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AQA A Level Sociology - All A* Crime 30 Markers
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All possible crime 30 markers for AQA A level sociology in line with the advanced information
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● Functionalism and Crime○ INTRO
■ Functionalist sociologists would argue that both crime and deviance have
positive functions for society and that they are an inevitable part of social
life
■ Without crime and deviance it would be difficult to establish norms and
values and a shared system of beliefs as no member of society would
ever deviate from normal social behaviour
○ P1
■ Functionalists such as Durkheim regard crime and deviance as a normal
and in fact inevitable consequence of social life
■ This is the case because not everyone in society has had the same
experience of socialisation (the process of learning the norms and values
of society) and therefore their beliefs are always going to be slightly
different to one another
■ As such, individual members of society will of course carry out different
behaviours in social situations which, even if they are not considered
criminal, may indeed be considered deviant
■ Durkheim also argued that in a modern society there has been a
tendency towards anomie – a state of normlessness which means there is
greater diversity in human behaviour and as such members of society
naturally choose different behaviours or paths
■ According to Item B, however, these differences can have beneficial
consequences for both the individual and society as crime and deviance
perform “a range of important social functions such as maintaining
boundaries and promoting social change”
■ Durkheim elaborates on these ideas by arguing that criminal behaviour
brings about a social reaction amongst members of society that amounts
to a condemnation of their behaviour
■ However Durkheim believed that instead of forcing suffering or pain upon
the offender, the purpose of punishment was to restore the boundaries
accepted by wider society through making an example of members who
fail to adhere to the norms and values
■ Similarly he argued that in order for any social change to occur (positive
or negative) it must start with an act that deviates from the norm, and
therefore would be considered deviant or even criminal
■ A famous example of this would be the political activism of Nelson
Mandela against Apartheid in South Africa, for which he was imprisoned
■ However, his behaviour and alternative views ultimately had a beneficial
impact upon society as it resulted in a redistribution of wealth and power
■ This shows that Functionalist ideas about crime and deviance reveal the
positive social functions performed by such behaviours and do not simply
view them as a “sign of social dysfunction”
,○ P2
■ One of the key criticisms of Functionalist theories of crime and deviance
is that although they offer a clear explanation of the positive functions
performed by crime, they fail to consider the negative aspects, or indeed
why crime and Durkheim’s ideas have been further developed by other
sociologists such as Davis who described criminal/deviant behaviour as a
safety valve for society
■ He commented specifically on the positive social function performed by
prostitution, an act which typically would have been regarded as deviant
at best, and most likely criminal, as it allows men sexual release without
threatening the social institutions of marriage and family since men will
not form emotional attachments to sex workers in the way they might if
they had an affair
■ This again shows the ways in which Functionalist ideas can portray a
positive view of crime and deviance
■ However, conflict theories such as Feminism would be hugely critical of
this notion – as it fails to recognise the high levels of exploitation and
patriarchal control that exist in society and particularly within the sex trade
■ However Cohen, another Functionalist, argues that one of the most
obvious functions of crime and deviance is as a signifier of a deeper
social malaise or that there is a problem in society that needs addressing
■ He offers examples such as truancy in schools indicating issues within
social institutions such as education, and his views can be applied to
current affairs in religion whereby terrorism could be regarded as a sign of
political dissatisfaction
■ However Functionalists do generally recognise that crime and deviance is
only functional to an extent and if it reaches epidemic levels then it
actually undermines social stability entirely.
○ P3
■ One of the key criticisms of Functionalist theories of crime and deviance
is that although they offer a clear explanation of the positive functions
performed by crime, they fail to consider the negative aspects, or indeed
why crime and deviance exists in the first instance
■ Strain theories, for example, argue that one of the key reasons for
criminality is that members of society have unequal access to achieve
socially approved goals and as such they may go on to experience status
frustration and develop criminal or deviant subcultures in which they can
achieve success through illegitimate means (Cloward and Ohlin)
■ An example of this could be a violent gang in which its members gain
acceptance through a violent initiation act and then continue to climb the
hierarchy based upon the levels of violence they are willing to carry out
■ These ideas are critical of Functionalist perspectives of crime and
deviance because they would argue it paints too positive a picture of
, crime and deviance and also that it makes the assumption of a
meritocratic society which many theories believe to be a myth
○ P4
■ Marxism, for example, would continue to criticise the Functionalist view of
crime as they would argue that members of the working classes are far
more likely to be forced into criminal behaviour than the middle classes
simply to be able to survive in an unequal society and that this is even
more pronounced at a time of global recession
■ Marxists also focus on the view that capitalism as an economic system is
criminogenic and causes crime as it is based upon exploitation of the
working classes, and it is this exploitation that can ultimately cause crime
as people may feel the pressure to consume to the levels shown in the
globalised mass media, or may experience a sense of frustration or
alienation around their lives which can result in crimes against people or
property
■ This shows that there are many aspects of crime and deviance which
have not been accounted for by Functionalist theory
■ Similarly, Marxists would also argue that the laws, norms and values of
society that we are forced to conform to by agents of socialisation and
social control do not truly benefit us as they are not reflective of the
interests of the whole of society, rather of the powerful ruling elite
■ Law enforcement focuses largely on the petty crimes of the working
classes without focusing enough on the crimes committed by
organisations, the state or environmental crime if they conflict with the
interests of capitalism. This shows that Functionalism again ignores some
important issues regarding the functions of crime and again paints a one
sided picture
○ P5
■ Functionalism also fails to consider other social causes of crime and
deviance such as biological differences and the impact of socialisation
(Right Realism) or relative deprivation and marginalisation (Left Realism)
■ It also fails to comment upon the differences between men and women in
terms of their opportunity to commit crime (Feminism) or the links
between the levels of crime and media representations
■ This shows that although Functionalism provides a useful basis for our
understanding of crime and deviance there is still much to be considered
in terms of explaining the origins of criminality
○ CONCLUSION
■ To conclude, Functionalist theories can be credited in terms of their focus
on the positive social functions performed by crime and deviance but their
views could be considered too simplistic as they do not give great enough
attention to the root causes of crime and the social systems of inequality
that bring them about
● Subcultural theories and Crime
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