Crime and Deviance - Functionalist

Functionalist perspective of crime

The general idea of functionalism in terms of the criminal justice system is to look after the interests of society as a whole. They believe that without control and punishment society would collapse into a state of anomie.

Durkheim's Theory on Crime and Deviance

Social Cohesion

Durkheim believed that a certain amount of crime was necessary for any society. Durkheim had three positive aspects of crime which are:

• Reaffirming the boundaries - When somebody breaks the law there is publicity in the newspapers and the court which reaffirms peoples boundaries. This is particularly clear in places where public punishment takes place e.g. a public execution.
• Changing values - Occasionally a degree of sympathy for the person being prosecuted, the resulting public outcry leads to a change in the law e.g. Domestic abuse murder case.
• Social cohesion - When particularly horrific crimes have been committed the community pulls together in shared outrage.

Negative aspects of crime

Too much crime can have a negative aspect, this is called anomie. Society is based on people sharing common values. In periods of great social stress, the collective conscience may be weakened and people can be freed from the social control imposed by the collective conscious and instead look out for their own selfish interests.

Other Functionalist Crime and Deviance Theories

Kinsly Davis
Argues that prostitution acts as a safety valve for the male sexual frustration without threatening the nuclear family.

Albert Cohen
He identifies another function of deviance, that being a warning that an institution is not functioning properly e.g. truancy from school shows problems in the education system.

Kai Erikson
Argues that if crime and deviance can perform positive functions then perhaps this means that society promotes deviance. Agents of social control such as the police may not rid society of crime but instead just sustain a level of it.