Sociology - Functionalist Theories

Durkheim

Durkheim argued that crime is functional and helps to sustain conformity and stability, only when crime rate becomes unusually high it becomes abnormal or pathological. Crime is inevitable because many people are badly socialised. When crime is committed moral outrage occurs. The effect is social solidarity as people become sensitised to a social problem which they agree requires a solution. Identification and punishment of a deviant helps unify the community.

Other functions of deviance are as follows:

* Social rules of the society are mad clear when someone can be identified as having broken them.

* Be revealing deviance and establishing why it is a crime, undesirable behaviour can be identified and the young are socialised to perceive it as such.

* Social rules can be clarified, maintained and if needed modified. Some may be dysfunctional in that they increase the number of lawbreakers, because the law is badly drafted.

* There is a justification for sanctions and punishments imposed on deviants. They are potentially disruptive and socially irresponsible. Moral values can be established and upheld.

It is in these ways that the collective sentiments of society are maintained at a strong level.

Anomie

According to Durkheim, this occurs when norms governing social interaction break down. It refers to the failure of the social system to regulate expectations, this leads to individuals feeling dissatisfied and unhappy. Societies normally restrict desires of humans by imposing attainable norms, when these norms don’t change rapidly enough to changing social situations, anomie occurs – state of normlessness.

Rapid social change disrupts society and undermines community life. People no longer share norms, values and beliefs. Society becomes fragmented into many groups with different values and what is right and wrong becomes uncertain. Deviance is a result of moral confusion.

Durkheim’s views have been developed by Albert Cohen. He...