalism and lays claim on the fact that the society is composed of interdependent portions each of which adds to the functioning of the whole society. Functionalists break

Functionalism is consensus theory in sociology. Society based on Functionalism theory was defined as a system of interconnected institutions such as family,

To begin with, Durkheim saw that crime was a necessary means in achieving a state of equilibrium. He states that crime and deviance could not be vanished due to the fact that a society can never establish a state where everyone

Achieved positions are based on the qualities that the person has gained through action. Included in an achieved position is class. “Social class refers to a person’s or group’s position in society and is defined primarily in economic terms,” (273). This is a secondary social group, which means that there are too many members for them to all have a relationship with one another. Class can be important to determining a person’s status, but sometimes they have nothing to do with each other. The textbook tells us that the class system allows for upward mobility in capitalist societies, which some anthropologists call meritocratic individualism. On the other hand, in the structure of the class system in an economic stratification, economic class can shape a person’s lifestyle and