Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Functionalism and Crime
- Durkheim
- Anomie
- Normlessness/turmoil
- Criminal justice system
reinforces integration to social
laws/rules of condemning deviance
- Crime is inevitable and
often functional.
- Sometimes crime can be
beneficial for society like Martin
Luther King's Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960's
- What is the theory?
- Structural,macro, consensus
- Looks at the role/function
of individuals in society
- Stability, harmony,
integration, cohesion
collective
consciousness,
conformity, cohesion.
- Parsons -
Biological Analogy
- Deterministic -
Society exists
above individuals
and people are
forces into crime
my forces beyond
their control.
- Interpretivists criticise this for neglecting
the subjective/free will people have to
commit crime.
- Critique of Durkheim
- Why do some people in society
commit more crime than others?
- Outdated and
emphasizes that the law
is neutral
- Traditional Marxists such as
Chambliss (1994) argue that the law
actually benefits the ruling class
- Merton (1968) - "Strain Theory"
- Developed Durkheim's
concept of anomie to mean
that crime is likely to occur in
situations of anomie since
individuals (i.e. black, w/c
ethnic minorities) are
uncertain of the law
- Also uses the concept of
the American Dream to
explain how society strives
for
wealth/posessions/material
goods that can either be
achieved legitimately (i.e.
qualifications) or
illegitimately (crime)
- There is strain in people's
pursuit of societies goals/means
which society provides to
achieve such goals
- There is pressure on the w/c (be them
white/black) to innovate (turn to crime)
- Links to the media and the
emphasis on material
possessions
- The 4 strains = conformity, innovation, rebellion, retreatism, and ritualism
- Strengths of Merton
- Successfully linked the strains of
soicety to crime
- Explains utitiarian
crime (with financial
gain/profit)
- Illegitimate means of
success goals = innovation
- Critique of Merton
- Assumes that everyone is committed
to society's success gloals, therefore
faitls to explain non-utilitarian crimes
like vandalism.
- Marxists argue it ignores crimes
of the powerful
- Ignores gang crime
- Hirschi - Bonds of Attachment
- Questions WHY people choose to commit crime
- Certain forces i.e. integration into institutions such as the
family/education/religion stabilize social behaviour
- Crime ocurs when these
attachments become weaker
- There are 4 social boonds:
attachment (others wishes),
commitment (personal
investements), belief (e.g. a
Chrsitian would assert that crime
is against the 10 commandments -
moral code of conduct) and
involvement (busy/time to commit
crime)
- Messner and Rosenheld
(1994)
- The crime rate is so high in America because of
the high value America places on materialism
- If a country promotes civic values such as duty then crime
would be lower - can apply to the UK
- This can be seen in Japan where children are taught
respect in school. May reinforce why there is a lower
crime rate/anti-social behaviour.