Emile Durkheim Research Paper

559 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Crime in society essay

It is hard to imagine a world crime free and even harder to imagine a world that accepts crime as a normal part of society. Emile Durkheim’s theory that crime is a normal aspect of society is based on his belief that crime itself serves a social function. Crime is simply deviant behavior that goes against social norms. Durkheim’s claim that “crime is a normal part of society, and that it is necessary and indispensable” meaning that crime acts as a type of moral check and balance to society.
One of the main arguments for Durkheim’s theory is that since crime is found in all societies, it must be performing necessary functions otherwise it would disappear in an advanced society. One of these necessary functions is social change. Crime is one of the most effective sources of social change in any society. When crime goes against social norms, eventually a society’s collective belief will transform and bring about social change.
In my opinion, I agree to some extent, with Durkheim’s theory and say that he is correct in saying that crime is inevitable. I believe crime is always going to exist all over the world …show more content…

Does crime need to exist in order for society to be in balance? Crime exists, we need to protect ourselves from others. Because of the economy today, people have to fight to survive. They choose to do illegal things in order to make it through life. All resources are limited, whether it be food, clothes, money, places of residence, education, etc. This creates a society of people who have and don't have. From that starting point people begin to try and attain things by stealing or finding illegal ways of attaining what they couldn't do legally. The only way for crime to cease would be for man to have all his needs AND wants met, to be in perfect mental and physical health, and to have a good childhood. That being impossible, even IF it were to be attained for every human. I am sure we would find a way to cover it

Show More
Related

  • Symbolic Interactionism

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Symbolic interactionist make the major point. Because different groups have different norms, what is deviant to to some is not deviant to others. Structural functionalist could not be the correct answer because the functional perspective on deviance is that deviance also has functions. In contrast to this common assumption, the classic functionalist theorist Emile Durkheim (1893/1933, 1895/1964) came to a surprising conclusion. Deviance, he said—including crime—is functional for society. Deviance contributes to the social order in these three ways:

    Read More

  • The Purpose Of Wayward Puritans By Kai Erikson

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    In chapter one, Erikson gives a nod of recognition to Emile Durkheim’s work. Erikson notes Durkheim’s assertion that crime is really a natural kind of social activity. I started to think that Erikson may be trying to assert that if crime is a natural part of society, there is an indication that it is necessary in society. Erikson claims that non-deviants congregate and agree in a remarkable way to express outrage over deviants and deviancy, therefore solidifying a bond between members of society. Erikson continues to argue that this sense of mutuality increases individual’s awareness to the common goals of the society.

    Read More

  • Poverty and Greed: The Origins of Crime

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    When I think of crime I think of an action someone has done that society sees as unfit, whether that action is justifies by the person. Most of the time people don’t really care if the person was stealing so they could feed their family or stealing so they can pay for medical bills, a crime is a crime. Although crime is unlawful there usually is an origin. Some argue that it comes from desperation, which are the usual ordinary crimes you hear on the news, others believe it comes from greed. Where does this constant state of despair come from, research points to poverty. It’s widely known that neighborhoods that struggle in poverty are more likely to be prone to crime. The greed aspect comes from people wanting to make a profit so they join organizations that revolve around crime, which would be organized crime. The greed that makes people do crime is brought by organized crime, while others firmly believe that crime comes from the desperation that poverty causes.

    Read More

  • United States Justice: A Flawed System

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    This could create problems and overpopulate the jails, but I feel that if we as a country crack down on our system for everyone, the crime rate would decrease and maybe even cease after a few decades of work. Works Cited REFRENCES Baker, H. (2012). The 'Path of the Earth'. Reflections on Social Justice, Government, and Society. Journal Of Markets And Morality, 15(1), 143-159.

    Read More

  • The Role of Marginal Deterrence and Its Practical Application

    2271 Words  | 5 Pages

    Economics can have controversial ideas, and this can be expressed in terms of crime. Economic theory would suggest that there is an ‘optimal level of crime’. As Stigler (1970) argues, ‘there is one decisive reason why society must forego ‘complete’ enforcement of the rule: enforcement is costly.’ The extent of enforcement of laws depends upon the amount of resources devoted to the task. Stigler goes on to argue that society could make certain crime does not pay by paying enough to apprehend most criminals, but such a level of enforcement would of course be expensive.

    Read More

  • The Broken Window Theory

    2269 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are many studies that point out some risk factors that could be responsible for criminality, but it would not be appropriate to say that is specifically poverty or the current economy. This field of study is uncertain about affirming this kind of assumption. But all this discussion about Broken Windows Theory leads us to reflect why not try to prevent crime instead of act after the crime has been committed?

    Read More

  • Poverty and Crime in America

    3673 Words  | 8 Pages

    Crime in this country is an everyday thing. Some people believe that crime is unnecessary. That people do it out of ignorance and that it really can be prevented. Honestly, since we live in a country where there is poverty, people living in the streets, or with people barely getting by, there will always be crime. Whether the crime is robbing food, money, or even hurting the people you love, your family. You will soon read about how being a criminal starts or even stops, where it begins, with whom it begins with and why crime seems to be the only way out sometimes for the poor.

    Read More

  • Strengths And Weaknesses Of Emile Durkheim

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emile Durkheim was born in 1858 in the region of France known as the Alsace-Lorraine. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all been rabbis, however Durkheim quickly decided against following into the rabbinate early in his youth (Jones 1986). Durkheim excelled in science as a student, however his weakness in studying Latin and rhetoric caused him to fail the entrance exams to Ecole twice before he passed (Jones 1986). Durkheim trained to be a teacher at Ecole, as well as participated in lively debates, in which he advocated for the republican cause (Jones 1986). It was also at this time that Durkheim first read Comte and Spencer (Calhoun 2002). It was partially through these sources that Durkheim came to view social science and culture as an organic whole. Durkheim then went to

    Read More

  • Public Criminology

    3279 Words  | 7 Pages

    Conscious efforts to critique existing approaches to questions of crime and justice, demystify concepts and issues that are laden with political and ideological baggage, situate debates about crime control within a socio-historical context, and facilitate the imagination and exploration of alternative ways of thinking and acting in relation to crime and justice. (p. 3).

    Read More

  • Social Disorganisation Theory And Strain Theory

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.

    Read More

  • Biography of Emile Durkheim

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emile Durkheim was born in the eastern French province of Lorraine on April 15, 1858. He was the s on of a rabbi and descending from a long line of rabbis, he decided early that he would follow the family tradition and become a rabbi himself. He studied Hebrew, the Old Testament, and the Talmud, while following the regular course of in secular schools. He soon turned away from all religious involvement, though purposely not from interest in religious phenomena, and became a freethinker, or non-believer. At about the time of his graduation he decided that he would dedicate himself to the scientific study of society. Since sociology was not a subject either at the secondary schools or at the university, Durkheim launched a career as a teacher in philosophy. Emile Durkheim made many contributions to the study of society, suicide, the division of labor, solidarity and religion. Raised in a time of troubles in France, Durkheim spent much of his talent justifying order and commitment to order. Durkheim was a pioneer French sociologist, taught at Bordeaux (1887-1902) and the University of Paris (1902-17). He introduced the system and hypothetical framework of accurate social science. Durkheim was author of The Division of Labour (1893), Rules of Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897), Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1915). Emile Durkheim has often been characterized as the founder of professional sociology. He has a great closeness with the two introductory sociologists, Comte and Saint-Simon. Durkheim willingly noticed the ideas of the Division of Labor and the Biological Analogy.

    Read More

  • Punishment

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Crimes are not ‘given’ or ‘natural’ categories to which societies simply respond. The composition of such categories change from various places and times, and is the output of social norms and conventions. Also, crime is not the prohibitions made for the purpose of rational social defence. Instead, Durkheim argues that crimes are those acts which seriously violate a society’s conscience collective. They are essentially violations of the fundamental moral code which society holds sacred, and they provoke punishment for this reason. It is because of these criminal acts which violate the sacred norms of the conscience collective, that they produce a punitive reaction. (Ibid)

    Read More

  • Purpose of Punishment Approaches

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emile Durkheims theory of collective consciousness is that everybody in society has common beliefs and sentiments, and to think or act differently would be a moral outrage against that. So crime is inevitable, there will always be people who think differently to others in an organic solidarity society.

    Read More

  • The Causes of Criminal Behavior

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Different schools of thought propose varying theoretical models of criminality. It is agreeable that criminal behaviour is deep rooted in societies and screams for attention. Biological, Social ecological and psychological model theories are key to helping researchers gain deeper comprehension of criminal behaviour and ways to avert them before they become a menace to society. All these theories put forward a multitude of factors on the outlooks on crime. All these theories have valid relevancy to continuous research on criminal behaviour.

    Read More

  • Biological Factors And Criminal Behavior

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    In contrast, Emile Durkheim argued that crime is a functional part of society; each society has its own rates and types of crimes. Durkheim stated, “What is normal, simply, is the existence of criminality, provided that it attains and does not exceed, for each social type, a certain level, which it is perhaps not impossible to fix in conformity with the preceding rules.” (Durkheim, p. 61) Durkheim did not see crime as something habitual or as a symptom of a diseased society. I agree with Durkheim’s opinion of crime and society, I think that crime will not entirely disappear; instead the form itself will change. (Durkheim)

    Read More

More about Emile Durkheim Research Paper

Open Document