Functionalism uses methods of social control to deal with deviant members and groups in society, making sure they don’t disrupt the smooth running of society. An example of social control is the prison system which aims to exclude deviants in order to rehabilitate them.…
Functionalism however argues the consensus view that law and norms about acceptable behaviour in any society are simply a reflection of the wider collective conscience and these laws and social rules are created and enforced to the benefit of everyone. Therefore deviance is behaviour that breaks these agreements on what is acceptable. Functionalists view this defining process as straightforward and objective.…
One explanation of crime and deviance from the functionalist perspective was Merton’s strain theory. He said crime is a response to failing to achieve society’s cultural goals. According to Merton’s explanation, all society set their members certain goals and provides socially approved ways of achieving these goals. When majority of the population were unable to achieve the socially set goals by the socially approved ways, they became disenchanted with society and find alternative ways of behaving. Additionally, Merton described 5 forms of behavior which is a response to failing to achieve society’s goals. Conformity and innovation are both accept the goals of society. Conformity also accepts the means of society and is non-deviant and non-criminal conformist citizen, while innovation means that the person will achieve those goals by using different ways (including deviance and crime). Ritualism and retreatism both reject their goals. Retreatism also rejects their means, depending upon drugs and alcohol and drugs. Ritualism accepts their means but has a negative attitude toward life. They may also rebel against society, and engage in protest and revolution to try and change society.…
Functionalism is a macro approach it contains a variety of institutions in society and how they are all dependent on each other; if one begins to fail it effects the rest of society. It is often referred to like 'the human body' society being the body and the organizations being the organs. When the organs (organizations) begin to fail due to deviant behaviour it effects the body (society) which can be fixed. Sociologist analysis the institutions of society as functioning smoothly and concord; as they contribute clear factors to society to make it function accordingly. Functionalism is beneficial according to (George Murdock 1897-1985) as it consider our values, so when crime or 'deviant behaviour' is publicized society comes together in mutual shock and disagreement which is why crime is heavily exposed in the media, Judicial system is heavily exposed as well, so society can carry out their roles and know the norms and laws and achieve that society is running smoothly. It also teaches the younger generation appropriate behaviours in society. The formation of boundaries; as society changes individuals become unsure about values and too much uncertainty in the public is bad for social cohesion. So when extreme fashions of deviances enables individuals to create moral boundaries, like sexuality functionalist argue that same sex couples are integrated part of society but should not be frustrated when conflicting their marriage rights, The economic function ensures that family has the reassurance and can provide food, shelter and be financially secured.…
a) According to Howard Becker, central fact about deviance is that “it is created by society. Becker does not mean that the causes of deviance can be derived from the social environment of the deviant or the “social factors” that causes an individual to engage in deviant behavior. Rather, Becker means that social groups create deviance by creating the rules or norms that must be adhered to and if they are violated—the violation will result in what the group deems as being deviance. Thus, the individuals who go against the norms or rules of a social group will be labeled as being an “outsider”.…
1. Compare the absolutist, relativist, and social power perspectives. Which perspective do you believe would best describe your approach to deviance? Why would you choose this approach? Which of these approaches exhibits the most respect for deviant’s choice of behavior? The absolutist perspective, dominated by religious settings, hold that deviance is universal and what is wrong in one place, is wrong everywhere. This tactic to describing deviance rests on the supposition that all human behavior can be considered either innately good or innately bad. Deviant acts come to define the individual’s character and can often be based on stereotypes i.e., all parents who spank are abusing their children or all Muslims are terrorists. The absolutist perspective assumes an extensive unanimity over definitions of deviance, universal norms, and taboos. Durkheim said that social laws replicate unbiased facts integrated into functionalist notions of deviance. This perspective maintains that deviance is pathological and an objective fact. Deviance is considered unethical and reproachful of social order, requiring unyielding, retributory measures.…
Early Functionalist ideas, as seen in Item A, are interested in explaining why some people in society break the rules and overall see crime as a group activity. The following approaches see the deviant as simply reacting to external forces largely beyond their control and see crime and deviance as social facts that can be measured in society.…
Crime- Functionalists believe that crime is a good thing because Rules are necessary for a society to function. Without the example of those who disobey the rules, rules would not be able to be made.…
Durkheim believed that crime & deviance occurred as a result of anomie (normlessness). Durkheim believed that this could occur during periods of rapid social change (e.g. revolutions) when people become unsure of what societies norms and values are.…
Functionalist sociologists like Durkheim say that crime is normal and important in all societies. He says that there are two reasons why crime and deviance are found in all societies. Firstly because not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values, so some people will be prone to deviate. Secondly that mainly in complex modern societies, there is a diversity of lifestyle and values. Different groups develop their own subcultures with individual norms and values, and what the members of the subculture might think is normal, mainstream might see it as deviant. And that there is a tendency towards anomie. Similarly there is Merton’s strain theory. This is the argument that people deviate when they cant achieve socially accepted goals legally. For example they might get frustrated and resort to crime to get what they want or lash out in anger, or even turn to drugs. Finally there is Hirdchi’s control theory, which explains female crime. He argues that people act rationally and are controlled by being offered rewards in return for abiding to social norms. That people will turn to crime if they do not believe that the rewards will be imminent, and if the rewards…
Functionalism is a theoretical orientation which views society as a system of interdependent parts whose functions contribute to keep society alive and stable. Crime has been a part of society since the beginning and yet we have not done anything drastic to reduce or even remove it because it is needed for society to function normally. Crime has become the somewhat normal in society because of it creates employment opportunities for everyone. Law enforcement, lawyers and judges, security guards all have jobs built around the negativity of crime. People commit crimes for personal reasons such as to support family, themselves, and/or drug addictions. There are endless reasons to why people commit crimes. When a crime has been committed, it disrupts social by changing the normal function of society.…
Many sociologists have said that the sociology of deviance is dead, such as Colin Sumner in 1975. It was said that behaviors are not deviant but rather just seen as not normal in society, but the term ‘normal’ cannot exactly be defined. Deviance is a discipline in Sociology that many claim is now ‘dead’. Deviance is an act with refers to ‘norm-breaking’ in our society. A social norm is appropriate behavior for a social group and an appropriate behavior for the environment an individual is in. Deviance is the act of breaking these social norms whether it be your behavior or something you do. Once you break…
This theory states that it’s a “sociological approach that emphasizes the ways in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability” (Altrichter, 2016a, slide 3). An example of this would be how inmates play a role in society. They aren’t technically in the same environment as majority of the world are, but they do have different roles to fulfil. They work inside of the private prisons and do labor for private corporations like Wal-Mart, Target and Sears. Every day essentials such as dormitory desks, denim jeans, and law enforcement equipment are produced every day in prison (Altrichter, 2016c, slide 3). If inmates didn’t have jobs like these, they would be sitting in an isolated cell from sun up to sun down not doing anything. Functionalists like Durkheim agreed that crime is an inevitable and delinquent behavior is an aspect of social life. A key assumption in functionalism is the societal consensus which is “a majority of members share a common set of values, beliefs, and behavioral expectations (Altrichter, 2016a, slide 5). With that being said, when crimes occur, reactions happen amongst society and are used to give society a way of defining what is moral and which moral norms to abide by. These norms are then led to rules and boundaries for society. Davis and Moore (1945) stated that social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of society (p. 242). If we didn’t have people in the private prisons, we wouldn’t have people to perform the tasks because the average citizen in society wouldn’t voluntarily go to prison to fulfil those roles. According to Davis and Moore (1945), “social inequality is thus an unconsciously evolved device by which societies insure that the most important positions are conscientiously filled by the most qualified persons” (p. 243). In this case, inmates are the most qualified…
Deviance can be a powerful tool to encourage social change. Why does deviance encourage this change? I believe the answer is simple. Deviance sets in motion inside of everyone's head a thought process. People begin to think positively and negatively about what happened, especially when it is highly publicized deviance. Opinions are formed and about what has happened. People begin to debate with each other about who is MORE wrong.…
-Functionalists see too much crime as destabilising society; they also see crime as inevitable and universal. They believe that every society has some level of crime and deviance and a crime-free society is a contradiction in terms…