Essay
The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Functionalists View on Crime
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An evaluation of the the functionalists perspective of crime. 38/40 marks
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ESSAYThe Strengths and Weaknesses of the Functionalists View on Crime.
Sociologist Durkheim (1893) was one of the first sociologist to view sociology as a science, that
crimes are committed due to conditions, rather than people being born in sin as the ideology of the
Bible suggests. Durkheim saw crime as a particular problem of modernity. In the
past population of communities were much smaller many people had relied on others considerably
more than today, meaning that individuals would seek the respect of others in their community and
value how they were perceived encouraging conformity. Durkheim argued that agencies of
socialisation such as religion and the family are more relevant in smaller communities. The
conformist attitude of small communities differs to largely populated industrialised cities where the
residents of such cities would feel a sense of anonymity and because socialisation agencies are
undermined in these environments by the complexity of modern life. This is one of Durkheim strong
points because this theory remains relevant today, we still see a higher rate of crime in cities in
comparison to rural areas. However, Durkheim generalises his theory and doesn’t focus on
individual causes of deviant behaviour for example socioeconomic causes. The Marxist view
on crime shines light on the fact that crime is linked to social inequality and poverty which Durkheim
fails to do. Marxists believe that one of the main causes of crime is the working class, and how they
are under protected and over policed, which is the opposite the for more privileged classes. Crime
rate is much higher within working class communities, especially white male teenagers
but Durkheim ignores how certain ethnic groups and social classes are more prone
to deviant behaviour.
Durkheim’s concept of anomie explains why crime seems to spike during times of social
change. During times of social change social controls, sense of community and consensus are much
weaker due to the instability of norms and values leading individuals to experience anomie which is
expressed via crime and suicide. An example of anomie today is suicide among recently released
prisoners, whilst in prison prisoners accumulate to their social conditions and form social solidarity
within the confines of prison. Once released studies have shown a higher rate and suicide in recently
released prisoners than the general population. According to Durkheim ‘s concept of anomie this
would be due to and inability to accumulate to wider societies norms and values. Interactionism
would argue that anomie is the cause of crime but the media and the stereotypes it provides
instead. The media we see in our day to day life creates negative stereotypes that not only effect
the general public but those in positions of authority too such as the police. This creates police
officers to be more suspicious of certain ethnic groups, for example afro-Caribbean males leading to
an increase of stop and searches of this ethnic group and raising the question, are afro-
Caribbean males committing more crimes or are they just more likely to me caught due to
the medias negative stereotypes.
Durkheim makes a good point of acknowledging that crime is not only inevitable in a functioning
society but also the positive functions of crime. Too much crime has a negative effect on society
causing instability, but some crime is necessary to reinforce values but also to change them. Heinous
crimes such as the tragic events of 9/11 despite the nature of the crimes can have a positive effect
on society, creating a sense of community through shared tragedy and social solidarity. The fear of
punishment or humiliation is reaffirmed by other crimes shown through the media working as a
preventive measure, maintaining the boundaries of good vs bad behaviour. Some crimes change
societies values of right and wrong for example, Martin Luther King jr committed many crimes by
organising peaceful protests and was arrested 29 times in his fight for civil rights in America. These
crimes were necessary to change the morality of society.
Functionalist sociologist Robert Merton uses his concept strain theory to explain crime and deviant
behaviour in society. Merton explains that crime is caused by materialistic goals and not having
legitimate means to achieve them due to failure in education or career, creating a ‘strain’ between
materialistic goals and means. Most people conform to achieve their goals through means of
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