Why did Durkheim argue that crime is inevitable in every society?

Because not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values, and modern societies contain many diverse subcultures, so some behaviour will always breach the collective conscience. A certain level of crime is therefore normal and found in all societies.

What did Durkheim mean by describing a limited amount of crime as functional?

That a controlled level of crime is not only inevitable but necessary and beneficial for society, helping maintain order and enable change. Only unusually high or low levels of crime are dysfunctional.

How does crime perform a boundary maintenance function according to Durkheim?

Crime provokes a collective reaction, and punishing offenders publicly (for example through the courts) reaffirms society's shared values and reminds members of the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, strengthening social solidarity.

How did Durkheim argue that crime allows social change and adaptation?

All change begins with an act of deviance: individuals with new ideas must first challenge existing norms, so a degree of deviance has to be tolerated for morality and law to evolve. Today's deviance can become tomorrow's normality.

What did Durkheim mean by anomie?

A state of normlessness in which shared norms and values weaken or become unclear, so behaviour is inadequately regulated. It is especially likely during rapid social change and can lead to rising deviance.

Besides boundary maintenance and change, what other functions of deviance have functionalists identified?

A safety-valve function, where deviance releases stresses harmlessly (Davis argued prostitution does this), and a warning function (A.K. Cohen), where deviance signals that an institution is malfunctioning and prompts reform.

AQA A-Level Sociology 7192

Education

Topic overview The role and functions of education Class differences in educational achievement Labelling, subcultures and processes within schools Gender and educational achievement Ethnicity and educational achievement Selection and marketisation Privatisation and vocational education Educational policy, equality and globalisation

Methods in Context

Topic overview Access, gatekeepers and research ethics in schools Choosing methods for research in schools Data, theory and validity in educational research

Theory and Methods

Topic overview Research design and choosing a method Sources of data and types of data Positivism, interpretivism and research ethics Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories Modernity and post-modernity Is sociology a science?Objectivity, value freedom and social policy

Culture and IdentityOptional topic

Topic overview Conceptions of culture Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation The self, identity and difference Identity, age, disability, ethnicity, gender and class Identity, production, consumption and globalisation

Families and HouseholdsOptional topic

Topic overview Functionalist views of the family Marxist and feminist views of the family The New Right, postmodernism and family policy Marriage, cohabitation and divorce Family diversity and the personal life perspective Conjugal roles and domestic labour Power relationships and domestic violence The social construction of childhood Birth rates and death rates Family size and the ageing population Migration and globalisation

HealthOptional topic

Topic overview The social construction of health and models of illness Class and gender inequalities in health Ethnic and regional inequality, and access to health care Mental illness and the power of the medical profession The sick role and the globalised health industry

Work, Poverty and WelfareOptional topic

Topic overview Poverty: definitions, explanations and distribution The welfare state and welfare provision The division of labour and the control of work Work, worklessness and life chances Globalisation and the global division of labour

Beliefs in SocietyOptional topic

Topic overview Ideology and science as belief systems Functionalist views of religion Marxist and feminist views of religion Religion as a force for social change Churches, sects, denominations and cults New religious movements and New Age movements Religion, gender, ethnicity, age and social class Secularisation Believing without belonging and postmodern religion Globalisation, fundamentalism and religion worldwide

Global DevelopmentOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of development and underdevelopment Globalisation, transnational corporations and aid agencies Aid, trade, industrialisation and urbanisation Environment, conflict and human development Population, gender and postcolonial critiques

The MediaOptional topic

Topic overview The new media and its significance Ownership, control and media globalisation The selection and presentation of the news Media representations of social groups Media effects and models of the audience Reception analysis and selective filtering

Stratification and DifferentiationOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of stratification Life chances and dimensions of inequality Defining and measuring social class Changing structures of inequality and globalisation Social mobility

Crime and Deviance

Functionalist, strain and control theories of crime

4 things to know
Paper 3

Overview

Durkheim on the functions of crime and anomie, Merton's five adaptations, and Hirschi's social bonds.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Evaluation

How did Durkheim argue that crime allows social change?

Evaluation

What criticisms are made of Durkheim's claim that crime is functional?

Key term

What are Merton's five adaptations to strain?

Who and when

How do formal and informal social control differ, and what happens when bonds weaken?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Why did Durkheim argue that crime is inevitable in every society?
Model answer
Because not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values, and modern societies contain many diverse subcultures, so some behaviour will always breach the collective conscience. A certain level of crime is therefore normal and found in all societies.
2
What did Durkheim mean by describing a limited amount of crime as functional?
Model answer
That a controlled level of crime is not only inevitable but necessary and beneficial for society, helping maintain order and enable change. Only unusually high or low levels of crime are dysfunctional.
3
How does crime perform a boundary maintenance function according to Durkheim?
Model answer
Crime provokes a collective reaction, and punishing offenders publicly (for example through the courts) reaffirms society's shared values and reminds members of the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, strengthening social solidarity.
4
How did Durkheim argue that crime allows social change and adaptation?
Model answer
All change begins with an act of deviance: individuals with new ideas must first challenge existing norms, so a degree of deviance has to be tolerated for morality and law to evolve. Today's deviance can become tomorrow's normality.
5
What did Durkheim mean by anomie?
Model answer
A state of normlessness in which shared norms and values weaken or become unclear, so behaviour is inadequately regulated. It is especially likely during rapid social change and can lead to rising deviance.
6
Besides boundary maintenance and change, what other functions of deviance have functionalists identified?
Model answer
A safety-valve function, where deviance releases stresses harmlessly (Davis argued prostitution does this), and a warning function (A.K. Cohen), where deviance signals that an institution is malfunctioning and prompts reform.

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Education

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CCrime provokes a collective reaction.

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