Assess the usefulness of functionalist approaches in explaining crime The functionalist approach to analysing deviance and the causes of crime looks at society as a whole. It explains crime that the source of criminal behaviour lies in the nature of society itself rather than in psychology or biology. Functionalists such as Durkheim see deviance as an inevitable and necessary part of society and too little is unhealthy. Some also consider crime to have positive aspects for society. In this essay we will assess the usefulness of these functionalist theories, and look at how it helps us explain crime.
It does however explain why some people or actions are described as deviant, and can help in understanding crime and deviance. According to item A labelling has changed the theoretical base for the study of criminals. Becker emphasises the significance of crime being a social construct; an action only becomes criminal or deviant once society has labelled it so, and that crime can be argued to be a social construction. He introduced the concept of a master label, referring to the label which a person is given which overrides all other labels. When a person is labelled as negatively, society tends to tend them as such, and this master label often becomes internalised, and then a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs.
Conflict Theory Introduction Conflict theories are concerned with the political nature of crime, and how law is created and applied. One fundamental assumption of conflict theories is that societies are characterized by conflict rather than consensus. This is the direct opposite assumption of Classical Choice and Social Control theories. Some theorists discuss conflict in terms of a class struggle drawing from Karl Marx. Others discuss it in terms of groups of people struggling to see their interests maintained on many different issues.
Crime can only be a social problem if it breaks rules in the social system. The human societies often have different minds to what a social problem consists of. There are many known definitions of social problems throughout different societies and worldwide. Criminology in the narrow sense is concerned with the study of the phenomenon of crime, and of the factors or circumstances which may have influence on or be associated with the criminal behaviour and the state of crime in general. The understanding of criminology is to see social problems and cause of the crimes and how they have affect on people in society.
(Bader et al) The main difference between crime and deviance is deviant behaviour is when a social norm has been broken whereas a crime is where a formal and social norm is broken. Meaning crime can also be deviant behaviour but deviance cannot be construed as crime. (Jones pg 32) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND DEVIANCE Crime and deviance is believed to overlap in behaviours that are
The statistics can give us an understanding as to the levels of these crimes and as to why or where they are most likely to occur. However because not all crimes which are reported, are actually recorded, the true extent to crime can never be revealed through official statistics or otherwise. Positivists believe that official statistics are indeed very useful to the understanding of social problems. They believe that because official statistics look at such a large proportion of the population that it allows us to make comparisons over time and make comparisons between different societies. They can allow generalisations to be made and over time they can have some affect on laws within society.
The theory of the left realism was originally generated by Jock Young in 1988 where the main aim of the left realism was to be able to avoid what was usually seen as being the worst excesses of both the left idealist and the right idealist approaches to the crime problem which is commonly found in the modern society of today. The right realism was often accused of both the distortion and the dramatization of the problem nature with a sick society talk, crime rates which are out of control and an increase in the moral decay. The left realism on the other hand, was accused of neglecting the crime by not taking the crime seriously by reducing the crime into an ideological distortion on the behalf of the state, where the crime which is committed by the people who are in the working class against other people of the same class is viewed as being a first order problem because of its growing impact on the working class communities
All crime is deviant but not all deviance is crime. Becker stated; “Social groups create deviance by making rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view deviance is not a quality of the act a person commits, but rather a consequence of
PROPOSITION 1: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR IS LEARNT This proposition removes the roles of heredity, human nature and innovation as causes of deviant behaviour (Joubert et al., 2012:106). This suggests that behaviour is not inherited (genetic) or simply created, but rather it is learnt. By suggesting that criminal behaviour is learnt it is implies that such behaviour can be classified in same categories as any other behaviour that can be learnt (Siegel, 2002:237). This proposition
Realist Theories They see crime as a problem to be tackled. All realists: - Argue that there has been a significant rise in the crime rate - especially in street crime, burglary and assault. - Are concerned about the widespread fear of crime and about the impact of crime on its victims. - Argue that other theories have failed to offer realistic solutions to the problem of crime. We can divide realist approaches along political lines: - Right Realists - Share the New Right or neo-conservative political outlook.