FUNCTIONALISM

DURKHEIM’S FUNCTIONALIST THEORY * functionalists see society as based on value consensus – it sees members of a society as sharing a common culture * sharing the same culture produces social solidarity – binding individuals together and telling them how to behave

in order to achieve solidarity,
SOCIETY HAS TWO KEY MECHANISMS:

SOCIAL CONTROL
-rewards for conformity
-punishments for deviance
-ensures that individuals behave in the way that society requires

SOCIALISATION
-instils the shared culture into its members.
-insures that people internalise the same norms and values.
-so they act in the way that society requires

* While functionalists see too much crime as destabilising society, they also see crime as inevitable and universal. * Every known society has some level of crime and deviance – a crime free society is a contradiction in terms. * DURKHEIM: ‘’is normal... an integral part of all healthy societies’’

REASONS WHY CRIME IS FOUND IN ALL SOCIETIES:
In complex modern societies, there is a diversity of lifestyles and values.
Different groups develop their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values, so what a subculture sees as normal may be seen as deviant in mainstream society.
In complex modern societies, there is a diversity of lifestyles and values.
Different groups develop their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values, so what a subculture sees as normal may be seen as deviant in mainstream society.
In modern society there is a tendency towards anomie/normlessness – the rules governing behaviour become less clear cut.
This is because modern societies have a complex, specialised division of labour, which leads to individuals becoming increasingly different from one another.
The shared culture and collective consciousness is weakened, resulting in higher rates of crime and