Functionalist perspective on deviance

Authors

  • Sebahattin Ziyanak University of North Texas Sociology Department
  • James L. Williams Texas Woman University

Keywords:

Functionalist perspective, deviance, Durkheim, Merton, anomie, institutional anomie, micro anomie, differential opportunity

Abstract

This paper focuses on and summarizes the functionalist perspective of deviance, the function of crimes, and  how these perspectives have influenced the development of Durkheim’s work, anomie, for example. In this regard, our aim is to carefully describe the contributions of important functionalist thinkers such as Emile Durkheim and Robert K. Merton, by providing a brief historical discussion that highlights their contributions to deviance and crime research. Further, we are also primarily interested in how the functionalist tradition has influenced contemporary works. In this regard, this paper focuses on the most relevant theories that are related to sources of strain including Robert Merton’s “structural strain theory,” Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld’s “institutional anomie” and Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin’s “differential opportunity theory. This paper presents these contemporary thinker’s views and in addition to that it presents a detailed discussion of their major studies published since 2000.

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Author Biographies

Sebahattin Ziyanak, University of North Texas Sociology Department

Sebahattin Ziyanak was born in Istanbul. He received his B.S. in sociology in 1999 from the Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, Turkey and his M.A. in sociology in 2007 from the University of Houston, Texas. Sebahattin Ziyanak completed his doctorate in sociology from the University of North Texas in 2013.  His major areas of interest are in the subjects of delinquency, deviance, social organization, social movement, and race and ethnicity. 

Sebahattin has taught SOCI 1520.2 Social Problems Fall/2013-2012, Soci 3240.1 Qualitative Data Collection Spring/2013, Soci 3220.1 Quantitative Data Collection Spring/2012 courses at University of North Texas, Denton, TX.

Sociology Department

 

 

James L. Williams, Texas Woman University

Professor; Sociology Department Chair; Criminal Justice Program Director , Texas Woman University, [email protected]

PhD 1989, University of Georgia. 

Courses Taught

Graduate

  • Global and Comparative Sociology
  • Globalization, Crime, and Justice
  • Contemporary Criminology
  • Social Psychology Theory 

 

References

Agnew, R. (2002). Experienced, vicarious, and anticipated strain: An exploratory study on physical victimization and delinquency. Justice Quarterly, 19: 603-632.

Bernburg, J. (2002). Anomie, social change and crime. The British Journal of Criminology,

: 729-742.

Baumer, E. (2007). Untangling research puzzles in Merton’s multilevel theory. Theoretical Criminology, 11(1): 66,73,77.

Chamlin, M. and Cochran, J. (2007). An evaluation of the assumptions that underlie institutional anomie theory. Theoretical Criminology, 11(1), pp. 41,51-53.

Cloward, R. and Ohlin, L. (1961). Delinquency and opportunity: A Theory of Delinquent Gangs. New York: The Free Press.

Coser, L. A. (1975). The idea of social structure papers in honor of Robert K. Merton. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Deflem, M. (2007). The concept of social control: Theories and applications. Presented at International Conference in Rennes, France. Retrieved 25 January, 2014 from http://deflem.blogspot.com/2007/08/concept-of-social-control-theories-and.html

Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A study in sociology. Glencoe: IL. The Free Press.

Durkheim, E. (1984). The Division of labor in society. New York: N. Y. The Free Press.

Jensen, G. (2002). Institutional anomie theory and social variations in crime: A critical appraisal. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 22(7/8), pp. 58-60.

Konty, M. (2005). Micro anomie: The cognitive foundations of the relationship between anomie and deviance. Criminology, 43: 107-131.

Merton, Robert K. (1938). Social structure and anomie, American Sociological Review, 3(5), pp. 672-682.

Merton, R. (1968). The Social theory of social structure. New York: N. Y. The Free Press.

Messner, S., and Rosenfeld, R. (1994). Crime and the American dream. New York.: Wadsworth.

Messner, S. (2003). An institutional-anomie theory of crime: Continuities and elaborations in the study of social structure and anomie, Cologne Journal of Sociology and Social Psychology, 43(1), pp. 98-9.

Volume 11, Issue 2

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Published

2014-07-01

How to Cite

Ziyanak, S., & Williams, J. L. (2014). Functionalist perspective on deviance. Journal of Human Sciences, 11(2), 1–9. Retrieved from https://www.j-humansciences.com/ojs/index.php/IJHS/article/view/2791

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2014)

Section

Sociology

License

Uluslararası İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi ISSN:1303-5134
International Journal of Human Sciences ISSN:2458-9489
 
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