Final answer:
The functionalist perspective views deviance and crime as key components of society that reinforce norms, promote social change, and are influenced by social structures. Theories such as strain theory and social disorganization theory explain the societal factors leading to deviance. This perspective seeks a balance between social order and the need for change.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Deviance and Crime Through the Functionalist Perspective
The functionalist perspective explains deviance and crime as necessary components of society that serve to reinforce norms and promote social change. From this viewpoint, deviance is not simply law-breaking behavior but an action that challenges society's established norms. Emile Durkheim, a prominent functionalist, perceived deviance as a tool for the creation of social cohesion by differentiating what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Deviant actions can often highlight certain injustices and promote reforms within the law and collective social conscience.
Strain theory, another concept in functionalism, was developed by Robert Merton. It suggests that deviance occurs when there is a disconnection between societal goals and the means available to achieve those goals. This theory posits that societal pressures can encourage norm violations, leading to criminal behavior. Meanwhile, social disorganization theory points to external factors in an individual's environment, such as poverty or family disruption, as contributing to deviant behavior and crime. This emphasizes the role of social structures in shaping individual actions.
Functionalists also view social change, which can arise from acts of deviance, as potentially disruptive to the stability of society. They seek to understand the balance between the need for social order and the necessity for change prompted by deviance. These functionalist theories provide various lenses through which to examine and understand the complexities of deviant behavior and crime within a society, and serve as a foundation for public policy that aims to prevent and control such behaviors.