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Deviance

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Crime, a Normal Element in the Society Sociologists like Emile Durkheim are more concerned with the study of deviance. Emile Durkheim’s ideas, concepts, and issues are traced, which provides explanations to why he says crime should be considered as a normal element in the society. Functionalism is one of the sociological theories that focus on issues of crime. A functionalist analyzes deviance from a societal point of view rather than the psychological nature of a person or the existing biological explanations. According to Durkheim, crime should be considered as a regular element in the society. He conquered to the consensus and social order of the society about criminal issues (Hawdon, Ryan & Agnich, 2010). His belief was that crime is not an evitable but a typical aspect of social life in different types of societies. He views it as an integral part that ensures the well-being of society. He argues that not all members of a community are equal (Durkheim, 2013). Each is influenced differently according to different circumstances he or she faces. This leads to unequal reluctance in law breaking. Durkheim is a positivist functionalist and clearly points out the reasons for why he says crime should be considered as a regular element in the society. He argues that crime should be regarded as functional and something necessary for a society but not something pathological (Hawdon, Ryan & Agnich, 2010). He says that crime is present in almost every society since each community at a particular time has experienced it. Therefore, he concludes that crime is a normal condition in communities. He further argues that crime is a universal feature of all societies. This is because it plays the vital social function in every society (Durkheim, 2013). Criminals are punished, which makes the moral boundaries of a community to be marked out. Through punishment, the social

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