Robert K Merton’s Functionalist Approach to Crime, Essay Example

Robert K Merton’s functionalist approach to crime and deviance emphasizes the role of anomie in the perpetuation of organized crime. He considers the legitimate process available in most societies for attaining wealth and success in life. When these processes are followed, but patently fails to deliver the promised results, a type of disillusionment and demoralization sets in which he terms anomie. While most people will respond to this by re-doubling their efforts, or by finding innovative alternative paths to success, there are those who will come to the opinion that society’s rules are rigged against them, and will pursue a rebellious deviant crime based path to success. Vito et al emphasizes this by stating, “organized crime performed a similar function, as many of America’s foremost businesses which made their fortunes in questionable ways, by providing a queer ladder of social mobility.”(Vito, et al 2007 p. 401) Unlike other forms of protest or adaptation which works within society’s norms, this final group will often pose a direct challenge to the stability and continuity of the prevailing status quo. They perpetuate and grow because of the vast amounts of wealth, power and influence their activities bring. Also in materialistic societies such as the United States and Britain, the end product of wealth and power is usually more important than the means used to achieve it.

While Merton’s theory could explain blue collar involvement in organized crime, it could not explain the phenomenon of white collar crime, which was generally committed by those who already possessed power and wealth. Sutherland was one of the first to emphasize the criminal distinctiveness and importance of white collar crime, as well as defining it as a form of organized crime. His theory of differential association stated, “Criminality was learned in association with other offenders, and resulted from an excess of criminal definitions over non-criminal ones.” (Sutherland, E.H 1949, p. 2) The theory posits that “the development and recruitment of organized crime members occurs frequently when the environment has considerable crime, there is frequent contact between upcoming youth and organized crime members who are role models and mentors and a community has little respect for the law. Cultural transmission involves passing down criminal values from generation to generation.” (Mallory, S.L. 2007, p. 36) This form of criminality continues to prosper because of a range of factors which are highlighted by Croall, “low visibility of white collar crime, its complexity which makes detection and prosecution difficult, difficulties in detection and prosecution, lenient sanctions, ambiguous laws and status of perpetrators, and diffusion of responsibility and victimization.” (Croall, H. 1994, pp. 12-16)

References

Croall, H. (1994) White Collar Crime, Buckingham, Open University Press

Mallory, S. L (2007) Understanding Organized Crime, London, Jones and Bartlett Publishers International

Sutherland, E.H. (1949) White Collar Crime, New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston

Vito, G.F, Maahs, J.R. and Holmes, R.M (2007) Criminology: Theory, Research and Policy, London, Jones and Bartlett Publishers