Assess Functionalists Explanations for Patterns of Crime and Deviance

Assess functionalists explanations for patterns of wickedness and deviance. The patterns of crime and deviance prepare proven to be a popular topic amongst sociological groups, arguably because it crosses over with many chance upon ideas and debates discussed within sociology. Functionalists are and one of numerous groups who have thrown there hat in the ring by attempting to provide a definitive answer behind the patterns of crime and deviance. However, like each explanations in one way or another, functionalists have been subject to criticism.One of the well-nigh prominent functionalists to have lived, Durkheim, explained crime as a problem of modernity associated with the decline of mechanic solidarity, a society that is homogenous and in cohesion. In times of social change people may lose sight of the shared norms and determine theyve become accustomed too, creating a weaker collective conscience. Durkheim describes this state of normlessness as anomie which is expressed not just through crime but, also by suicide, marital breakdown and industrial disputes.Anomie is used to describe wherefore some people become dysfunctional in society and turn to crime. According to Durkheim, society becomes more than individualistic because of anomie as people resort to what they do know, themselves, therefore not looking proscribed for their community which would have once been the norm. However, Durkheim doesnt acknowledge that anomie may not always force in individualism and can lead to the exact opposite.For instance, some people have formed stronger ties to their spiritual group in reaction to the emergence of the new media, which has caused wide scale social change. Unlike most sociological theories of crime, Durkheim recognised that crime could be a force for good rather than always having detrimental repercussions. Too much crime and deviance can lead to uncertainty and disruption in society. However, a certain amount of crime can be viewed positivel y, helping to promote change and reinforce values. Durkheim categorize crime using three groups normal, universal and functional.Examples of crime that were beneficial to society are the Suffragette movement, Rosa place refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man and Nelson Mandela forming the first glowering government in South Africa. Following on from the work of Durkheim, Merton developed strain theory to hypothesize the strain between goals and factor of achieving those goals. He listed five different forms of behaviour that could be understood as a strain between goals and means Conformity (the individual continues to adhere to both goals and means, despite trammel likelihood of success e. . the American Dream), Innovation (the individual accepts the goals of society but uses different means of achieving this e. g. savage behaviour), Ritualism (individual adheres to societies means but loses sight of societies goals e. g. police officer enforcing the law, ign oring whether its just or not), Reteatism (individual rejects both means and goals of society e. g. depends upon drugs or alcohol) and Rebellion (individual substitutes societies goals and means with different ones e. g. religious fundamentalism).