Emile Durkheim
◦ The problem of solidarity Modern societies Urban Industrial Bureaucratic Pluralistic Socialization & Intermediate Institutions Social Integration Moral Regulation
Normal, Healthy Society ◦ Normal: Universal Universal: Necessary Serves some positive function Deviance is Normal Positive functions ◦ sets moral boundaries ◦ strengthens group solidarity for the non-deviants ◦ innovation ◦ tension reduction
Society is a social system in which all parts contribute to the functioning of the system ◦ Including deviance Robert Merton
Merton: things to avoid ◦ Assuming harmonious integration of all parts of social system ◦ Assuming a phenomenon's existence means it is functional for the system Tautology ◦ Assuming there is only one structural way of accomplishing societal needs and that way is the one that is in existence
Implications (Merton) ◦ Deviance may be functional for some but dysfunctional for others ◦ Not all forms of deviance may be positive ◦ Distinguish between manifest & latent functions ◦ There may be alternative and better means to accomplish the same purposes
Robert Dentler & Kai Erikson ◦ Quaker work groups & Boot camps Groups induce, permit, and maintain deviance Deviant behavior helps to maintain group balance Groups will resist alienation of any one of its members
Kai Erikson: Wayward Puritans ◦ a study of the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ◦ support for three functionalist conclusions Deviance helps to establish and strengthen moral boundaries Acts considered to be deviant reflect their social context Societies routinely funnel a certain number of people into a deviant course of action
Society is a self-adjusting machine ◦ Like a thermostat Four societal mechanisms for social control ◦ Socialization ◦ Profit ◦ Persuasion ◦ Coercion
◦ Deviance results from the failure of first three mechanisms Leading to the use of coercion
Strengths: ◦ Fosters rational approach to deviance and crime A certain amount of deviance is normal and even positive ◦ Reduces scape-goating or over-reaction
Weaknesses ◦ overly mechanical view of human social existence Reification Ignores choice Logical fallacy ◦ Dangerous (diverts attention from, minimizes serious social problems) ◦ Eliminates social change (or its consideration)