LAWS1110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Mechanical And Organic Solidarity, Anomie, Fallacy
Document Summary
Re ective of the power differentials in society and to protect the status quo (laws). Looked at crime as a social construction. Crime as a dynamic construct - varies across time and space. Lived during period of major social change and decided it was a violation of a moral code. Saw a certain amount of crime as normal for society. knew there would be variation between contexts due to different societies saying different things are okay. Agrees with classical perspective of free will and rationality. Adaptive function to crime: prevent stagnation, introduce new ideas. Boundary maintenance function: reinforces social values and norms about what is considered acceptable and unacceptable. Punishment reinforces importance of morality and the law. Too far in either direction would become a problem for society. Behaviours de ned as crime gives insight into the current nature of society. Primitive societies, common living, shared lives, similar values and work, social order organised through this similarity.
