Like the item says, 'functionalist sociologists focus on how far individuals accept the norms and values of society.' Durkheim blames people not being fully integrated into society’s norms and values as to why they commit crime. So he said once people have served their time for their crime, they should be reintegrated. It’s a strength that Durkheim suggests them being reintegrated as it means they’re less likely to reoffend if they feel they belong to their society and do not look for status through crime. However, interactionists would say that agents of social control cause crime, not the society you are in.
When the group with the most power changes, the acts that are considered to be criminal change. Society is affected by the concept of the “choice theory” because it needs to figure out what punishment fits the crime to keep other criminals from committing the same crimes. Society need to make this laws to have control over law and order within their societies. It allows them away to keep law abiding citizens saver in their own
This theory is also sociological in its emphasis on the role of social forces in creating deviance. Deviant behavior can consist of different definitions. Some believe that deviance is the violation of any social norm and other feel that you can be deviant without breaking any rules or behavior that does not conform to a social norm which may be disapproved. Some people feel that getting away with something and not being punished will be an excuse for deviants to continue to commit a crime. In other words, I think that people feel that if they get away with it once they can get away with it again.
Nevertheless, assault entails many kinds of threats and harm infliction through apprehension in a person; therefore, there exist as many social norms as the assault is able to achieve. Basing on this fact, other broken social norms include prevention of gender and sexual harassment, of verbal and physical attack, of threats and kidnapping, etc. Again, the scope of this deviance depends on the character or personality of the one involved. The consequence of an assault done by an adolescent is incomparable to that one done by an adult; in the same measure of difference each faces the social law. The consequences of violation of norms are tough, especially when the assailant is known and the assault is determinable on the scale of its impact on the victim (Falkner, 2012).
Primary deviants don't tend to see themselves as deviant. However, some deviance is labelled. Secondary deviance is the result of societal reaction. Being caught and publicly labelled as a criminal can involve being stigmatised, shamed, humiliated, shunned or excluded from normal society. This can provoke a crisis for the individual's self concept.
Once a label is given to an individual they become part of all the generalizations that go with that label (Siegel). For example, someone who has been convicted of a crime might be seen as someone who has no respect for the law. These labels also present a self-fulfilling prophecy. Being identified as a deviant, a person is usually ostracized from conventional social groups, and therefore is forced to become part of less desirable ones (Fitch). Being a member of less desirable social groups will only reinforce that they are a deviant, and increase their chances of engaging in deviant behaviors (O’Conner).
Perspectives of Social Problems and Social Responsibility Within criminology there has been multiple theories suggested to explain the numerous motives behind why crime exists in our world. The two most central arguments surrounding criminal activity is whether the crime is the individuals fault, or if it is the fault of the society that they grew up in. These views are termed social responsibility and social problems, and will be discussed in this paper along with their respected perspectives that withhold why their view on criminology is the paramount reason on why criminals commit crimes. The view of social responsibilities approach to crime termed by Schmalleger essentially states that crime is an individual responsibility, and in terms of the criminal, victim, and justice system we all play a role within the social aspect of criminal behavior. Although he feels that this way of looking at crime is not fair to the victim or the justice system, but that the media over the years has influenced this way of thinking, giving the conception that certain conditions surrounding when, where, or how the crime took place may be the factor in why it happened in the first place.
The problem for any society is that these boundaries are unclear and change over time. While a certain, limited amount of crime may perform positive functions for society, according to Durkheim, too much crime has negative consequences. His most well known concept was that of 'anomie', which has been widely used in sociology. According to Durkheim, society is based on people sharing common values which form the basis for actions. However, in periods of social change, people may be freed from the social control by collective conscience and start to look after their own self need rather than following social values.
This helps to define why some individuals with similar strains commit crimes and why others chose legal manners in which they deal with their strains and emotions. General Strain Theory can help to explain any act that is considered deviant by society, and carries with it some sort of punishment, either formally or informally (Agnew, 2006). Failure to achieve
As well as a negative side that can lead to social disruption. Durkheim (1982 originally 1895) believed that a certain amount of crime was necessary for any society. Durkheim argued that a collective conscience which provides the framework for people to distinguish between acceptable behaviour and unacceptable behaviour was evident in society. However, Durkheim found that there were problems in society when these boundaries become unclear; Durkheim stated that the boundaries change over time. Therefore it is functional for crime to keep the people informed on the boundaries of their society.