Merton defined five ways people respond to this gap between having a socially accepted goal and having no socially accepted way to pursue it. According to Merton’s theory, an entrepreneur who can’t afford to launch their own company may be tempted to embezzle from their employer for start-up funds. A person may have the socially acceptable goal of financial success but lack a socially acceptable way to reach that goal. Another person may grow up in a neighborhood with lower-quality schools, and may not be able to pay for extra help. That MBA-turned-CEO may have grown up in the best school district and had means to hire tutors. However, not everyone in our society stands on equal footing. A person who attends business school, receives an MBA, and goes on to make a million-dollar income as CEO of a company is said to be a success. From birth, we’re encouraged to achieve the “American Dream” of financial success. Sociologist Robert Merton agreed that deviance is an inherent part of a functioning society, but he expanded on Durkheim’s ideas by developing strain theory, which notes that access to socially acceptable goals plays a part in determining whether a person conforms or deviates. In smaller, more homogeneous societies, deviance might be punished more severely. For example, in large, industrialized societies that were largely bound together by the interdependence of work (the division of labor), punishments for deviance were generally less severe. He discussed the impact of societal size and complexity as contributors to the collective conscience and the development of justice systems and punishments. “A crime is a crime because we condemn it,” he said (1893). Durkheim saw laws as an expression of the “collective conscience,” which are the beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society. Seeing a student given detention for skipping class reminds other high schoolers that playing hooky isn’t allowed and that they, too, could get detention.ĭurkheim’s point regarding the impact of punishing deviance speaks to his arguments about law. Moreover, Durkheim noted, when deviance is punished, it reaffirms currently held social norms, which also contributes to society (1893). For instance, when Black students across the United States participated in sit-ins during the civil rights movement, they challenged society’s notions of segregation. One way deviance is functional, he argued, is that it challenges people’s present views (1893).

Émile Durkheim believed that deviance is a necessary part of a successful society. Émile Durkheim: The Essential Nature of Deviance Strain theory and social disorganization theory represent two functionalist perspectives on deviance in society. They view deviance as a key component of a functioning society.

Sociologists who follow the functionalist approach are concerned with the way the different elements of a society contribute to the whole. These theories can be grouped according to the three major sociological paradigms: functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict theory.

Why does deviance occur? How does it affect a society? Since the early days of sociology, scholars have developed theories that attempt to explain what deviance and crime mean to society. Protesters, such as these PETA members, often use this method to draw attention to their cause. Figure 7.4 Functionalists believe that deviance plays an important role in society and can be used to challenge people’s views.

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